Packed stadiums, empty balance sheets: the reality of college athletics
- Emilio Quintanal
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
While coursing through a journalism degree at the University of Colorado Boulder, Jack Carlough could often be found following the university’s many varsity and club sports teams.
It was a passion that led him to pursue a career covering sports as a lead writer for Sports Illustrated and 247Sports. Carlough continues to cover CU athletics, but the future of college sports worries him.
At the world’s highest level of amateur sports, the bright lights, loud fans and packed stadiums fool many. It is a common misconception that schools profit from their athletic departments. In fact, many schools often lose a significant amount through their athletics.
“Something’s eventually has to give,” Carlough said.
His concerns are shared by many – from athletic directors, faculty, staff, students and fans all over the world.
At the foot of the Rocky Mountains in a small city of less than 150,000 residents sits a flagship public university. And though it offers world-renowned professors, state-of-the-art facilities, and a vibrant campus and community for students and alumni alike, its beating heart is the love and fandom for the Colorado Buffaloes.
The Buffaloes have 17 school-sponsored varsity teams that compete in intercollegiate athletics at NCAA Division I. Students, faculty and members of the community rally behind these teams. Saturdays at Folsom Field or late nights at the CU Events Center have become staple activities for Boulder residents.
The crowds, stadiums, sponsorships and magnitude of college athletics lead people to believe that they must be a large revenue driver for schools. That perception caused public pressure, fueling many lawsuits against the NCAA for student-athletes to receive compensation beyond scholarships, room and board. These lawsuits have gradually taken power away from the NCAA and given it to the players.
College athletics have changed dramatically in the past five years. In July 2021, the Supreme Court unanimously voted on the Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) bill in NCAA v. Alston. This bill allowed student-athletes to profit from their own personal brand without losing their respective eligibility.
While this was originally meant for athletes to get brand deals, schools used it to indirectly pay players through their NIL collectives. The collectives were a place where donors, local businesses and stakeholders of the athletic department could devote funds to players in exchange for services or endorsements, which was a technicality that bent the rules of what NIL was supposed to be.
Deals often did not match market value. It was a legal pathway for players to be compensated.
Changes in player compensation continued to be the theme leading up to the summer of 2025, when the settlement of House v. NCAA allowed athletic departments to allocate up to $20.5 million of “revenue share” to pay athletes in the best way the school sees fit.
This settlement raised numerous equitable questions regarding Title IX, the civil rights law charged with protecting equality in athletics for schools that receive federal funding, ensuring that women’s sports are protected and prioritized. However, the biggest concern for schools was liquidity.
An often misunderstood billion-dollar industry, most athletic departments operate at a loss. They are not small losses either; they can be substantial investments that often don’t see dollar-to-dollar return.
For the 2026 fiscal year, Colorado is projecting a $27 million deficit. That is the first year that the new “revenue share” expenses kick in, but Colorado has been operating at breakeven or loss for what seems like a lifetime.
“As an athletic department as a whole, we’re like negative,” said Brooke Jaworski, a senior advancement assistant at CU’s Office of Advancement and Buff Club. “That 20-whatever million dollars is like our zero. If we’re past that, then we’re really in debt. Everyone is just kind of working to make even at that $20 million realm.”
“I could see schools cutting some of the smaller sports. Title IX complicates that … When you have to fund football and basketball,” Carlough said.
In 2022, before coach Deion Sanders arrived, CU’s athletic department reported an operating revenue of $94.8 million and operating expenses of $95.9 million, leading to an overall loss of over $1 million.
Jaworski’s efforts reflect the financial hardships departments are facing in this new era.
“One of our fundraisers met someone at an event, built a relationship, and she ended up giving a million dollars in a bequest a month or two later,” Jaworski said. “That’s really what moves the needle.”
For better or worse, schools rely on select sports to maintain and sustain others. For the 2025 fiscal year, Colorado only had two profit-generating sports: football at $26.5 million and men’s basketball at $3.3 million.
That is where the misconception happens. Fans tune in on Saturdays and see sold-out stadiums, big media deals and rights, corporate partnerships, and assume that schools are making big-time money.
Dating back to 2004, financial data from Colorado’s athletic department shows that the only constant revenue-generating sports are football and men’s basketball. The truth for Colorado is that two sports need to subsidize 15 others. CU, like most schools, was operating at a loss even before the NIL era. But change has extrapolated it.
It simply is not sustainable, yet schools are pouring millions into a bleeding model because of the attention and indirect economic impact that it generates. Athletic departments create value for the school in a way that cannot be replaced or replicated. It is a difference maker beyond the balance sheet.
“We’re really stretching out and extending our efforts because everything counts,” Jaworski said. “Especially right now, where everyone in this Division I landscape is working around that same deficit.”
CU Chancellor Justin Schwartz best put it in a release introducing Fernando Lovo, the school’s recently hired athletic director.
“Athletics is central to who we are as an institution. It’s the front porch of the university, and today there’s a camera and microphone on every porch.”
Carlough has experienced this firsthand during his time following the Buffaloes.
“When football and basketball are successful, that visibility draws students in. University presidents recognize that athletic success can have a real impact on enrollment,” he said.
Athletics have an immeasurable impact on schools. That shows up for the University of Colorado every day. In 2024, applications shot to a record rate, with over 68,000 applicants. This was greatly due to the attention that the football team brought to the university.
Athletics propel schools to the forefront of media, news, and college boards. It highlights its strengths and allows the university to control its own narrative and share it with a very wide audience. Athletics is a marketing tool for CU to continue growing its brand as a premier university and expand beyond its normal reach.
As the cost of being an elite program in the college athletics world continues to rise, the question is not if these programs generate value for the institution, but who truly pays the price.