The National Collegiate Athletics Association enjoyed another profitable year in 2022, recovering nicely now two years removed from the financial problems created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the NCAA canceled March Madness and shut down many other sports until the fall. Due to the cancellation of its biggest tournament and the largest source of revenue, the NCAA estimates it lost $800 million in revenue because of the pandemic.
Fortunately, the organization has bounced back in the past two years. As officials weigh expanding the College Football Playoff and as a committee weighs expanding March Madness to 90 teams, there could be new opportunities to further increase the annual revenue.
In financial statements obtained by Front Office Sports, the NCAA revealed it earned $1.14 billion in revenue across the 2021-’22 collegiate seasons. While it marks a slight dip from the totals a year prior, it’s still one of the organization’s highest revenue totals ever.
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NCAA revenue by year
- 2022: $1.14 billion
- 2021: $1.15 billion
- 2020: $519 million (COVID-19 pandemic)
- 2019: $1.12 billion
- 2018: $1.1 billion
- 2017: $1.09 billion
Related: Expanded CFB Playoff could be worth $2.2 billion annually
While the organization fell short of eclipsing $1.2 billion in revenue, Division I schools came out of 2022 with record-setting returns. The audited financial documents revealed that Division I programs were provided with $657 million from the revenue pool, an increase from the $613.4 million distributed last year.
As expected, a majority of the revenue came directly from TV partners. According to Front Office Sports, CBS and Turner paid $870 million for the rights to the March Madness tournament and it’s expected that figure will eclipse $10 billion when the contract expires in 2032.
Furthermore, contracts with ESPN for the broadcasting rights to a variety of games including the women’s March Madness tournament earned $43.5 million. Notably, per FOS, the NCAA’s governing body also received $17 million in loss-of-value insurance.
While the NCAA’s expenses are projected to increase in the coming years as it pays the legal expenses for fighting against financially compensating student-athletes, upcoming contract negotiations for future CFB Playoff Games and the Division I women’s basketball tournament will generate hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue.