As LSU sports barely breaks even financially, difficult times potentially lie ahead for both its athletic teams and academic programs.
A report earlier this month from the Louisiana Legislative Auditor revealed LSU athletics’ profit margin for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2025 was just $28,604. That’s an increase from losing more than $800,000 the previous year.
The current fiscal year is the first under new revenue-sharing rules. The NCAA now requires Division I schools to distribute up to 22% of their intake annually, which comes to about $20.5 million for top-earning programs like LSU’s.
The meager surplus for LSU athletics comes as every other department on campus has gotten used to lean budgets. Last fall, the university mandated a 2% reduction campuswide to support academic and research initiatives. Its athletics department was not be subject to the new money-saving measures.
LSU athletics director Verge Ausberry and spokesman Zach Greenwell did not respond to a request for comment for this report.
The redirection of the 2% cuts was in response to President Donald Trump administration’s slashing federal research funding, which has dramatically impacted higher education finances nationwide.
During difficult budget times in the past, LSU’s athletic department has transferred money to the university. After Gov. Bobby Jindal slashed the state budget, including spending on state universities, the school received tens of millions of dollars from its sports programs from 2012-19, when athletics director Scott Woodward ended the practice shortly after he took the job.
“It’s something that’s very dangerous, when universities rely on recurring money, especially from an auxiliary like the athletic department,” Woodward told Tiger Rag in 2019. “So no, I think, while I will always support the university in some form or fashion, we can not sustain what we’re currently doing.”
But with the cost of revenue-sharing looming, the multi-million dollar surpluses LSU reported in years past could become a relic — and send athletics looking for new sources of income.
Some will come from the private sector, such as a newly announced partnership with oil and gas company Woodside Energy for sponsored uniform patches. The university has not disclosed the value of the deal.
Some new income is slated to come from taxpayers, as lawmakers approved legislation last year to create a fund to subsidize Division I athletic programs at Louisiana’s public universities. Money for the fund comes from an increased tax on sports gambling, and each school sports program will receive about $1.7 million annually starting this spring.
Though the money cannot be used to directly pay players, it will certainly free up cash to do so. The fund’s resources can be used for new scholarships, insurance, medical coverage, facility enhancements, litigation settlement fees and education-related scholarships universities give to college athletes.
The pending budget gap could also force LSU athletics into a reversal of roles, seeking money from the university it once helped subsidize. Though it is unlikely LSU sports would ask for or receive direct university aid, another option would be to seek a student fee.
LSU currently does not have a student fee supporting athletics, although other Southeastern Conference schools do, including Auburn, Georgia and Ole Miss. Their athletics departments bring in millions from these fees, according to data from the Knight-Newhouse College Athletics Database. Auburn leads the SEC in student fee collections with an annual average of almost $7 million.
Though such assessments might be perceived as easy money, a student fee for athletics at LSU would come with its own complications. The university has increased tuition for students in certain high-cost programs, and state lawmakers have weighed legislation that could decrease how much state financial aid LSU students receive.
Steven Rackley, a sport management professor at Rice University and a longtime former athletic director, said in an interview the cost of revenue sharing hitting at the same time as proposed federal funding cuts for higher education will force difficult decisions.
“Presidents and board of trustees, whoever it may be, are going to have to decide how much is athletics worth as opposed to the worth of doing research in academia on campus, and that’s going to be just a tough discussion that those people are going to have to have,” Rackley said.
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