Penn State Athletics experienced a significant increase in both total revenue and total expenses in fiscal year 2025 (July 2024-June 2025), a year in which football made a run to the College Football Playoff semifinal and both wrestling and women’s volleyball took home NCAA championships.
The department reported $254.9 million in revenue in an NCAA report filed last week, up almost $34 million from FY 2024. However, Penn State also spent most of that money, with operating expenses totaling $254.6 million — a $39 million increase from FY 2024.
That left a razor-thin surplus of $223,679.
Just two Nittany Lions programs generated a profit in FY 25: football ($57.6 million) and men’s basketball ($172,178). Football continued to buoy the entire department, featuring $146.8 million in revenue, which was a record according to Mark Wogenrich of Penn State on SI.
The national semifinal run led to the Big Ten distributing $20.5 million to Penn State for a postseason appearance. The Lions spent $7 million in postseason expenses but received $5.3 million from the NCAA in reimbursement. Finally, Penn State paid out $4 million in coaching incentives for the run.
In total, Penn State earned $44.5 million in ticket sales, including the home CFP game against SMU. That was a roughly $6 million decrease from FY 2024.
Football additionally generated $8.8 million from novelty items, parking and concessions; Men’s basketball actually lost $12,365 in this metric, the lone program in the negative.
Here’s more that stood out from Penn State Athletics’ FY 2025 report.
NIL spending
For the first time, Penn State reported direct-to-athlete institutional spending for Name, Image and Likeness purposes. The university paid out $18.4 million to nine programs with the following breakdown:
Football — $13,338,959Men’s basketball — $3,004,666Wrestling — $1,449,766Baseball — $300,000Women’s basketball — $110,000Men’s hockey — $95,000Men’s lacrosse — $50,000Women’s volleyball — $10,000Men’s tennis — $10,000
Importantly, the specifics of this spending is unclear, as university revenue sharing as part of the NCAA v. House of Representatives settlement did not take effect until July 1, 2025 (part of Fiscal Year 2026). Member institutions had roughly $20.5 million available in revenue-sharing dollars in the system’s first year.
Growing debt
Penn State reported $534.7 million in total athletics-related debt, up $371.5 million from FY 2024.
It should be noted that Penn State broke ground on the beginnings of a $700 million renovation of Beaver Stadium in January. That project, the university said, will be funded entirely by intercollegiate athletics and is slated for completion in 2027.
Contributions
Penn State reported $64.6 million in contributions in FY 2025, a significant increase from $37 million in FY 2024. Contributions include the following:
Amounts received from individuals, corporations, associations, foundations, clubs or other organizations designated for the operations of the athletics program.Funds contributed by outside contributors for the payment of debt service, lease payments or rental fee expenses for athletic facilities in the reporting year.Amounts received above face value for tickets.
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