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Oklahoma Takes Financial hit With Early Move to SEC, but Set up for Brighter Days Ahead

The OU athletic department had a shortfall of nearly $44 million, which wasn't unexpected with the leap to the SEC
Ryan Aber|
Fans arrive before a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Tennessee Volunteers at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024.
Fans arrive before a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Tennessee Volunteers at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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NORMAN — When Oklahoma made the decision to leave the Big 12 for the SEC a year earlier than originally planned, OU athletic department officials knew there would be a short-term financial hit.

The scope of that hit became apparent with the Fiscal Year 2025 financial report the school filed with the NCAA on Jan. 14.

The OU athletic department reported a deficit of nearly $44 million for the fiscal year, according to the report, obtained by Sooners on SI by an open-records request.

Outgoing OU athletic director Joe Castiglione sent a letter to fans about the report Jan. 30.

“Our decision to leave the Big 12 one year early required a short-term financial sacrifice in anticipation of higher revenues and long-term benefits that will follow as an SEC member,” Castiglione wrote. “In FY25, OU received $12.5 million in conference distributions, which is $47 million less than our SEC full-share peers who received approximately $60 million each. Our early entry to the SEC was a strategic one, and one that we planned for years in advance. Thanks to decades of careful reserve building, we were able to cover it, and we expect our full SEC shares — beginning this year — will more than make up for the short-term gap.”

Oklahoma and Texas will receive full shares next year, which figures to more than make up for the losses during fiscal year 2025.

There were plenty of signs of that long-term gain in the report.

On the revenue side, ticket sales rose more than $7 million from the 2024 report to $54.5 million and contributions rose nearly $20 million.

Most of that revenue from ticket sales came on the football side, with a reported revenue of more than $47.9 million, up from nearly $41 million the year before.

Men’s basketball and softball were the only other sports to generate more than $1 million in ticket revenue.

Men’s basketball generated more than $2.3 million, up from a little less than $2 million the year before while softball generated around $1.67 million, down nearly $1 million from the season before in the inaugural season of Love’s Field.

Football generated a profit of $61,667,776, while other sports operated at a deficit.

Men’s basketball had an operating deficit of nearly $4.1 million, women’s basketball nearly $5.6 million, other sports a combined deficit of nearly $37.3 million, with a $48.5 million deficit in non-program specific revenue.

Here’s a look at some notable numbers from the report, with the FY2024 numbers for comparison:

Read More Oklahoma Athletics

Revenue

Category

FY2025

FY2024

Ticket Sales

$54,512,302

$47,177,358

Contributions

$92,923,040

$73,187,191

Media Rights

$13,937,497

$4,644,775

NCAA Distributions

$631,998

$4,644,775

Royalties, Licensing, Advertisement and Sponsorships

$19,200,045

$25,194,391

Total Operating Revenue

$205,670,266

$208,829,776

Expenses

Category

FY2025

FY2024

Athletic Student Aid

$17,242,310

$19,520,040

Coaching Salaries

$40,451,216

$38,370,759

Support Staff, Etc.

$29,267,348

$28,174,295

Recruiting

$6,231,259

$6,051,292

Team Travel

$10,941,880

$11,168,418

Direct Overhead

$64,505,812

$46,703,315

Student-Athlete Meals

$6,222,178

$5,271,780

Total Operating Expenses

$249,408,268

$206,189,277

Ticket Sales

Sport

FY2025

FY2024

Baseball

$520,654

$450,040

Men's Basketball

$2,356,702

$2,069,550

Women's Basketball

$447,520

$333,358

Football

$47,939,683

$40,970,310

Men's Gymnastics

$89,950

$12,822

Women's Gymnastics

$266,864

$240,822

Soccer

$26,688

$18,632

Softball

$1,669,852

$2,658,749

Tennis

$271

$454

Volleyball

$42,961

$31,492

Wrestling

$63,111

$74,169

Men's Subtotal

$50,970,371

$43,577,730

Women's Subtotal

$2,453,885

$3,283,439

Revenue not related to specific teams

$1,088,046

$316,189

Revenues Over Expenses

Sport

FY2025

FY2024

Football

$61,667,776

$71,131,476

Men's Basketball

-$4,087,571

$2,284,146

Women's Basketball

-$5,585,069

-$4,144,475

Other Sports

-$37,282,710

-$33,983,844

Non-Program Specific

-$58,450,428

-$32,646,804

Total

-$43,738,002

$2,640,499

Published
Ryan Aber
RYAN ABER

Ryan Aber has been covering Oklahoma football for more than a decade continuously and since 1999 overall. Ryan was the OU beat writer for The Oklahoman from 2013-2025, covering the transition from Bob Stoops to Lincoln Riley to Brent Venables. He covered OU men's basketball's run to the Final Four in 2016 and numerous national championships for the Sooners' women's gymnastics and softball programs. Prior to taking on the Sooners beat, Ryan covered high schools, the Oklahoma City RedHawks and Oklahoma City Barons for the newspaper from 2006-13. He spent two seasons covering Arkansas football for the Morning News of Northwest Arkansas before returning to his hometown of Oklahoma City. Ryan also worked at the Southwest Times Record in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and the Muskogee Phoenix. At the Phoenix, he covered OU's national championship run in 2000. Ryan is a graduate of Putnam City North High School in Oklahoma City and Northeastern State University in Tahlequah.

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