Hawkeye Athletics sets another revenue record while ISU, UNI struggle

IOWA CITY — For the fourth straight year, University of Iowa Athletics in 2025 set a new revenue record of $153.2 million — while athletics revenue at Iowa State University and University of Northern Iowa declined, leaving UNI with a nearly $3 million deficit.

Where UNI Athletics in the 2025 budget year that ended June 30 generated $15 million in revenue — down from $15.9 million in 2024 — the Panther program spent $17.9 million, putting them nearly $3 million in the red and 22 percent over budget.

To help offset the shortfall, UNI took additional financial support from the main campus — totaling $5.4 million.

“New leadership in athletics, with many staff changes in FY 2025, continues to review the budget in order to maximize revenue-generation opportunities and limit expenses to work toward a sustainable balanced budget,” according to UNI Athletics’ budget report going before the Board of Regents next week.

Iowa State Athletics similarly reported a $2.8 million revenue drop from 2024’s $116.9 million to $114.1 million in 2025 — which was $133,174 below expectations for the year.

Over the summer, in looking ahead to the current 2026 budget year, Iowa State flagged “transformational changes in college athletics that will result in $30 million in recurring annual financial repercussions to the athletics department beginning this year.”

Those changes include the Big 12 Conference realignment from 10 to 16 teams, an adjustment in how College Football Playoff revenue is distributed, and the House-vs.-NCAA settlement that created a model for paying student athletes.

As a result, Iowa State is projecting a funding deficit of $147 million through 2031 — about $25 million a year — prompting it to indefinitely postpone construction of a $20 million wrestling practice facility and $25 million Hilton Coliseum renovation; up ticket prices; increase the annual cost of Cyclone Club membership; and cut travel expenses.

“ISU is engaging with the Big 12 Conference, ISU Foundation, sponsors, donors and other partners to explore additional opportunities to create growth in revenue sufficient to overcome future anticipated revenue shortfalls and to otherwise support the continued success and viability of the ISU Athletics program,” the campus told regents over the summer.

Hawkeye boon

Meanwhile, UI Athletics just wrapped its biggest budget year in history thanks to more revenue than expected from the Big Ten Conference and from ticket sales to Hawkeye football, wrestling, and women’s basketball games.

Women’s basketball outperformed all the other sports in the revenue category — netting $2.7 million, or nearly two-thirds more than the $1.7 million budgeted.

And where the Hawkeyes budgeted $75.2 million in conference revenue — which already would have set a record — it received nearly $77 million, bringing its total income to $153.2 million, about $2.7 million over its budgeted $150.5 million.

UI Athletics, per new budget documents, is anticipating another big spike in conference support to $82.7 million in the current 2026 budget year — which would further balloon total revenue to another record-breaking nearly $170 million.

It also budgeted for next year spending $20.5 million in student-athlete revenue share payments — the most allowed per the new rules.

In 2025, UI Athletics paid about $1.2 million to student athletes through academic achievement awards “as athletics phases out this program and transitions to revenue sharing beginning with FY 2026,” according to the new budget report.

Although the department boasts being self-supported — meaning it generally doesn’t pull resources from the main campus — the university during COVID lent athletics $50 million, which the department continues to pay back at a modest rate.

Despite the Hawkeyes’ growing budget, it maintained an annual loan repayment in 2025 of $2.5 million.

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

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