UCLA reveals FY2025 financials: Big Ten revenue kicks in, shortfall narrows, Calimony payments begin
UCLA’s athletic department on Friday released its financial report for the 2025 fiscal year — a year unlike any other for the Bruins in their long, storied history.
The report showed a $21.6 million shortfall that, while substantial, is nonetheless smaller than the prior year’s total.
The report also quantified the impact of the Big Ten’s media rights agreement, which spun off approximately three times the cash UCLA received in the final year of its Pac-12 existence.
It showed a $30 million assist from central campus, driving that two-year total to $60 million.
And yes, it showed the first of the $10 million annual Calimony payments, sent directly to Berkeley courtesy of the UC Regents.
“The 2024–25 season was our first full season in the Big Ten Conference, and the financials reflect what we anticipated during the transition,” UCLA said in a statement issued by athletics. “Revenue increased, driven largely by conference media rights and distributions, while expenses also rose due to transition-related costs and increased investments in student-athlete well-being and support.
“Fiscal responsibility remains a priority, and we are actively reviewing spending and identifying efficiencies while continuing to work with campus leadership on a multi-year plan to ensure long-term stability in a rapidly changing college athletics landscape.”
But the report, which was submitted to the NCAA last month and obtained from UCLA, revealed little about what really matters in Westwood these days: Chancellor Julio Frenk’s commitment to football success and the resources available to first-year coach Bob Chesney.
After all, Frenk took charge of campus in January 2025, in the middle of the fiscal year and 11 months before he uttered the two sentences UCLA fans waited decades to hear from Murphy Hall.
“Winning in college football requires a unified approach across all levels of the university,” Frenk said in December when introducing Chesney, the school’s third coach in four seasons.
“University leadership and athletics are aligned and committed to doing what it takes to build a winning program.”
The level of fiscal commitment won’t become fully clear until this time next year, when the Bruins release their financial report for FY2026. It should include the compensation for Chesney and his coordinators and assistants; for the cost of expanding the football support staff; and any upgrades to facilities, operations and travel.
That’s when we’ll know if the Bruins are spending to win or spending to survive — if they are targeting Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan, Oregon and USC or merely content to stay a half-step ahead of Minnesota, Maryland and Rutgers.
But early indications of momentum were visible in the numbers the Bruins disclosed Friday.
The reported expenses of $173.4 million were slightly higher than the prior year ($170.9 million), but revenues soared to $151.8 million — an increase of approximately $30 million.
And the revenue total would have been $10 million greater if not for the Calimony payment, which was booked as negative revenue. (In addition to at least three years of support from UCLA, the Bears are receiving $15 million annually from the UC Office of the President.)
Although the Bruins’ bottom line showed a $21.6 million shortfall, that was deceiving on two fronts:
The $10 million payment for Cal was booked as negative revenue, meaning it was subtracted from that side of the ledger; but UCLA included $30 million in campus support and $1 million in student fees as revenue, in accordance with NCAA reporting procedures.
If we remove the campus support and add back the Calimony payment — to determine the amount organically generated by UCLA athletics — the tally shows $131.8 million in revenue against $173.4 million in expenses.
The resulting $41.6 million shortfall is approximately half the budgetary blood shed by the Bruins in the 2024 fiscal year, which was UCLA’s last in the Pac-12.
Of course, the paltry revenue total in FY2024 reflected one-off events related to the Pac-12 implosion, including the amount owed by the departing schools to the two holdovers, Washington State and Oregon State.
But there was another reason for the improvement in the bottom line during FY2025:
UCLA collected $61.3 million in media rights, its share of the roughly $1 billion annual deal with Fox, CBS and NBC.
That figure is approximately $10 million lower than the amounts stated in media reports following the reveal of the groundbreaking agreement in Aug. 2022.
However, the annual distributions will increase over the course of the deal, which expires in 2030. In the latter years, UCLA (and USC) should receive in excess of $70 million annually.
And to be clear: That figure does not include another $25 million (minimum) that Big Ten schools will collect from the College Football Playoff and NCAA Tournament starting in the 2026-27 competition year.
The $61.3 million in media rights revenue is roughly $35 million more than the Bruins received during a typical year near the end of their tenure in the Pac-12.
Other notable nuggets from the financial report:
— Travel costs increased by $5 million, to $14.5 million, with the football team’s trips to Hawaii and LSU contributing significantly to the increase.
— The Bruins ramped up spending on support personnel by $4.3 million, in part to help athletes cope with the transition to the Big Ten and all the logistical and mental challenges therein.
— Football ticket revenue increased by $2 million, to $10.4 million, while men’s basketball experienced a slight decline in revenue, to $6.7 million.
— The Bruins booked $12.5 million in facilities and administrative expenses, compared to $30.5 million in FY2024.
A portion of the decrease was merely an accounting change, based on revised NCAA reporting rules. (Expenses were shifted to other lines on the budget.)
However, the Bruins spent several million in FY2024 to build an on-campus studio for the Big Ten Network. There were no costs associated with the build-out in FY2025.
— UCLA spent $32.6 million on coaching salaries during its first year in the Big Ten, approximately the same as the cost during the final year in the Pac-12.
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