Get ready, finance bros. New financials just dropped.

Penn State Athletics issued its FY 2022 annual financial report to the NCAA on January 13, 2023, its latest financials (it’s really just a giant income statement) for the fiscal year.

The department releases this report to the public every year, and this current version will give more of an accurate view of Penn State Athletics’ financial performance as compared to last year’s financials, which were heavily influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

So, let’s take a look at how the department performed in FY 2022.

Similar to the university, Penn State Athletics’ fiscal year ended on June 30, 2022, meaning that the financial data you’re about to see covers the span between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022. For example, when looking at Penn State football ticket sales, keep in mind that the number reflects ticket sales for the 2021 season, not this past 2022 season.

Let’s start with the department’s net operating income. Penn State Athletics recognized $10,685,398 in net income for FY 2022. Obviously, that’s a nice step up from when it reported a net operating loss of -$23,890,987 last fiscal year due to the lack of ticket sales from the pandemic. That makes for a whopping 140% increase. It’s the highest number reported since Penn State Athletics released its annual financial report in 2011. You can take a look below to see how profits have progressed since 2015.

Now, let’s move on to Penn State Athletics’ revenue. The department reported a total operating revenue of $181,227,448 in FY 2022, a 70% overall increase from just north of $106 million in FY 2021.

In addition to showing us total revenue, the report also breaks down the revenue by team as well. As you’d expect, football generated the most revenue at $105,610,901, while men’s basketball and men’s hockey came in second and third with $10,913,782 and $4,378,708, respectively.

The highest revenue-generating women’s sport was ice hockey, with $1,298,349. Women’s volleyball was second with $1,098,848 in total revenue. It could be difficult to visualize these numbers, but it’s easier to see with the charts below, displaying each team’s revenue for FY 2022 broken down by gender.

Diving a bit deeper, let’s take a look at Penn State Athletics’ number one source of revenue: ticket sales.

The department reported ticket sales of $44,678,657 in FY 2022, which makes up nearly 25% of its revenue. That number is up from $43 million in FY 2020, the department’s last fiscal year under normal circumstances. Besides FY 2016 and FY 2017, ticket sales have continued to increase steadily over time.

Football generated the most ticket sales for the department. In the 2021 season, the team sold $40,650,115 worth of tickets, which is about 8% higher than when it sold $37,610,755 in FY 2020. Penn State men’s hockey had the second-highest ticket sales with $1,840,897, followed by wrestling at $1,098,166. You can see how football ticket sales have increased over time in the chart below.

Taking a step back at the department’s overall revenue, its second-largest source was from media rights, reporting $39,988,614 from that area. Of the almost $40 million of revenue from media rights, $33,990,322 of that was attributed to Penn State football. The department also received $39.2 million of contributions in FY 2022, making that its third-largest source of revenue.

Penn State Athletics reported $7,824,199 of program, novelty, and parking revenue from football. That includes concession sales, merchandise sales, and parking on game days. The team also received $2,029,210 in revenue from playing in the Outback Bowl.

After reporting over $181 million in total revenue, the department also incurred $170,542,050 in expenses in FY 2022.

The largest expense was coaches’ salaries, coming in at $32,045,160, followed by support staff and administrative compensation at $30,867,035.

Getting into a bit more detail, Penn State Athletics spent $8,344,388 for its teams to travel in FY 2022 and dropped $5,104,315 in equipment and uniform supplies. Respectively, the football team makes up for $1,340,947 and $1,129,503 of those expenses.

The football team also took up most of the department’s gameday expenses. Penn State Athletics reported $13,324,179 in game expenses, which are expenses, other than travel, that “are necessary for intercollegiate athletics competition,” according to the report. That can include, officials, security, event staff, ambulances, etc. Penn State football’s 2021 season game expenses were $8,776,329.

Lastly, Penn State Athletics awarded $22,362,565 in Athletic Student Aid in FY 2022, which is just larger than the reported $21,673,848 in the previous year.

If you want to learn more and dive deeper into Penn State Athletics’ finances, you can find its annual reports online here. We’ll be back next February when Athletics releases its FY 2023 annual report.