Finances of College Sports

In an effort to strengthen financial transparency and inform policy development, the Knight Commission produces resources about the finances of Division I college sports programs, the NCAA, and the College Football Playoff.

The Commission partners with Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications to produce the Knight-Newhouse College Athletics Database. This user-friendly tool provides comprehensive athletics revenue and spending data self-reported by more than 220 NCAA Division I institutions.

KNIGHT-NEWHOUSE COLLEGE ATHLETICS DATABASE

Follow the Knight-Newhouse College Athletics Database via social media: @NewhouseSU and #KnightNewhouseData. 

Overview of Division I Athletic Department Finances

Below are resources that describe “Where the Money Comes From,” “Where the Money Goes” and “How the Money Has Changed” in Division I college sports:

Overview of College Football Playoff Finances

The College Football Playoff (CFP) is managed independent of the NCAA by College Football Playoff Administration, LLC. Below is information about the CFP’s revenue distribution and proposed changes recommended by the Knight Commission:

Understanding College Sports Financial Reporting Obligations

In March 2020, Collegiate Financial Partners, LLC with support from the Knight Commission, issued a report detailing nonpartisan analysis, study and research on college sports financial reporting obligations: Assessment of Intercollegiate Athletics Financial Reporting.

Resource on FBS Football Coaches Severance Pay

At its December 2022 meeting, the Knight Commission released an analysis of FBS football coaching buyouts at public institutions over the 2012-2021 decade, along with an updated look at buyouts of head football coaches at Power Five institutions during the last two seasons. The analysis found that Power Five programs are wasting staggering amounts of dollars in “dead money,” paying coaches not to coach, the FBS’s most vivid sign of financial dysfunction. Access the summary here:

In November 2023, the Knight Commission updated this resource to include FY2022 data and reported information from the most recent seasons.

The Multi-Billion Dollar Question: How Should New CFP and D-I Revenues Be Used

On January 12, 2023, the Knight Commission presented data and solutions regarding “The Multi-Billion Dollar Question: How Should New CFP and D-I Revenues Be Used?” at the NCAA Convention in San Antonio, Texas.