The Arms Race: A Decade of Soaring College Sports Budgets

NCAA Membership Financial Reporting System (MFRS) · 80 Division I programs · Most recent year available

Athletic budgets have ballooned over the past decade as schools chase media deals, build lavish facilities, and bid up coaching salaries. University of Houston has grown its athletics revenue by 568% since FY2004, and the biggest programs now spend tens of millions on coaches alone.

Fastest-Growing Athletic Budgets

Revenue growth between each school's earliest and most recent year in our dataset (spans vary by school — see the year range column).

#	School	Span	Growth	Then	Now
1	University of Houston	FY2004–FY2025	+568%	$13,895,125	$92,759,096
2	Georgia Southern University	FY2010–FY2025	+325%	$10,325,261	$43,923,841
3	Sam Houston State University	FY2010–FY2025	+325%	$10,194,320	$43,342,352
4	Kennesaw State University	FY2010–FY2025	+299%	$10,686,363	$42,635,872
5	Texas A&M University	FY2010–FY2024	+222%	$82,774,133	$266,361,985
6	University of Cincinnati	FY2010–FY2025	+190%	$40,920,893	$118,516,168
7	Florida State University	FY2010–FY2025	+185%	$74,402,269	$211,950,623
8	James Madison University	FY2010–FY2025	+175%	$28,636,487	$78,640,115
9	The Ohio State University	FY2010–FY2025	+173%	$123,174,176	$336,077,887
10	University of Central Florida	FY2010–FY2025	+172%	$40,063,558	$108,885,089
11	Texas State University	FY2010–FY2025	+162%	$19,284,943	$50,528,819
12	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	FY2010–FY2025	+153%	$63,613,464	$161,217,688
13	University of California, Los Angeles	FY2010–FY2025	+145%	$61,875,531	$151,797,241
14	Utah State University	FY2016–FY2025	+135%	$32,045,471	$75,442,527
15	Texas Tech University	FY2010–FY2025	+134%	$61,974,623	$145,302,530
16	University of California, Berkeley	FY2010–FY2025	+115%	$69,345,931	$148,840,896
17	University of Tennessee, Knoxville	FY2017–FY2025	+109%	$145,653,191	$304,117,549
18	University of Oklahoma	FY2010–FY2025	+109%	$98,512,287	$205,670,266
19	University of South Florida	FY2017–FY2024	+107%	$49,960,338	$103,549,435
20	University of Kansas	FY2010–FY2025	+104%	$70,548,520	$143,856,096
21	Florida International University	FY2010–FY2024	+97%	$22,004,418	$43,424,078
22	San Diego State University	FY2017–FY2025	+92%	$52,454,787	$100,801,020
23	Purdue University	FY2016–FY2025	+91%	$78,699,976	$150,536,320
24	University of Texas at Austin	FY2016–FY2025	+88%	$187,981,158	$352,547,602
25	University of Wyoming	FY2012–FY2025	+84%	$30,266,873	$55,619,167
26	Old Dominion University	FY2010–FY2025	+80%	$32,475,822	$58,464,225
27	University of Nebraska-Lincoln	FY2017–FY2025	+79%	$120,205,090	$215,089,007
28	Pennsylvania State University	FY2017–FY2025	+77%	$144,017,055	$254,867,598
29	Appalachian State University	FY2021–FY2025	+72%	$33,202,111	$57,259,361
30	University of Colorado Boulder	FY2017–FY2025	+72%	$94,226,111	$161,672,258
31	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	FY2018–FY2025	+69%	$115,132,186	$194,761,178
32	North Carolina State University	FY2017–FY2025	+69%	$83,741,572	$141,549,444
33	University of Utah	FY2017–FY2025	+68%	$83,672,639	$140,252,864
34	University of Oregon	FY2016–FY2025	+66%	$111,898,702	$185,420,897
35	Oklahoma State University	FY2017–FY2025	+65%	$91,644,865	$150,779,379
36	University of Nevada, Las Vegas	FY2017–FY2025	+63%	$47,327,478	$77,274,710
37	Florida Atlantic University	FY2017–FY2024	+63%	$34,509,259	$56,213,887
38	University of Mississippi (Ole Miss)	FY2018–FY2025	+61%	$110,912,617	$178,621,017
39	West Virginia University	FY2012–FY2025	+60%	$80,064,869	$128,116,313
40	New Mexico State University	FY2010–FY2025	+56%	$25,433,613	$39,627,724
41	Louisiana State University	FY2017–FY2025	+51%	$147,744,233	$223,457,267
42	University of Arkansas, Fayetteville	FY2017–FY2025	+51%	$129,680,808	$195,879,595
43	Bowling Green State University	FY2014–FY2025	+50%	$23,469,664	$35,288,178
44	University of Massachusetts, Amherst	FY2019–FY2025	+50%	$49,461,013	$74,220,923
45	University of Michigan	FY2017–FY2025	+49%	$185,173,187	$275,844,115
46	University of Georgia	FY2017–FY2025	+48%	$157,852,479	$233,526,965
47	San Jose State University	FY2017–FY2025	+47%	$31,252,553	$45,873,043
48	Michigan State University	FY2017–FY2025	+43%	$126,021,377	$179,891,651
49	Iowa State University	FY2017–FY2025	+43%	$82,659,447	$117,990,108
50	University of Kentucky	FY2017–FY2025	+42%	$130,706,744	$185,082,823
51	University of Connecticut	FY2017–FY2025	+41%	$83,374,223	$117,288,137
52	University of New Mexico	FY2017–FY2025	+39%	$44,421,019	$61,595,289
53	University of Wisconsin-Madison	FY2017–FY2025	+38%	$143,420,668	$197,927,246
54	University of Iowa	FY2017–FY2025	+38%	$130,681,467	$179,978,091
55	University of Akron	FY2010–FY2025	+36%	$24,012,416	$32,742,898
56	Kansas State University	FY2017–FY2025	+35%	$86,081,528	$116,289,549
57	University of Toledo	FY2011–FY2025	+34%	$19,485,449	$26,013,481
58	University of Washington	FY2019–FY2025	+33%	$133,792,677	$178,473,117
59	Northern Illinois University	FY2012–FY2025	+33%	$23,504,505	$31,290,147
60	Oregon State University	FY2017–FY2025	+33%	$78,959,875	$104,767,707
61	University of Minnesota	FY2018–FY2025	+31%	$124,847,642	$163,605,146
62	Western Kentucky University	FY2018–FY2025	+31%	$30,595,026	$40,028,339
63	University of Maryland, College Park	FY2017–FY2025	+31%	$94,881,357	$123,997,918
64	Washington State University	FY2017–FY2025	+30%	$64,294,520	$83,454,950
65	University of South Carolina	FY2023–FY2025	+27%	$160,489,386	$204,566,524
66	Ohio University	FY2022–FY2025	+25%	$29,335,290	$36,543,823
67	Ball State University	FY2022–FY2025	+21%	$28,804,851	$34,744,305
68	University at Buffalo	FY2022–FY2025	+20%	$40,192,255	$48,226,492
69	University of Missouri, Columbia	FY2022–FY2024	+19%	$141,157,028	$168,000,978
70	Eastern Michigan University	FY2022–FY2025	+18%	$33,040,581	$38,924,559
71	Kent State University	FY2022–FY2025	+13%	$28,605,618	$32,190,567
72	Miami University (Ohio)	FY2017–FY2025	+9%	$37,766,348	$41,169,189
73	Western Michigan University	FY2017–FY2025	+9%	$38,516,531	$41,934,267
74	University of Louisville	FY2019–FY2025	+5%	$139,955,824	$146,912,011
75	Central Michigan University	FY2022–FY2025	+-3%	$39,002,244	$37,911,632
76	Colorado State University	FY2017–FY2025	+-100%	$44,672,317	$0

Biggest Coaching Payrolls

University-paid coaching salaries, benefits and bonuses (MFRS line 22), and what share of the total athletics budget they consume.

#	School	Year	Coaching Pay	% of Budget
1	The Ohio State University	FY2025	$54,207,127	16.9%
2	University of Texas at Austin	FY2025	$53,062,359	14.1%
3	University of Tennessee, Knoxville	FY2025	$45,071,637	15.6%
4	Louisiana State University	FY2025	$44,500,575	20.3%
5	University of Georgia	FY2025	$44,058,471	18.3%
6	Pennsylvania State University	FY2025	$43,458,097	17.1%
7	University of Oregon	FY2025	$41,548,008	22.7%
8	Texas A&M University	FY2024	$40,849,381	16.8%
9	University of Oklahoma	FY2025	$40,541,216	16.3%
10	University of Kentucky	FY2025	$40,012,892	21.2%
11	University of Michigan	FY2025	$39,552,637	15.1%
12	University of Arkansas, Fayetteville	FY2025	$38,680,087	21.0%
13	University of Mississippi (Ole Miss)	FY2025	$38,433,066	20.9%
14	University of Iowa	FY2025	$36,416,412	21.0%
15	Michigan State University	FY2025	$36,248,526	20.3%
16	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	FY2025	$35,517,131	18.7%
17	University of Washington	FY2025	$35,493,321	19.3%
18	University of Nebraska-Lincoln	FY2025	$34,960,374	16.8%
19	University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill	FY2025	$34,887,473	18.6%
20	University of Minnesota	FY2025	$33,705,036	20.9%
21	University of Wisconsin-Madison	FY2025	$33,193,725	17.1%
22	University of Kansas	FY2025	$32,625,141	22.0%
23	University of California, Los Angeles	FY2025	$32,584,545	18.8%
24	Florida State University	FY2025	$31,002,721	14.9%
25	University of Maryland, College Park	FY2025	$30,951,059	24.1%
26	University of California, Berkeley	FY2025	$30,758,230	17.8%
27	University of Missouri, Columbia	FY2024	$30,740,122	16.8%
28	University of South Carolina	FY2025	$30,140,497	14.8%
29	North Carolina State University	FY2025	$30,034,406	22.3%
30	Oklahoma State University	FY2025	$29,365,415	18.8%
31	University of Louisville	FY2025	$27,646,398	17.2%
32	Texas Tech University	FY2025	$27,524,070	19.1%
33	Purdue University	FY2025	$27,390,169	18.3%
34	University of Connecticut	FY2025	$27,290,821	24.9%
35	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	FY2025	$25,841,202	16.5%
36	University of Utah	FY2025	$25,549,533	18.8%
37	Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey	FY2021	$25,472,843	21.5%
38	Kansas State University	FY2025	$22,989,694	22.2%
39	University of Colorado Boulder	FY2025	$22,818,511	14.1%
40	Iowa State University	FY2025	$22,605,979	19.2%
41	West Virginia University	FY2025	$21,067,185	16.1%
42	University of Houston	FY2025	$20,682,584	20.9%
43	Oregon State University	FY2025	$20,057,401	20.0%
44	University of Central Florida	FY2025	$19,235,338	18.6%
45	University of Cincinnati	FY2025	$18,689,891	15.7%
46	San Diego State University	FY2025	$17,382,452	16.6%
47	Utah State University	FY2025	$16,455,403	25.5%
48	University of South Florida	FY2024	$15,867,831	15.6%
49	San Jose State University	FY2025	$15,536,892	30.5%
50	University of Nevada, Las Vegas	FY2025	$13,443,358	18.0%
51	Washington State University	FY2025	$12,685,486	15.7%
52	University of Massachusetts, Amherst	FY2025	$11,495,448	16.1%
53	James Madison University	FY2025	$10,655,351	13.5%
54	University of New Mexico	FY2025	$10,525,699	18.5%
55	Old Dominion University	FY2025	$9,742,770	16.0%
56	Florida Atlantic University	FY2024	$9,642,787	19.2%
57	University of Wyoming	FY2025	$9,606,191	18.8%
58	University at Buffalo	FY2025	$9,429,458	18.6%
59	University of North Carolina at Charlotte	FY2025	$9,392,756	16.0%
60	University of Toledo	FY2025	$9,140,530	23.1%
61	Miami University (Ohio)	FY2025	$8,816,759	21.6%
62	Appalachian State University	FY2025	$8,719,226	15.2%
63	Ball State University	FY2025	$8,542,142	24.6%
64	Florida International University	FY2024	$8,038,418	17.2%
65	Georgia Southern University	FY2025	$7,933,496	17.7%
66	Texas State University	FY2025	$7,701,270	13.9%
67	Bowling Green State University	FY2025	$7,641,365	21.4%
68	University of Akron	FY2025	$7,540,856	22.3%
69	Kent State University	FY2025	$7,518,950	21.9%
70	Western Michigan University	FY2025	$7,495,528	16.7%
71	Northern Illinois University	FY2025	$7,403,286	19.5%
72	Western Kentucky University	FY2025	$7,335,907	18.3%
73	Eastern Michigan University	FY2025	$7,205,885	18.5%
74	Central Michigan University	FY2025	$7,126,385	18.5%
75	New Mexico State University	FY2025	$6,904,295	17.4%
76	Ohio University	FY2025	$6,684,388	18.5%
77	Kennesaw State University	FY2025	$6,356,137	16.2%
78	Sam Houston State University	FY2025	$5,504,629	13.0%

Data compiled by College Sports Finance from NCAA MFRS filings obtained via public records (FOIA) requests. See the methodology page for full sourcing details. Last updated: 2026-06-22.

The Arms Race: A Decade of Soaring College Sports Budgets

Fastest-Growing Athletic Budgets

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Biggest Coaching Payrolls

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