How Revenue is Spent at the NCAA (2023)

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is the most well known non-profit, tax-exempt organization focused on college sports in the US. With 1,100 member colleges and universities  in 102 athletic conferences across the country that participate in 90 championships in 24 sports in 3 divisions, the NCAA is a powerful and well financed organization.

The NCAA raises about $1 billion annually (except in 2020 when revenue dropped to about $500 million due to COVID) and it may surprise you to learn the number one source of revenue for this 501 (c) (3) is television rights fees (about 80% of revenue).  

With nearly $500 million in net assets, the NCAA has a significant cushion but what people really want to know is what the NCAA does with the $1 billion in revenue the organization receives annually.  The short answer is they spend about 55% on scholarships/grants, about 21% on office, travel, insurance, advertising, and other expenses, and about 17% on compensation and fees paid to independent contractors. They also save (7% of total revenue or $80 million in 2023): except for 2020, the NCAA rarely spent total revenue, allowing the unspent funds to go the general fund, creating $565 million in net assets by 2023.

In 2023, the NCAA reported $1.255 billion in total revenue. Expenses totaled $1.175 billion, leaving about $80 million to be added to the fund balance.

Expenses ($1.175 billion) can be categorized as follows:

• $695 million (55% of revenue):  Grants
• $157 million (13% of revenue):  Travel and Conferences
• $127 million (10% of revenue):  Fees for Services
• $ 90 million (7% of revenue):  Compensation
• $ 31 million (2% of revenue):  Office-Related Expenses
• $ 23 million (2% of revenue):  Operations:  Printing, Awards, AV, etc
• $ 21 million (2% of revenue):  Advertising and Promotion
• $ 18 million (1% of revenue):  Other
• $ 13 million (1% of revenue):  Insurance

As illustrated above, the largest expense is grants (scholarships/grants) at $695 million or 55% of revenue. The NCAA made 824 grants greater than $5,000, of which 808 were to other non-profit, tax-exempt organizations. The largest grants were awarded to:

• $66 million:  Big Ten Conference of Park Ridge, IL
• $65 million:  Atlantic Coast Conference of Greensboro, NC
• $54 million:  Southeastern Conference of Birmingham, AL
• $36 million:  Big 12 Conference of Irving, TX
• $27 million:  PAC-12 Conference of San Francisco, CA
• $24 million:  Big East Conference of New York, NY
• $16 million:  American Athletic Conference of Providence, RI
• $14  million:  West Coast Conference of San Bruno, CA
• $13 million:  Atlantic 10 Conference of Newport News, VA
• $11 million:  Southland Conference of Frisco, TX
• $11 million:  Missouri Valley Conference of St. Louis, MO
• $11 million:  Summit League of Elmhurst, IL
• $11 million:  Mountain West Conference of Colorado Springs, CO
• $10 million:  Mid-American Conference of Cleveland, OH
• $ 9 million:  Conference USA of Hattiesburg, MS

Using the above information, every $100 in revenue was spent as follows:

 $100:  Revenue

-$ 55:  Grants

-$ 55:  Subtotal Grants

 $ 45:  Revenue Remaining

-$  7:  Compensation

-$ 10:  Fees for Services

-$ 13:  Travel and Conferences

-$  1:  Insurance

-$  2:  Advertising and Promotion

-$  2:  Office-Related Expenses

-$  1:  Other Expenses

-$  2:  Operations. Printing, Awards, AV, etc 

-$ 38: Subtotal: Compensation, Fees, Travel, Insurance, Advertising, Other, Sports Sci/Drug/Med 

-$ 93:  Total Expenses

  $  7:  Excess Revenue over Expenses:  To Fund Balance

As illustrated above, about $55 out of every $100 went to scholarships/grants while $17 went to compensation and fees to outside contractors.  About $21 out of every $100 in revenue was used for travel, insurance, advertising, office, operations, and other expenses.

To read the IRS Form 990 (2022 for the year ending August 31, 2023), click here.