The University of Wisconsin athletic department's proposed expenses for the 2024-25 school year were a record high as revenue from new Big Ten media deals starts to come online.
The Athletic Board on Friday unanimously approved a recommendation for a budget that includes $170.942 million in expenses and $170.952 million in revenue. Both were the highest ever presented to the board, and the expenses line was 63% higher than the budget from 10 years earlier.
Final approval authority on the budget rests with UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin.
The expense line was a 5.8%Â increase over the 2023-24 budget, and athletics CFO Adam Barnes said the growth was due to higher salaries and expenses totals and more operating expenses because of west coast travel.
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The Big Ten is adding Southern Cal, UCLA, Washington and Oregon next season, and Badgers teams will have to pay for some longer trips.
More money from media deals is helping to cover the expenses.
Revenues from Big Ten distributions were projected to increase 18% in 2024-25, with nearly $11 million more going to Wisconsin than earmarked in this season's budget. The Athletic Board didn't get a breakdown of how much of the Big Ten money was from media rights as opposed to revenue from bowl games and the NCAA that flows to schools through the conference.
Barnes said Wisconsin's share of conference distributions for the Big Ten football championship game and basketball tournament will be smaller because those pools will be split among more teams.
The fiscal year 2025 budget also included an increase of expenses for name, image and likeness projects. Barnes said the department anticipated an NCAA rule change made this week that allows schools to be more directly involved in facilitating NIL deals for athletes.
"As an institution, we're operating within the current parameters," Barnes told the board's Finance, Facilities and Operations committee. "And as we expect those parameters to change, we will continue to adjust to reflect whatever the current rules are."
Expenses on salaries and benefits in 2024-25 were projected to climb $3.725 million, or 5.5%, over the current year's budgeted figure. The $71.923 million budget line for salaries and benefits next season was 42% of the overall expense total.
Wisconsin's athletic department budgeted expenses in 2014-15 were $104,642,200; the 2024-25 budget projection was more than $66 million higher than it was 10 years earlier.
The department reported $194 million in expenses for 2022-23 as part of a required NCAA filing, but Barnes said that amount used a different accounting method than Wisconsin does for its budget process.
Ticket sales were projected to bring in $35.4 million in revenue next season, an increase of 6% over 2023-24 that Barnes attributed to higher football prices.
Wisconsin projected using nearly $28 million in gift funds as part of the 2024-25 budget, but Barnes said that number depends on how much the department needs to fund operations or capital expenses.
Wisconsin also was planning to spend $27.5 million of donor funds on capital projects in 2024-25. The $285 million football indoor practice facility is expected to start construction next winter or spring and a renovation and addition at the Kohl Center is on pace to be finished in January.
The committee also received updates on facility projects that are scheduled to be completed this year. The installation of a heated football field at Camp Randall Stadium is ahead of schedule, senior associate athletic director Jason King said, with an early July completion date.
The replacement of video boards at Camp Randall has started in recent weeks and will be completed this summer, King said. The main video board at the north end of the stadium will be changed out after graduation in May.