How much revenue did Penn State Athletics lose in 2021? Financial report reveals pandemic's impact
Penn State Athletics reported a deficit of $23,890,987 for the 2021 fiscal year, which ranged from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021.
Bearing the brunt of the pandemic’s financial impact, the 2021 fiscal year marks a significant departure from the previous fiscal year, in which PSU Athletics reported an excess of about $7 million.
After reeling in more than $40 million in ticket sales during the 2020 fiscal year, Penn State reported a loss of about $1 million in that category in 2021, with fans unable to attend events due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Penn State football brought in $41,506,297 in revenue in 2021. Men’s basketball followed at $8,569,729. Men’s ice hockey posted the third-highest revenue of Penn State’s 31 Division I programs, at $2,201,709.
The chart below illustrates how the Total Operating Revenue for those three programs compared between the 2020 and 2021 fiscal years.
| Sport | FY 2020 | FY 2021 |
| Football | $101,791,729 | $41,506,297 |
| Men’s Basketball | $10,527,189 | $8,569,729 |
| Men’s Ice Hockey | $5,075,906 | $2,201,709 |
Football and men’s basketball operated at profits of $5,437,140 and $1,375,287, respectively, in the 2021 fiscal year. The other 29 Division I programs combined to produce a deficit of just over $30 million.
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Penn State Athletics Financial Quick Hits For FY 2021
- Penn State spent about $12.5 million less on football in 2021 relative to 2020.
- As an athletic department, spending went down from roughly $158 million to $130 million amid the impact of the pandemic.
- PSU dished out $17,521,278 on football coaching salaries during the last fiscal year. Men’s basketball salaries cost the athletic department $3,049,926.
- Severance payments cost the athletic department $427,930 in total in FY 2021, with $381,883 of that coming from football.
- Penn State spent $836,322 on recruiting in the last fiscal year. Football accounted for $651,388 of that total.
- Nittany Lion football received $27,384,582 in media rights during the last fiscal year.
- Men’s ice hockey received $1,866,511 from endowment and investments income, the most of any Penn State sport.
- Football received and used $5,786,232 from “individuals, corporations, associtions, foundations, clubs or other organizations designated for the opoerations of the athletics program.”
- The Nittany Lion football program did not play in a bowl game after the 2020 season. As a result, there was no bowl revenue, which amounted to $2,441,756 when PSU played in the Cotton Bowl in 2019. However, the athletic department also dished out about $3.5 million in bowl expenses for that fiscal year.
