For better or worse, there is a relationship between money and winning in college athletics. At a time when the need to accumulate resources, NIL funding, physical infrastructure and a comprehensive coaching staff has never been higher, money is at the core of all of that.
Of course it isn’t always as simple as paying to win. All the fancy football buildings in the world can’t cover for a bad play call or a mistake in execution. They also can’t account for injuries or the arbitrary nature of sports. In turn, spending a lot of money on seemingly necessary things and not getting desired results is not a sign you never needed them in the first place.
All that said, it’s also true that Penn State is spending more than ever on athletics but is seeing no transformational change in the results.
For example, Penn State Athletics, which operates independently financially from the academic side of the university, reported total operating expenses of $170.54 million during the 2022 fiscal year, the last fiscal year of former athletic director Sandy Barbour’s tenure.
By the time the 2023 fiscal year ended, operating expenses rose to $202.07 million. And by the end of the most recently released 2025 fiscal year, that figure ballooned to $254.64 million. In three years, Penn State athletics has increased spending by nearly $90 million. It might top the $100 million growth threshold for the 2026 fiscal year when the annual report is released in early 2027.
Is Penn State getting the results?
Where is the money going? A lot of places. Penn State’s financial reports are comprehensive, and money adds up quickly. But there are a few noteworthy areas when comparing 2022 to 2025.
Recruiting budgets across the athletic department rose from $3.15 million to $4.5 million. Coaching salaries and benefits rose from $32 million to $43.35 million. Support staff spending increased from $30.86 million to $41.14 million as titles and positions seemingly outpaced student-athletes themselves.
The cost of running games also increased, with gameday expenses going from $13.3 million across all sports to $16.38 million. The list goes on and on, including $18.37 million in new NIL revenue sharing in 2024-25.
Comparatively in just the short term, Oregon’s operating expenses increased from $167.26 million to $183.03 million following the 2025 fiscal year. Minnesota reported $163.6 million in revenue and $161.2 million in expenses. Elsewhere, Ohio State’s athletic department brought in $336.1 million in revenues, nearly $82 million more than Penn State.
The good news for Penn State is that the most recent figure of $254.64 million in operating expenses is (just barely) offset by record revenues of $254.86 million. While the number fluctuates annually, Penn State historically — aside from the COVID-19-impacted athletic year — has seen its relationship between expenses and revenues range from a few hundred thousand to a few million any given year.
This figure will start to be impacted by the Beaver Stadium renovation, an outlier in spending and arguably a needed one to some degree. But the general thrust is the same: Penn State athletics is spending more than ever, but is it really winning more than ever?
Despite many team successes (five straight NCAA wrestling titles, a 2024 NCAA women's volleyball title, Frozen Four appearances by both hockey teams), Penn State finished 21st nationally in the Learfield Directors’ Cup last year and hasn’t been in the top 10 since 2016-17.
So if the answer is no — even if all the spending is simply to keep up with the nation’s elite — the question might very well be if it’s money well spent. At the very least, where the gap might lie between the investments and the results.
And until it can answer those questions, all the money in the world might not get Penn State’s athletic department where it wants to go.
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