Iowa State University athletics department reports record revenue

The Iowa State University athletics department’s financial recovery from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic appears to be complete.

Iowa State reported revenue of $111.3 million for fiscal year 2022, an improvement of 35 percent from FY2021 when the department’s pandemic-depressed revenues counted $72 million.

It also represents a 19 percent improvement from FY2020, a year partially influenced by the pandemic, and a 15 percent increase from 2019, the last reporting year before the arrival of the pandemic and the health, economic and social upheaval it brought to the globe.

FY2022 began July 1, 2021 and ended June 30, 2022.

Getting fans back in the stands helped bring Cyclones' revenue up

“I don’t know if I’m surprised because we actually did fairly well during the pandemic as compared to a lot of our peers,” Iowa State athletics director Jamie Pollard said. “Some of that is because the Big 12 continued to play, so although we didn’t sell a full allotment of tickets during the pandemic, what we saw was our donors still donated at the same level.

“When we came out of the pandemic, it was more those donors being able to be allowed back in the stadium.”

The $111.3 million in revenue is the highest-grossing year ever for Iowa State athletics, not adjusting for inflation. Much of the year-over-year increase can be attributed to the return of fans at Jack Trice Stadium and Hilton Coliseum for the 2021-22 seasons.

Iowa State reported $17.5 million in football ticket sales for the 2021 season after selling just $2.3 million in 2020 when attendance restrictions were in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

The men’s basketball program sold $4.5 million worth of tickets while the women’s program added $549,000 in FY2022. The combined $5 million in basketball ticket sales was up from just $343,000 the year prior.

More:University of Iowa athletics' 2022 financial statement shows first surplus since 2019

Iowa State reported $41 million between its media rights and conference distributions in FY2022, up from $36 million, an increase largely fueled by an additional $8 million in bowl game revenue year-over-year.

The pandemic's waning influence seems to have influenced Iowa State fans’ willingness to contribute as well. The school reported $22.2 million in donations in 2022 after receiving $16.6 the previous year.

The Cyclones paid $8.9 million last year in debt service, representing 8 percent debt-to-income ratio. For comparison, the University of Iowa is paying 15 percent of its $151.1 million in revenue to its debt service. Iowa received a $50 million loan from the university to help cover its pandemic-related shortfalls while Iowa State did not.

“We were very blessed that we didn’t have to take a loan out during the pandemic,” Pollard said, “and we were able to not need the university to help us. We were able to do it within the athletics department, which was a big plus.”

Iowa State’s expenses, as in most recent non-pandemic years, matched its revenues. Iowa State spent $111 million, up from $89 million the year prior in which Iowa State ran a nearly $17 million deficit.

More: What needs to happen for the Iowa State women to host the first 2 rounds of the NCAA Tournament

Big 12 payout for Texas and Oklahoma, plus TV contract

It was announced last week that the Big 12 will receive a $100 million combined payout from Texas and Oklahoma to release those schools to the SEC for the 2024-25 season, a year earlier than contractually allowed. The money will help fill a media rights dip the league took on when it added BYU, Cincinnati, UCF and Houston.

“We knew when we brought the four new schools on that there was going to be dilution over the first two years before the new TV contract started,” Pollard said. “We had to pay more schools out of our current share. We always anticipated there would be some payment from Texas and OU for leaving, and our hope was that would mitigate the majority of that dilution.”

The Big 12’s new television contract is expected to be worth an average of $31 million per year to each school over its six years. The current deal pays an approximate average of $28 million per year per school.

More: Iowa State wrestling beats Northern Iowa 19-12 before near-record McLeod Center crowd

Travis Hines covers Iowa State University sports for the Des Moines Register and Ames Tribune. Contact him at thines@amestrib.com or (515) 284-8000. Follow him at @TravisHines21.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State athletics financial recovery appears complete after 2020