Mizzou Athletics reports $9 million operating deficit for fiscal year 2025

Mizzou Athletics operated at a $9 million deficit during fiscal year 2025, according to the school's latest submission to the NCAA's Membership Financial Reporting System.

The deficit was covered by an internal loan from the university, Missouri athletic director Laird Veatch said in a news conference.

The Missourian obtained a copy of the financial document through a public records request.

University of Missouri accrued almost $182 million during FY 2025 and spent about $191 million. This is the second consecutive year the school has operated in the red since former athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois ran a $1 surplus in FY 2023. In 2024, Mizzou operated at a $15 million deficit that it covered with a university loan.

Total revenue during the period grew over 8% from 2024's $163 million figure, while expenses rose about 4.2% from $183 million.

The latest reporting period, which covers all sports that occurred in the 2024-25 school year, includes the Tigers' 2024-25 football season in which they went 10-3. The Tigers ended the season with a Music City Bowl win over Iowa, which solidified back-to-back 10+ win seasons for only the third time ever. In total, the team brought in $58.7 million for the university and cost $49.3 million. Those are both relatively on par with the 2023-24 football season.

Mizzou men's basketball bounced back last season after going 0-18 in SEC play in 2024. It made $18 million, up a couple million from the 2024 season.

In nonrevenue sports, Mizzou was a mixed bag.

Gymnastics made its first trip to the Final Four, and volleyball made it back to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2016. Both sports' revenues more than doubled due to the success.

Some other sports didn't fare so well. Baseball went 3-27 in SEC play, and women's basketball continued to struggle, which reflected in their revenues.

Contributions, NIL, ticket sales

Missouri spent significantly more on fundraising, marketing and promotions than it did a year prior. Those expenses more than doubled from about $13 million to $34.6 million, which Veatch said has to do with the common practice of front-loading name, image and likeness deals. Schools pushed NIL money to players in early-to-mid 2025 before the House vs. NCAA settlement clarified how much they were legally allowed to spend starting in July.

A jump in donations helped keep the deficit close. Mizzou received about $46.5 million in contributions in FY 2025, up from $36.7 million in FY 2024. That figure doesn't include the Farmer Families' big donation in September that helped support the ongoing north end zone renovation at Memorial Stadium. It does include Audrey J. Walton's record-setting Olympic sports gift. Veatch has said he wants to be more aggressive in finding ways to grow donations and booster support.

"I also appreciate the fans because we continue to ask a lot of them, right?" Veatch said. "They're reflecting the will to win that we keep talking about and recognize that we need them to invest, in order so that we can invest, so we can continue to secure talent and compete at the highest level."

A notable new line on the report this fiscal year is one under expenses labeled "Institutional NIL Revenue Share." This year, the reported number was $0 in expenses for every sport in that category, because legal revenue sharing didn't start until July 2025 after the House settlement was crafted in early June last year. Fiscal years start July 1. The total for that expense could add up to $20.5 million in next year's report, due to the amount allowed by the settlement.

That additional expense is part of the reason why Mizzou is trying to find avenues to bring in more revenue. The athletics department is expanding luxury seating options at both football and basketball games, bringing in private development around campus and raising ticket prices. In late 2024, Mizzou announced it would hike 2025-26 football ticket prices, and most sections saw price increases of 50% or more this season.

Even though the report doesn't include this season's football ticket price hikes, the Tigers still grew ticket sale revenue significantly. Mizzou made $23.4 million from them in FY 2025, which was up 17% from the last year's $19.4 million.

Veatch said that progress can be attributed to the continued football sellout streak and better attendance at men's basketball games, along with other sports.

Moving forward

The FY 2026 financial report is expected to feature both the aforementioned NIL revenue-share expenses, but also additional revenue in both ticket sales and contributions coming from additional luxury seating options in both men's basketball and football.

Before this basketball season, Mizzou added more courtside seats in Mizzou Arena, and the north end zone project is intended to add additional options at Memorial Stadium. Revenues related to the extra football luxury box seats likely won't be seen until FY 2027.

"I am excited about adding some of those types of opportunities, obviously, and the long-term impact they're going to have on our ability to sort of raise our ceiling and where we've been to generate more and more revenue for the department," Veatch said.

Copyright 2026 Columbia Missourian

This story was originally published January 22, 2026 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Mizzou Athletics reports $9 million operating deficit for fiscal year 2025."