Penn State Athletics reported a negative balance of nearly $24 million following the conclusion of the 2020-21 Fiscal Year, according to its annual financial report made to the NCAA.
The 2020-21 fiscal years — which began July 1, 2020 and ended June 30, 2021 — covers the entirety of the main COVID-19 impacted athletic calendar that featured limited to no fan attendance across the department. In somewhat self-explanatory fashion, the absence of fans at football games in particular negatively impacted the athletic department in multiple ways from parking and tickets to concession purchases and other revenue sources.
Overall Penn State reported total operating revenues of $106,159,518 in 2020-21 in contrast to $130,050,505 in operating expenses. The difference saw Penn State report a negative balance of $23,890,987 at the conclusion of the fiscal year.
In 2019-20, Penn State reported an operating profit of just over $7 million with operating revenues at $165,077,390 and operating expenses of $157,908,311. In total Penn State saw a loss of effectively $60 million in revenue from 2019-20 and 2020-21.
Penn State lost $1,038,178 on ticket sales in 2020-21, most of it from football, compared to net revenue of $42.2 million ($37.6 million from football) the prior year, when it was the athletic department’s biggest moneymaker.
Instead, media rights accounted for the largest source of revenue in 2020-21 at $31.7 million, with football generating $27.4 million of that. Media rights revenue overall fell by $10.4 million from 2019-20.
The 2021-22 fiscal year – which featured the return of fans to Beaver Stadium – will be completed later this calendar year and made public around this time in 2023. Ticket sale revenues figure to return to more normal levels, with Beaver Stadium averaging over 105,000 fans per game during 2021 season.
According to statements made by Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Sandy Barbour back in April of 2021, Penn State was preparing to offset losses with roughy $20-25 million in debt servicing. It’s unclear at this point what Penn State’s projected financial situation is projected to be in 2021-22 but between loans and the return of fans it seems reasonable to project more normal revenues and profits moving forward, even if the financial ramifications of COVID-19 will continue.
Elsewhere in the Big Ten Michigan reported a deficit of nearly $48 million while Ohio State saw a deficit of $63 million over the same period.
