Hawkeye Athletics eyes revenue record; Cyclones cite realignment in budget projections

IOWA CITY — Propelled by a 27-percent spike in women’s basketball income, a favorable home football schedule amplified by ticket “price adjustments,” and a first-ever revenue line item for its new women’s wrestling team, University of Iowa Athletics is projecting another year of record revenue.

Iowa State University Athletics is projecting its fiscal 2025 revenue to reach $114.2 million — above last year’s $111.5 million budget but below its actual 2024 income of nearly $117 million, according to ISU Senior Associate Athletics Director Nick Joos.

That $114.2 million next year is below what it could be, Joos said, citing a conference realignment whirlwind across college athletics of late that added four universities to both UI’s Big Ten and Iowa State’s Big 12 conferences — shrinking their share of the conference distribution pie.

“As a result of those additions, the eight continuing members of the Big 12 Conference will receive approximately $40 million less than earlier projections in Big 12 distributions over the next several years (through FY 2031),” according to Iowa State’s regent budget report.

The Cyclones’ conference allocation for the new budget year will remain about $2.8 million below its high of $40.6 million recorded in the 2023 budget year — even as it increases this year to $37.8 million from last year’s $33.5 million.

“Revenues received from the Big 12 Conference are the largest component of athletic department revenues,” Joos told The Gazette on Tuesday. “The highest revenues from the Big 12 Conference were recorded in FY22 and FY23 fiscal years.”

Additionally, due to the College Football Playoff expansion, “playoff revenues will no longer be distributed on an equal basis to the major conferences,” Iowa State reported to the regents.

“With two athletic conferences essentially receiving the contractual increases in television revenue resulting from the new playoff format, the revenue allocations to members of the Big 12 Conference will remain flat,” according to Iowa State’s regents report. “The financial impact of this change is approximately $5 million per year (through FY 2031) when compared to earlier projections.”

The lower-than-expected conference distribution; anticipated $746,000 drop in media rights income; and stagnant postseason revenue has Iowa State postponing several building projects and making “operational and personnel changes as necessary.”

When asked for details on the delayed projects and personnel changes, Joos pointed to plans for a new $20 million wrestling facility the department put on hold in May — citing changes across the college athletics landscape.

“There’s just no way possible to go forward and convince the state that we can take bonds out to pay for a wrestling facility when the College Football Playoff decided to take all the money and give it to the Big Ten and the SEC,” Pollard told reporters in May.

Joos didn’t provide details about personnel changes resulting from conference and playoff distributions.

UI revenue bump

Meanwhile, UI Athletics is projecting a $13.4 million increase this year in athletic conference revenue to a record $75.2 million — up 22 percent over last year’s $61.8 million distribution and more than 2.5 times the $30.7 million conference distribution UI Athletics got a decade ago in 2015.

Even with an anticipated $4 million drop in philanthropy this year and $2.3 million dip in general income, UI Athletics is projecting a total of $150.5 million in revenue this year — about 7 percent over last year’s record income of $140.3 million.

“Ticket revenue for football is budgeted to increase due to a favorable home schedule and price adjustments,” according to UI Athletics’ budget report to regents.

Its nationally-esteemed NCAA-finalist women’s basketball team — widely credited with changing the game and its public popularity through phenom point guard Caitlin Clark and her core teammates — is projecting a revenue bump from last year’s $1.3 million to $1.7 million. A decade ago, in 2015, Iowa women’s basketball brought in $210,000.

Also earning itself a revenue line item this year for the first time is the Hawkeyes’ new women’s wrestling team — projected to generate $80,000.

Men’s wrestling is expected to bring in the same $1.2 million it did last year, and Hawkeye men’s basketball is projecting a slight dip from $3.515 million to $3.5 million.

UI loan payments

The year-after-year revenue records contrast the $45 million deficit UI Athletics faced during COVID — compelling it to eliminate men’s swimming and diving, gymnastics, and tennis and borrow $50 million from the main campus.

Although the 2021 loan agreement spans 15 years, UI Chief Financial Officer Terry Johnson last year told regents he talked to athletics leadership about upping annual payments.

To date, the department has paid back $6 million of the loan and is scheduled to pay another $2.5 million back this year — the largest annual amount yet — leaving 83 percent of the loan still due, excluding interest.

“An annual evaluation and payment will occur at the conclusion of each fiscal year,” UI spokesman Chris Brewer told The Gazette.

ISU, UNI ticket revenue

Where Iowa State — like at Iowa — is anticipating largely stagnant men’s basketball income at $4.4 million, it’s women’s basketball revenue — also like at Iowa — far outpaced its 2024 projections, bringing in nearly twice the expected $450,000 at $800,000. With that jump, Iowa State upped its women’s basketball revenue budget projections for the new year to $700,000.

“Ticket sales are budgeted higher for FY 2024 since the home football schedule includes in-state programs and slight increases expected for men’s and women’s basketball and wrestling,” according to Iowa State officials.

Unlike UI and Iowa State, University of Northern Iowa Athletics this year is projecting a drop in total revenue — from $14.8 million to $14.7 million. Some of that has to do with a men’s basketball schedule that still is being developed.

“Sports income for football includes game guarantee revenue resulting in a budgeted revenue increase when compared to the FY 2024 budget,” according to board documents. “Conversely, men’s basketball has no game guaranteed revenue on the schedule at this time.”

UNI Athletics — the only of the three public universities to get funding from its campus’ general fund — has budgeted for about $5 million in university support this year, down slightly from last year’s $5.1 million UNI contribution.

“Due to revenue that fell short of projections in athletics, one-time funds were utilized to supplement the athletics budget,” UNI spokesman Pete Moris told The Gazette. “A number of other departments on campus also received one-time support in addition to athletics.”

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com