How Revenue is Spent at the NCAA (2024)

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 more than $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 73% of revenue in 2024 and 80% in 2023).  

At the beginning of the fiscal year, the NCAA had nearly $600 million in net assets but with an antitrust settlement that cost the organization $2.7 billion (to pay damages to Division 1 athletes for NIL restrictions going back to 2016), the NCAA ended the year in the hole to the tune of $2 billion.  But what people really want to know is what the NCAA does with the $1 billion plus in revenue the organization receives annually.  The short answer is they spend about 55% on scholarships/grants, about 22% on office, travel, insurance, advertising, and other expenses, and about 17% on compensation and fees paid to independent contractors.

In 2024, the NCAA reported $1.3 billion in total revenue. Expenses totaled $1.2 billion, not including the $2.7 billion settlement that as expensed in 2024.

Expenses ($1.2 billion) can be categorized as follows:

• $705 million (55% of revenue):  Grants
• $164 million (13% of revenue):  Travel and Conferences
• $134 million (10% of revenue):  Fees for Services
• $ 93 million (7% of revenue):  Compensation
• $ 35 million (3% of revenue):  Office-Related Expenses
• $ 19 million (1% of revenue):  Operations:  Printing, Awards, AV, etc
• $ 21 million (2% of revenue):  Advertising and Promotion
• $ 24 million (2% of revenue):  Other
• $ 13 million (1% of revenue):  Insurance

As illustrated above, the largest expense is grants (scholarships/grants) at $75 million or 55% of revenue. The NCAA made 823 grants greater than $5,000, of which 811 were to other non-profit, tax-exempt organizations. The largest grants were awarded to:

• $66 million:  Big Ten Conference of Park Ridge, IL
• $62 million:  Atlantic Coast Conference of Greensboro, NC
• $53 million:  Southeastern Conference of Birmingham, AL
• $38 million:  Big 12 Conference of Irving, TX
• $25 million:  PAC-12 Conference of San Francisco, CA
• $25 million:  Big East Conference of New York, NY
• $19 million:  American Athletic Conference of Providence, RI
• $13  million:  West Coast Conference of San Bruno, CA
• $13 million:  Mountain West Conference of Colorado Springs, CO
• $12 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:  Mid-American Conference of Cleveland, OH
• $10 million:  Summit League of Elmhurst, IL
• $10 million:  Sunbelt Conference Commissioner, of New Orleans, LA
• $ 9  million:  Conference USA of Hattiesburg, MS
• $ 9 million:  Coastal Athletic Association, of Richmond, VA
• $ 9 million:  Southwestern Athletic Conference, of Birmingham, AL
• $ 8 million:  Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, of Edison, NY
• $ 8 million:  Ohio Valley Conference, of Brentwood, TN
• $ 8 million:  Patriot League, of Center Valley, PA
• $ 7 million:  America East Conference of Cambridge, MA
• $ 7 million:  Western Athletic Conference, of Englewood, CO
• $ 7 million:  Southern Conference Commissioner, of Spartanburg, SC
• $ 7 million:  Northeast Conference, of Bridgewater, NJ
• $ 7 million:  Atlantic Sun Conference, of Macon, GA
• $ 7 million:  Big Sky Conference, of Ogden, UT
• $ 7 million:  Big West Conference, of Irvine, CA
• $ 7 million:   Horizon League, of Indianapolis, IN
• $ 7 million:  Trustees of Princeton University, of Princeton, NJ
• $ 6 million:  Big South Conference, of Charlotte, NC
• $ 6 million:  Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, of Norfolk, VA

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

-$  3:  Office-Related Expenses

-$  2:  Other Expenses

-$  1:  Operations. Printing, Awards, AV, etc 

-$ 39: Subtotal: Compensation, Fees, Travel, Insurance, Advertising, Other, Sports Sci/Drug/Med 

-$ 94:  Total Expenses

  $  6:  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 $22 out of every $100 in revenue was used for travel, insurance, advertising, office, operations, and other expenses.

To read the IRS Form 990 (2023 for the year ending August 31, 2024), click here.