Report: Penn State reports nearly $535 million in athletics-related debt in 2025

Penn State reported nearly $535 million in athletics-related debt in fiscal year 2025, Sportico’s Daniel Libit reported. The increase comes as the school is starting renovations to Beaver Stadium, which is set to cost roughly $700 million.

All told, in FY25, Penn State reported $534.7 million in athletics-related debt – topping Florida State, which reported $437 million in the fiscal year. The Nittany Lions reported more than triple the debt from the previous year with $163.1 million reported in FY24, according to Sportico.

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Penn State reported $254.6 million in total operating expenses, and $18.4 million of those dollars went to “institutional NIL revenue share,” Sportico reported. Rev-share arrived in college athletics July 1, which was the day after the FY25 cycle ended. PSU’s total amount of institutional debt was publicly not available at the time of publication.

The renovations to Beaver Stadium began during the 2025 college football season and picked up after the year ended. As of Dec. 28, the school is still on track to be wrapped up by 2027, according to PSU deputy athletics director for internal operations Vinnie James.

“Beaver Stadium is undergoing the largest renovation in college football history,” James said at the time. “We’re approaching $700 million in renovation right now. We remain on schedule, targeting a completion date of fall of 2027.”

The stadium will have temporary seating during the 2026 season, James said. The press box came down in 2025 as part of the plan, and the west side will eventually feature a welcome center along with more premium seating.

“In the 2026 season, what our fans can expect to see is, you’ll actually begin to see the structure of the new West side or the visiting sideline,” James said. “You’ll see that structure come to form. Still won’t be completed, obviously, everything that’s behind it, but that structure will start to really be showing itself, and we can see the volume and the magnitude of what that west side will ultimately be. And then a lot of the work that’s going on is infrastructure work behind it.”

Penn State will take on a new look in 2026 after Matt Campbell took over for James Franklin as head football coach. The Nittany Lions went 7-6 in 2025 under Franklin and interim head coach Terry Smith, who is staying on staff.