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The University of Missouri’s athletic department reported a $9.1 million deficit for the 2025 fiscal year, according to its annual report, which is known as the NCAA Membership Financial Reporting System (FRS).
The Tribune obtained the report via an open records request Wednesday, Jan. 21. The report was due to be filed with the NCAA by Wednesday, Jan. 14.
Missouri athletic director Laird Veatch met with the Tribune and a small group of select other local media outlets on Jan. 21 to discuss the department’s revenues and operating expenses.
The university set records for both revenue and expenditure in the past fiscal year, eclipsing the previous highs that were set in fiscal year 2024.
Missouri athletics saw approximately $181.9 million in revenue and expenses of $191 million for the fiscal year 2025, hence the $9.1 million deficit.
Missouri athletics shrunk its operating deficit by more than $6 million in the past year, as the department had a $15.2 million deficit in fiscal year 2024. That means revenue growth was faster than expenses growth in Veatch's first full year as the Tigers' AD.
The athletic department received $25,715,000 of direct institutional support for the second straight year, per the report, and the university is covering the $9.1-million deficit with an internal loan, Veatch confirmed.
“Appreciative of university leadership, President (Mun Choi), board, for recognizing the value of athletics, investing in athletics as they have and continue to,” Veatch said. “They continue to reiterate the importance of that impact it has on our brand as an institution, enrollment, economy, etcetera. That is incredibly encouraging to be operating in such a challenging environment with that type of leadership and support.
“And also appreciate the fans, because we continue to ask a lot of them. They're reflecting the ‘will to win’ that we keep talking about and recognize that we need them to invest in order so that we can invest so we can continue to secure talent and compete at the highest level. That is critically important, and that's going to present more and more opportunities for us to compete for championships, create lasting memories, all the things we want to do.”
The last time Missouri athletics did not operate with a deficit was fiscal year 2023, when it reported $141.5 million in both revenue and expenses, ending the year in the black by $1.
The 2025 fiscal year ran from July 2024 through June 2025. College athletics has seen a seismic shift since then — although not every change will be reflected in this year’s report, because of the date range for the financial filings.
Universities, for the first time, are now permitted to share $20.5-million worth of revenue directly to their student-athletes, stemming from the landmark House vs. NCAA settlement that officially went into effect this past July.
Work is still underway on the $250-million renovations to the north concourse of Missouri football’s Memorial Stadium. The project is expected to be completed ahead of the 2026 football season.
The 2025 fiscal report contains more than 40 revenue and expense categories that cover a wide variety of spending and earning.
Here are the key numbers from Missouri’s most recent report:
Contributions overtook media rights as Mizzou’s biggest revenue-generator this year, overtaking media rights. It is also more than $10 million than in fiscal year 2024.
Ticket sales also increased by more than $4 million from fiscal year 2024. That does not include recent price increases to football and men’s basketball season tickets, so the athletic department could see the revenue from ticket sales grow even more in fiscal year in 2026.
“Really encouraged (by the ticket revenue),” Veatch said. “This fiscal year that we're referencing, you think about from a growth standpoint, that really had to do more with volume, right? It was the continued sellout streak related to football. We had a really good attendance in men’s basketball, some of our other sports. So that was more about an increase overall in revenues that you saw reflected by volume increases.
“And now this year, you'll see at the end of this fiscal (year), at this point next year, reporting back, we'll look back and see increases related to those prices as well. So, over a two-year term, we're taking a really substantial step toward closing that gap that we've talked about. Now, our peers continue to elevate as well, but we're making real progress there.”
Marketing was not in Missouri’s top-five for expenses last year, and it’s at the top of the list. Why?
“A lot of that, candidly, has to do with the NIL environment we're in now,” Veatch said. “So, there's been, as you know, a lot of reporting about what's commonly referred to as ‘front-loading’ of NIL and escalating market-related NIL. So, a lot of that had to do with raising funding for that, but it also had to do with some other initiatives we put in place and just progress overall on the contribution side. But, also, our efforts to be competitive on the market expenses are really kind of NIL-related expenses.”
This essentially tells us which teams generated more money than they spent. In fiscal year 2024, it was only football. Last year, men’s basketball turned around from a near-$750,000 deficit to a $4.5-million profit.
This is among the more significant increases on this year’s report. Both football and men’s basketball saw more than a $1-million increase in revenue for ticket sales, and — because it represents fiscal year 2025 — this is before the widespread ticket-price increases went into effect.
“We were definitely pleased with that that result in our first kind of full fiscal year here together,” Veatch said. “We did reduce that negative operating balance from $15 million down to $9 million, so $6 million year-over-year improvement, about a 40% improvement. And as you referenced, revenues increased by over $14 million year over year. So, some really good progress there.”
We mentioned it earlier, but massive changes have come to college athletics.
How will revenue-sharing — the university’s ability to redistribute more than $20 million of its own revenue to pay student-athletes — impact future financial reports?
“It feels kind of a little bit like the way-too-early top-25 predictions that you see come out,” Veatch said. “I think we're a little too soon to know the full outcome. There's no question, our expenses continue to escalate, but as you've seen, revenues continue to improve as well. We're making efforts in those areas, and we've made expense reductions in others to try to accommodate for a lot of that.”
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri athletics reports $9.1M deficit but revenue grows faster than expenses
Continue reading...
The Tribune obtained the report via an open records request Wednesday, Jan. 21. The report was due to be filed with the NCAA by Wednesday, Jan. 14.
Missouri athletic director Laird Veatch met with the Tribune and a small group of select other local media outlets on Jan. 21 to discuss the department’s revenues and operating expenses.
The university set records for both revenue and expenditure in the past fiscal year, eclipsing the previous highs that were set in fiscal year 2024.
Missouri athletics saw approximately $181.9 million in revenue and expenses of $191 million for the fiscal year 2025, hence the $9.1 million deficit.
Missouri athletics shrunk its operating deficit by more than $6 million in the past year, as the department had a $15.2 million deficit in fiscal year 2024. That means revenue growth was faster than expenses growth in Veatch's first full year as the Tigers' AD.
The athletic department received $25,715,000 of direct institutional support for the second straight year, per the report, and the university is covering the $9.1-million deficit with an internal loan, Veatch confirmed.
“Appreciative of university leadership, President (Mun Choi), board, for recognizing the value of athletics, investing in athletics as they have and continue to,” Veatch said. “They continue to reiterate the importance of that impact it has on our brand as an institution, enrollment, economy, etcetera. That is incredibly encouraging to be operating in such a challenging environment with that type of leadership and support.
“And also appreciate the fans, because we continue to ask a lot of them. They're reflecting the ‘will to win’ that we keep talking about and recognize that we need them to invest in order so that we can invest so we can continue to secure talent and compete at the highest level. That is critically important, and that's going to present more and more opportunities for us to compete for championships, create lasting memories, all the things we want to do.”
The last time Missouri athletics did not operate with a deficit was fiscal year 2023, when it reported $141.5 million in both revenue and expenses, ending the year in the black by $1.
The 2025 fiscal year ran from July 2024 through June 2025. College athletics has seen a seismic shift since then — although not every change will be reflected in this year’s report, because of the date range for the financial filings.
Universities, for the first time, are now permitted to share $20.5-million worth of revenue directly to their student-athletes, stemming from the landmark House vs. NCAA settlement that officially went into effect this past July.
Work is still underway on the $250-million renovations to the north concourse of Missouri football’s Memorial Stadium. The project is expected to be completed ahead of the 2026 football season.
The 2025 fiscal report contains more than 40 revenue and expense categories that cover a wide variety of spending and earning.
Here are the key numbers from Missouri’s most recent report:
What were Missouri athletics’ main forms of revenue?
- Contributions: $46,469,656
- Media rights: $40,485,677
- Direct institutional support: $25,715,000
- Ticket sales: $23,397,607
- Conference distributions of postseason generated revenue: $13,760,348
Contributions overtook media rights as Mizzou’s biggest revenue-generator this year, overtaking media rights. It is also more than $10 million than in fiscal year 2024.
Ticket sales also increased by more than $4 million from fiscal year 2024. That does not include recent price increases to football and men’s basketball season tickets, so the athletic department could see the revenue from ticket sales grow even more in fiscal year in 2026.
“Really encouraged (by the ticket revenue),” Veatch said. “This fiscal year that we're referencing, you think about from a growth standpoint, that really had to do more with volume, right? It was the continued sellout streak related to football. We had a really good attendance in men’s basketball, some of our other sports. So that was more about an increase overall in revenues that you saw reflected by volume increases.
“And now this year, you'll see at the end of this fiscal (year), at this point next year, reporting back, we'll look back and see increases related to those prices as well. So, over a two-year term, we're taking a really substantial step toward closing that gap that we've talked about. Now, our peers continue to elevate as well, but we're making real progress there.”
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What were Missouri athletics’ main forms of expenses?
- Fund raising, marketing and promotion: $34,641,877
- Coaching salaries, benefits, bonuses paid by university: $32,905,645
- Support staff/administrative compensation, benefits, bonuses paid by university: $31,904,148
- Athletic student aid: $13,789,882
- Other operating expenses (unspecified): $11,840,463
Marketing was not in Missouri’s top-five for expenses last year, and it’s at the top of the list. Why?
“A lot of that, candidly, has to do with the NIL environment we're in now,” Veatch said. “So, there's been, as you know, a lot of reporting about what's commonly referred to as ‘front-loading’ of NIL and escalating market-related NIL. So, a lot of that had to do with raising funding for that, but it also had to do with some other initiatives we put in place and just progress overall on the contribution side. But, also, our efforts to be competitive on the market expenses are really kind of NIL-related expenses.”
Excess of revenues after expenses
- Football: $9,362,773
- Men’s basketball: $4,503,854
- Women’s basketball: -$5,368,580
- Other sports: -$28,538,731
- Non-program specific: $10,907,017
This essentially tells us which teams generated more money than they spent. In fiscal year 2024, it was only football. Last year, men’s basketball turned around from a near-$750,000 deficit to a $4.5-million profit.
Which sports had the most total operating revenue?
- Football: $58,678,912
- Men’s basketball: $18,857,854
- Volleyball: $811,122
- Gymnastics: $778,101
- Softball: $504,651
- Women’s basketball: $379,812
- Baseball: $321,034
- Wrestling: $319,218
- Soccer: $183,259
- Women’s golf: $142,206
Which sports had the most operating expenses?
- Football: $49,316,139
- Men’s basketball: $14,354,000
- Women’s basketball: $5,748,392
- Baseball: $4,591,972
- Softball: $3,658,487
- Volleyball: $3,048,994
- Women’s T&F, XC: $2,844,658
- Gymnastics: $2,687,000
- Wrestling: $2,649,631
- Men’s T&F, XC: $2,503,909
How much did Missouri receive in media rights?
- Football: $15,930,506
- Men’s basketball: $6,859,267
- Non-program specific: $17,695,904
How much did each sport receive in contributions?
- Football: $5,796,903
- Men’s basketball: $1,003,595
- Women’s golf: $15,520
- Softball: $13,040
- Baseball: $2,636
- Revenue not related to specific teams: $39,636,432
How much did Missouri teams make on ticket sales?
- Football: $15,976,539
- Men’s basketball: $4,746,448
- Softball: $236,399
- Women’s basketball: $178,379
- Baseball: $93,467
- Volleyball: $87,036
- Gymnastics: $83,217
- Wrestling: $64,539
This is among the more significant increases on this year’s report. Both football and men’s basketball saw more than a $1-million increase in revenue for ticket sales, and — because it represents fiscal year 2025 — this is before the widespread ticket-price increases went into effect.
Missouri AD Laird Veatch on reducing the deficit
“We were definitely pleased with that that result in our first kind of full fiscal year here together,” Veatch said. “We did reduce that negative operating balance from $15 million down to $9 million, so $6 million year-over-year improvement, about a 40% improvement. And as you referenced, revenues increased by over $14 million year over year. So, some really good progress there.”
How might revenue-sharing impact fiscal year 2026?
We mentioned it earlier, but massive changes have come to college athletics.
How will revenue-sharing — the university’s ability to redistribute more than $20 million of its own revenue to pay student-athletes — impact future financial reports?
“It feels kind of a little bit like the way-too-early top-25 predictions that you see come out,” Veatch said. “I think we're a little too soon to know the full outcome. There's no question, our expenses continue to escalate, but as you've seen, revenues continue to improve as well. We're making efforts in those areas, and we've made expense reductions in others to try to accommodate for a lot of that.”
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri athletics reports $9.1M deficit but revenue grows faster than expenses
Continue reading...
