Just in: LSU are facing financial Crisis

The LSU athletic department reports a $4 million deficit in spite of winning several national titles.

According to a recent financial report, LSU sports reported a deficit of around $4 million for the previous academic year.

The state’s legislative auditor estimates that the department made roughly $200 million, with the football team accounting for more than half of that amount, and spent around $204 million. There is a $3.87 million deficit. Football brought in around $106 million in sales and made $54 million in profit. The data from last year indicates that’s an increase of around $18.4 million from the prior season.

The Tigers won individual titles in women’s swimming and diving, men’s and women’s track and field, and women’s basketball and baseball during the 2022–2023 academic year.

Women’s basketball didn’t do as well financially on the charts as it did on the court; program revenue was close to $2.5 million, but program expenses were closer to $10.3 million. The majority ($4.4 million) went to Kim Mulkey and her coaching team; this is roughly equivalent to the pay and benefits of men’s basketball coaches, but significantly less than the more than $18 million awarded to the same group in football. One explanation for the shortfall is that only football and men’s basketball are included in the media rights revenues, which might change on September 1st with the addition of women’s collegiate sports and an eight-year agreement.

Profits from men’s basketball came in at $1.3 million, a little less than the year before. The baseball squad is combined with all non-football and basketball teams in the report. The shortfall for “other sports” was close to $26 million, which is roughly equal to the amount for “non-program specific” funding.

The largest portion of costs for all sports was related to manpower, with game costs, travel, and facilities also contributing. It’s interesting to note that the school spent about $5 million on severance pay—nearly twice as much as it did on recruiting.

LSU is recovering from a few recent financial mishaps: The school overpaid head football coach Brian Kelly by more than $1 million, according to a study from last year. Moreover, it misclassified severance payments totaling almost $6.7 million.

The school produced around $2 million in profits in 2021–2022, therefore the $4 million loss is a decrease from that year. The athletic department recorded a $9.6 million deficit the year before, primarily as a result of lower ticket sales during the COVID-19 pandemic.