LSU athletics finished with a $3.8M surplus, and the “football team turned a record profit” during FY2025, according to Wilson Alexander of the New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE. The department recorded $223.4M in revenue, a “slight uptick from the year before,” while spending $219.6M. As a result, LSU “ended up with a higher profit than the year before,” when it had one of $1.73M in the FY2024. LSU has now exceeded $200M in revenue “for three straight years.” It “generated a slight increase in revenue” in FY2025 “compared to the year before in large part due to an increase in media rights payouts.” LSU made $53.1M from media rights after bringing in $43.6M the previous year. LSU spent $219.6M, which was roughly $1M more than the year before. The “highest expenditures” came from $82.7M in “combined compensation for coaches, support staff and administration.” LSU also spent $27M on “unspecified operating expenses.” LSU football was “the big money-maker.” It reported $117.5M in revenue and $50.7M in expenses, resulting in a $66.8M surplus, which is “believed to be a record for the team.” It generated a $52.4M surplus the year before. The increase was “mostly thanks to multi-million dollar bumps” in ticket sales ($43.6M), media rights ($18.6M) and conference distributions of bowl-generated revenue ($13.1M). The team also received $28M in “outside contributions.” Its total revenue was $9.6M higher than the year before (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 1/22).
LSU posts $3.8M surplus as revenues top $223M
