Good morning, and thanks for spending part of your day with Extra Points.
Normally, our Thursdays are partially behind a paywall. But today, we’re lifting that paywall, thanks to a paid partnership with Huron Consulting.
Huron is a global professional services firm with more than 1,300 professionals dedicated to higher education and experience serving each of the nation’s top 100 research universities. Huron combines broad higher education expertise with deep experience in intercollegiate athletics, supported by nationally recognized leaders and practitioners including Sandy Barbour, Jim Delany, Bernard Muir, Kevin Weiberg, and Dr. Kevin White. Together, Huron’s athletics team helps clients navigate the evolving collegiate athletics landscape through strategic, financial, and operational decision-making
Most fans understand that for the largest conferences, revenue from television and conference distributions will either be the single largest source of revenue or come very close. Big Ten and SEC schools can expect north of $50 million a year from television, more than the total athletic department revenue of most single-bid conference programs.
Beyond television and conference distributions, schools sell tickets, ask for donations, hold sports camps, rent out their facilities, and charge for hot dogs and soda pop at games. For programs outside the P4, athletic department revenue generated from student fees, direct institutional support, and guarantee games can also represent massive income streams.
There’s one other revenue stream that applies to virtually everybody, and unlike ticket sales or media rights, it is usually a little easier to grow on a year-to-year basis. That’s revenue from royalties, licensing, advertising, and corporate sponsorships.
That’s a catch-all category that includes everything from the licensing checks schools earn from their IP appearing in video games (like EA Sports College Football) to the returns from every t-shirt and bumper sticker sold with their logo to the ads you see on scoreboards and sideline ribbon boards to every “Official Laxative of the Big State University Tigers” ad read you hear on radio broadcasts.
Many schools partner with what’s called an MMR partner, or multimedia rights partner, to help sell those advertising and corporate sponsorship packages. Schools in more rural areas may benefit from tapping into a more national inventory scale with a huge MMR company, and schools of all types may prefer to outsource that type of sales activity to a firm with more resources and expertise than trying to do it themselves.
The most common structure for those MMR deals is for the outside company to offer a minimum revenue guarantee to the school, which could range anywhere from a few hundred thousand dollars to tens of millions, each year. Any revenue generated above that minimum is then split between the school and the MMR company. The athletic department gets financial predictability, while the MMR company enjoys a healthy chunk of the revenues.
These relationships are more important, and under more scrutiny, than ever. TV contracts are long-term arrangements, and there’s little schools (or conferences) can do to improve those distribution checks over the course of a contract. Stadiums have finite capacity, so ticket revenue has a defined maximum number. But there’s no limit to the number of sponsorships an athletic department can sell or licensing revenue it can earn from hawking its logo out to t-shirt companies.
So who earns this money right now? How much are we talking about?
We have the full school-by-school data below, but these two charts, produced by Huron, shows that like most revenue streams, there are huge differences between what large P4 institutions are able to generate compared to everybody else in FBS:
Not a surprise that schools from the SEC and Big Ten are at the top of the table for generating sponsorship revenue, as those leagues have more of the largest brands in D-I. But while there are few schools who generate more than $20 million a year in revenue, that isn’t common. Here’s a a breakdown of the distribution of sponsorship revenues:
Programs like Ohio State and Texas certainly aren’t the norm. The more typical amount of revenue generated, when you look across all of D-I, is something closer to Vermont…a figure between $1 and $3 million a year.
Why the huge gaps?
Sure, you’d expect a school with a massive brand (like Texas or Ohio State) to generate more money than a Texas Southern or a Wright State. But there are also significant gaps between not just conferences but teams within each conference.
Huron’s Will Campbell noted that "revenue in this category is often more institution-specific than conference-driven. While conference affiliation matters, brand strength, fan engagement, market size, sponsorship inventory, and the structure of MMR agreements can vary substantially from one school to another, leading to large differences in reported revenue even among conference peers.
Based on data obtained via the Extra Points Library (which in turn comes from each public school’s FY25 MFRS filing with the NCAA), here’s what schools reported earning in FY25 royalties, licensing, advertising, and corporate sponsorships revenue:
School Name | FY25 Licensing/Royalties revenue |
University of Texas at Austin | $51,956,322 |
The Ohio State University | $42,770,263 |
University of Michigan | $35,556,501 |
University of Tennessee, Knoxville | $33,004,839 |
Texas A&M University, College Station | $30,337,025 |
University of Oregon | $26,607,027 |
Pennsylvania State University | $25,114,673 |
University of Wisconsin-Madison | $24,757,630 |
University of Louisville | $24,645,765 |
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill | $23,973,222 |
University of Georgia | $23,506,854 |
University of Washington | $21,732,337 |
Arizona State University | $20,425,234 |
Texas Tech University | $20,209,486 |
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville | $19,416,571 |
University of Oklahoma | $19,200,045 |
University of Nebraska-Lincoln | $17,941,341 |
Clemson University | $17,906,491 |
University of Alabama | $17,233,822 |
University of Utah | $15,717,133 |
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | $14,961,055 |
Mississippi State University | $14,716,195 |
Michigan State University | $14,240,446 |
Florida State University | $14,187,618 |
University of Central Florida | $13,883,426 |
U.S. Naval Academy | $13,591,947 |
San Diego State University | $13,473,106 |
University of Iowa | $13,142,787 |
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities | $13,006,804 |
University of Mississippi | $12,457,220 |
University of Colorado, Boulder | $12,354,633 |
University of Kansas | $12,147,484 |
Indiana University, Bloomington | $11,283,870 |
University of Connecticut | $10,983,434 |
University of Florida | $10,958,032 |
University of South Carolina | $10,684,070 |
University of California, Los Angeles | $10,589,277 |
Oregon State University | $10,472,846 |
University of Missouri, Columbia | $10,413,788 |
Kansas State University | $9,914,071 |
Auburn University | $9,667,454 |
West Virginia University | $9,550,743 |
Purdue University | $9,176,973 |
U.S. Military Academy | $8,825,000 |
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | $8,725,169 |
Boise State University | $8,595,204 |
University of Virginia | $8,166,062 |
University of Maryland, College Park | $7,906,346 |
Oklahoma State University | $7,169,416 |
University of Kentucky | $7,115,471 |
University of Cincinnati | $6,831,880 |
University of Memphis | $6,738,181 |
Colorado State University | $6,702,402 |
University of Houston | $6,447,110 |
University of Arizona | $5,639,702 |
University of California, Berkeley | $5,490,492 |
University of South Florida | $5,222,866 |
Louisiana State University | $5,056,844 |
Washington State University | $4,513,949 |
University of Hawaii, Manoa | $4,467,673 |
California State University, Fresno | $4,421,200 |
U.S. Air Force Academy | $4,214,783 |
Old Dominion University | $3,956,783 |
Appalachian State University | $3,829,340 |
University of Texas at San Antonio | $3,681,860 |
University of North Texas | $3,577,328 |
University of Wyoming | $3,566,654 |
University of Alabama at Birmingham | $3,561,462 |
University of Nevada, Reno | $3,496,980 |
University of Nevada, Las Vegas | $3,469,382 |
East Carolina University | $3,437,475 |
Marshall University | $3,277,739 |
Utah State University | $3,087,240 |
Kennesaw State University | $3,086,799 |
University of Nebraska Omaha | $2,943,240 |
University of New Mexico | $2,942,400 |
George Mason University | $2,745,689 |
Georgia State University | $2,689,383 |
Texas State University | $2,684,346 |
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick | $2,679,994 |
University of Texas at El Paso | $2,601,958 |
Western Michigan University | $2,439,636 |
North Dakota State University | $2,425,925 |
North Carolina State University | $2,401,181 |
Iowa State University | $2,281,324 |
Virginia Commonwealth University | $2,249,296 |
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale | $2,180,839 |
South Dakota State University | $2,065,643 |
Florida International University | $2,064,796 |
Western Kentucky University | $2,043,496 |
Austin Peay State University | $1,935,507 |
University of Montana | $1,871,333 |
Wichita State University | $1,861,445 |
University of North Dakota | $1,853,440 |
McNeese State University | $1,815,085 |
Middle Tennessee State University | $1,779,405 |
Ohio University | $1,773,372 |
James Madison University | $1,760,815 |
Illinois State University | $1,753,006 |
Sam Houston State University | $1,699,267 |
University at Buffalo, the State University of New York | $1,667,715 |
Northern Arizona University | $1,666,735 |
University of South Alabama | $1,601,369 |
Georgia Southern University | $1,592,217 |
Southeastern Louisiana University | $1,471,805 |
New Mexico State University | $1,464,135 |
University of New Hampshire | $1,433,486 |
Coastal Carolina University | $1,409,921 |
Florida Atlantic University | $1,363,050 |
University of Idaho | $1,357,405 |
Utah Tech University | $1,354,703 |
Murray State University | $1,327,380 |
University of Northern Iowa | $1,320,094 |
Weber State University | $1,318,110 |
University of Vermont | $1,221,701 |
University of North Florida | $1,213,870 |
University of California, Davis | $1,197,227 |
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte | $1,191,718 |
Eastern Kentucky University | $1,160,806 |
University of Wisconsin-Green Bay | $1,142,456 |
University of Rhode Island | $1,108,732 |
University of South Dakota | $1,079,707 |
Binghamton University | $1,071,131 |
San Jose State University | $1,070,840 |
University of North Alabama | $1,056,801 |
University of Akron | $1,025,835 |
Miami University (Ohio) | $1,020,942 |
Kent State University | $1,008,154 |
Oakland University | $1,001,315 |
William & Mary | $998,861 |
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley | $988,725 |
University of California, Santa Barbara | $957,734 |
Southern University, Baton Rouge | $950,544 |
Bowling Green State University | $942,017 |
Norfolk State University | $935,243 |
Missouri State University | $933,663 |
Northern Illinois University | $933,280 |
Indiana State University | $921,123 |
Nicholls State University | $887,281 |
University of North Carolina Wilmington | $880,269 |
University of California, Irvine | $874,767 |
University of Louisiana Monroe | $841,376 |
Tarleton State University | $825,740 |
The Citadel | $823,140 |
University of Illinois Chicago | $821,321 |
Youngstown State University | $804,060 |
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee | $764,859 |
Ball State University | $753,699 |
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga | $750,576 |
Stony Brook University | $746,087 |
College of Charleston | $734,076 |
Winthrop University | $730,768 |
University of Massachusetts Lowell | $706,527 |
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville | $691,149 |
The University of Southern Mississippi | $684,102 |
Utah Valley University | $655,308 |
Louisiana Tech University | $655,249 |
Southeast Missouri State University | $644,465 |
Idaho State University | $638,449 |
Troy University | $620,660 |
Towson University | $619,079 |
University of Northern Colorado | $613,311 |
Prairie View A&M University | $611,968 |
Wright State University | $591,087 |
California Polytechnic State University | $556,260 |
Lamar University | $550,450 |
Western Carolina University | $543,329 |
Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi | $534,839 |
Stephen F. Austin State University | $525,548 |
Tennessee Technological University | $511,834 |
Radford University | $490,915 |
California State University, Fullerton | $490,153 |
University of Central Arkansas | $486,177 |
Portland State University | $485,990 |
University of Toledo | $473,723 |
Northwestern State University | $426,157 |
University of Maryland Eastern Shore | $400,965 |
University of Louisiana at Lafayette | $398,883 |
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro | $398,088 |
University of California, San Diego | $391,625 |
California State University, Bakersfield | $377,765 |
North Carolina A&T State University | $376,263 |
University at Albany | $352,055 |
Long Beach State University | $338,775 |
University of Southern Indiana | $335,018 |
University of Massachusetts, Amherst | $334,868 |
Eastern Michigan University | $334,276 |
IU Indy | $334,089 |
University of California, Riverside | $328,874 |
Central Michigan University | $325,448 |
Northern Kentucky University | $317,847 |
California State University, Northridge | $304,673 |
Morehead State University | $302,950 |
Florida A&M University | $287,298 |
Arkansas State University | $278,656 |
Cleveland State University | $269,081 |
University of New Orleans | $267,366 |
Eastern Washington University | $266,034 |
East Texas A&M University | $265,608 |
University of Tennessee at Martin | $258,040 |
University of North Carolina Asheville | $254,825 |
Montana State University-Bozeman | $246,033 |
Georgia Institute of Technology | $218,424 |
Purdue University Fort Wayne | $212,387 |
University of Missouri-Kansas City | $210,672 |
Eastern Illinois University | $208,770 |
University of Maryland, Baltimore County | $207,874 |
University of South Carolina Upstate | $206,625 |
University of Texas at Arlington | $196,426 |
Western Illinois University | $193,766 |
Florida Gulf Coast University | $189,786 |
Virginia Military Institute | $186,144 |
Longwood University | $184,793 |
Southern Utah University | $178,388 |
Morgan State University | $156,174 |
South Carolina State University | $128,750 |
University of West Georgia | $122,500 |
New Jersey Institute of Technology | $94,456 |
Tennessee State University | $60,773 |
University of Maine | $40,000 |
Central Connecticut State University | $20,820 |
Jackson State University | $19,625 |
Coppin State University | $6,578 |
Chicago State University | $2,149 |
Grambling State University | $79 |
University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff | $0 |
Alabama A&M University | $0 |
Jacksonville State University | $0 |
California State University, Sacramento | $0 |
Texas Southern University | $0 |
Alcorn State University | $0 |
Alabama State University | $0 |
Mississippi Valley State University | $0 |
University of Arkansas at Little Rock | $0 |
North Carolina Central University | $0 |
Why are some schools listed at zero dollars?
It’s possible that some D-I schools really didn’t generate a single dollar in sponsorship revenue, but not likely.
Huron’s Will Campbell told me that “Regarding the institutions reporting $0 in that category, our assumption is that these results may be due to differences in institutional accounting, revenues being recorded in other categories or through affiliated entities, the absence of an MMR deal, or reporting inconsistencies.”
That lines up with my professional experience analyzing these reports. Some line items, like TV rights, conference distributions, and other revenue sources, aren’t always completely broken out.
That being said, it’s unlikely that MVSU’s actual number was something like ten million dollars.
So what’s next?
Since many other revenue streams are either locked into long-term contracts or difficult to directly impact, a lot of the revenue-generating conversation in the industry will continue to center around improving income via corporate partnerships and licensing. The rush to find jersey sponsorship partners and field-level naming partners are certainly part of that, but the conversation will also include creating new assets that could be monetized via sponsorships, improving sale performance of existing licensed goods, upgrading existing partnerships, and more.
Because at the end of the day, hiring the right coaches, funding House payments and establishing the scholarships you need to be successful…all cost money. Whoever can generate and spender it efficiently, is going to have a major advantage.
