Ohio State announced Tuesday the athletic department suffered a 54.3 percent decrease in revenue in the 2021 fiscal year as compared to the 2020 fiscal year due to the pandemic. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor

Ohio State announced Tuesday the athletic department suffered a 54.3 percent decrease in revenue in the 2021 fiscal year as compared to the 2020 fiscal year due to the pandemic. 

In an annual report filed to the NCAA, Ohio State athletics reported that it brought in about $107 million in fiscal year 2021, which ran from July 2020 through June 2021. This figure is down from about $234 million in fiscal 2020, according to a release. 

“This was a most challenging year for our department and for everyone, and I am so proud of our student-athletes, our coaches and our support staff who continued to deliver at a championship level,” athletic director Gene Smith stated. “Despite the difficulties we all faced working through the pandemic, we preserved our commitment to our student-athletes and the sports they love.”

Ohio State’s biggest earner, Buckeye football, saw its revenue dip to approximately $41.9 million versus $115.5 million during fiscal 2020, according to the release.

With limited fan attendance during the 2020-21 seasons, Ohio State reported ticket sales of $7,386. The university brought in nearly $66 million in ticket sales during the 2019-20 seasons, according to a release.

Ohio State’s release stated its athletic department had a $41 million deficit, versus a $64 million deficit reported by the NCAA. Approximately $25 million of the athletics department’s expenses were towards one-time payments to reduce loan balances on two recently completed construction projects, accounting for the difference in deficit reporting. 

The Ohio State athletics department is fully self-funded, meaning that it does not receive tuition or tax dollars. 

However, by the end of 2022, the athletic department will make a decision whether or not to take out an interest-bearing loan from the university to cover pandemic-related losses.

Despite multiple decreases in revenue, the Ohio State athletics department received $129 million in endowments in fiscal year 2021 — which is up from $98.6 million in fiscal year 2020.