Student-athlete pay will account for 13 percent of UI, ISU athletics budgets

Revenue sharing with student athletes will account for at least $41 million, or 13 percent, of Iowa’s public university athletic department expenses this budget year, according to the first higher education-related research report from the two-year-old Iowa branch of the nonpartisan Common Sense Institute.

That $41 million of a total $326 million in athletic department expenses across the Iowa Board of Regents system is the combined $20.5 million that both Iowa State University and the University of Iowa have budgeted to pay athletes — the most allowed for the year that started July 1 based on a percent of the average media revenue of Power Five conference schools.

The $20.5 million cap can increase about 4 percent annually — up to about $32 million over the next decade — with each school deciding how and on whom it wants to spend the money.

Although the University of Northern Iowa didn’t budget for optional revenue sharing in its fiscal 2026 budget report to the Board of Regents in late July, the campus two weeks later on Aug. 15 did unveil new sport-specific “Competitive Excellence Funds.”

“This new program, which was introduced at the start of the 2025-26 fiscal year as a result of the House Settlement, allows revenue-sharing opportunities with UNI student-athletes and will represent a key investment in the future of Panther Athletics,” according to a UNI news release on the revenue-sharing funds.

The House-vs-NCAA settlement enabling student-athlete payments was approved by a federal judge in June 2025 after college athletes argued they’d been denied a shot at financial gain from endorsements and media appearances in violation of antitrust laws.

But while Iowa State and UI athletics both budgeted the max $20.5 million in athlete pay as part of their regular FY26 department expenses, to stay competitive with other Division I programs, UNI didn’t budget any this year.

Its pot of money for student-athlete pay will come exclusively from donors, funneled through the UNI Foundation, according to UNI’s new Athletic Director Megan Franklin.

“The intent during this fiscal year is for the program to be donor funded,” she said.

UNI Athletics did not share publicly how much has been donated to those revenue-sharing funds as of Friday.

“By providing meaningful and targeted resources, these funds are designed to help UNI remain competitive not only within the Missouri Valley Conference, but also across all NCAA Division I competitions,” according to UNI Athletics.

UNI Athletics’ competitive excellence program allows donors to pick which sports they want their money to go toward but not which specific players.

“To comply with NCAA rules and federal regulations, gifts cannot be directed to benefit a specific student-athlete,” according to UNI Athletics. “However, you can designate your support to a specific team. The UNI Athletics department will determine how best to use these funds for the success of the programs.”

And all student athletes — regardless of sport — are eligible to monetize their name, image, and likeness through endorsements, sponsorships, and commercial activities.

“In this new era of NCAA Division I athletics, we elected to opt-in to providing additional opportunities to support the student-athlete experience, including revenue share,” Franklin said in a statement. “The Competitive Excellence funds are key to coaches’ recruitment and retention efforts for future and current Panther student-athletes."

‘Transformational changes’

Beyond revenue-sharing, the new Common Sense Institute report on Iowa’s regent university athletic budgets shows program revenues and expenses have surged beyond Midwest inflation over the last 25 years — spiking 530 percent at Iowa State, 420 percent at the University of Iowa, and 133 percent at UNI, compared to 78 percent growth in the consumer price index.

Likewise, athletics spending relative to their universities’ general fund budgets has surged — especially at Iowa State and the University of Iowa, which are self-supported and generally don’t receive money from their respective main campuses.

Athletics spending in the 2026 budget year at UI is equal to about 20 percent of the general fund budget, up from under 8 percent in 2001; athletics spending at Iowa State this year is equal to 18.4 percent of the university budget, up from 5.6 percent in the early 2000s; and athletics spending at UNI has jumped from 5 percent to 9 percent over that span, according to the report.

“Projections suggest that, if current trends hold, both schools’ athletics programs could reach over one-fifth the size of their general fund budgets by the end of the decade,” according to the Common Sense Institute, which debuted its Iowa branch in January 2024 with the aim of using research and dynamic modeling to study, protect, and promote the state’s economy.

The study, in part, aimed to investigate how a transforming college athletics landscape has and could affect Iowa’s public universities — with the new $20.5 million revenue-share line items second to only salaries across UI and ISU expense categories.

And while UI Athletics has benefited from big gains in conference revenue over the last 15 years — jumping from under $30 million in 2010 to $82.7 million this year — Iowa State’s Big 12 Conference contributions have actually waned from a peak of $52.1 million in 2018 to $35.6 million this year.

“In the past two years, there have been several transformational changes in college athletics that will result in $30 million in recurring annual financial repercussions to the athletics department beginning this year,” Iowa State told regents in July. “Those changes include Big 12 Conference realignment from 10 to 16 teams, adjustment of the distribution model for revenue generated by the College Football Playoff (negatively impacting the Big 12 Conference), and the House v. NCAA settlement, which creates a model to distribute revenue to student athletes.”

The result is an expected cumulative net funding gap of $147 million through 2031 — or nearly $25 million a year — forcing Iowa State to indefinitely shelve construction of a $20 million wrestling practice facility and a $25 million Hilton Coliseum renovation; increase ticket prices, generating an extra $1.5 million annually; up Cyclone Club membership fees, making $3 million more; and cut travel costs for Olympic sports.

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To accommodate its deficit and support the need to keep up with other Division I programs in paying athletes, Iowa State athletics has seen its support from the ISU Foundation spike from $7 million in 2011 to $59.1 million this year.

Nearly 60 percent of that spike happened this year, due to a one-time transfer to offset the revenue-sharing commitment.

Both Iowa State and UI athletics salaries — among the expense categories — have seen the biggest increases, doubling at UI and Iowa State over the last 15 years.

“Salaries have consistently composed most of the expense budget,” according to the report.

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Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

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