Expenses for the Univ. of Wisconsin athletic department are “projected to increase 16% next school year, setting another record high at a time when it’ll start to share revenue with players,” according to Todd Milewski of the WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL. Wisconsin is “asking for approval of a budget” with $198.895M in expenses for the 2025-26 season. The plan “cleared its first step Monday, receiving unanimous approval from an Athletic Board committee.” The Badgers are set to “add on nearly” $28M in expenses for FY 2026 with “most of the growth attributed to revenue sharing with athletes that’s likely to begin in July.” Wisconsin officials have been “planning the budget with an assumption that the settlement of antitrust cases against the NCAA and major conferences will receive final approval.” Athletic department CFO Adam Barnes said that the budget for operating expenses is “up 7% over 2024-25” to $69.975M as teams “face inflationary increases in travel.” The Badgers football team also “has five road trips that involve flights instead of a more common number of three.” Barnes said that an average increase of operating expenses of 4.8% for sports other than football “absolutely reflects our commitment to supporting our 23 sport programs.” Milewski reported the additional expenses are “being paid for with more money from the Big Ten, higher ticket prices and the department dipping more into the pool of donations.” The budget approval process “next goes to the full Athletic Board” today, then “into hands of campus officials” (WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL, 4/15).
Univ. of Wisconsin expecting significant expenses increase ahead of revenue sharing
