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LSU football P&L dissected
Posted on 11/12/26 at 1:13 pm
Posted on 11/12/26 at 1:13 pm
I was curious as to how the football program looks from a profit or loss standpoint based on certain assumptions, so I had Claude AI sketch out an excel spreadsheet for me. Here's what I found:
Projected FY 2027 revenue components:
Ticket sales: $45M (37%)
Booster contributions: $28M (23%)
Media rights: $20M (16%)
Conference distributions (bowl/CFP revenue): $13M (11%)
Other (guarantees, program novelty, in-kind, new sponsorships): $17M (14%)
Total Revenue: $123M
Projected FY 2027 expense components:
Roster cost: $30M ($45M gross, less $15M NIL revenue share), (27%)
Coaching/Support staff salaries, benefits/bonuses: $30M (27%)
NIL revenue share to players: $15M (13%)
Kelly buyout: $10M (9%)
Scholarships: $6M (5%)
Other (Team travel, guarantees to other teams, bowl-related, recruiting, game-day expenses, fund raising, student meals, medical): $21M (19%)
Total Expenses: $112M
Net income: +$11M "as is", -$17M (if you back out booster contributions), -$7M (if you back out booster contributions and Kelly buyout).
So I think the moral of the story is that I really don't see how roster pay can continue to skyrocket like it has the past few years, it's truly unsustainable. As it is right now, roster costs (including NIL rev share) have almost exceed ticket sales, that is crazy town to me....
Projected FY 2027 revenue components:
Ticket sales: $45M (37%)
Booster contributions: $28M (23%)
Media rights: $20M (16%)
Conference distributions (bowl/CFP revenue): $13M (11%)
Other (guarantees, program novelty, in-kind, new sponsorships): $17M (14%)
Total Revenue: $123M
Projected FY 2027 expense components:
Roster cost: $30M ($45M gross, less $15M NIL revenue share), (27%)
Coaching/Support staff salaries, benefits/bonuses: $30M (27%)
NIL revenue share to players: $15M (13%)
Kelly buyout: $10M (9%)
Scholarships: $6M (5%)
Other (Team travel, guarantees to other teams, bowl-related, recruiting, game-day expenses, fund raising, student meals, medical): $21M (19%)
Total Expenses: $112M
Net income: +$11M "as is", -$17M (if you back out booster contributions), -$7M (if you back out booster contributions and Kelly buyout).
So I think the moral of the story is that I really don't see how roster pay can continue to skyrocket like it has the past few years, it's truly unsustainable. As it is right now, roster costs (including NIL rev share) have almost exceed ticket sales, that is crazy town to me....
This post was edited on 11/12/26 at 1:29 pm
Posted on 11/12/26 at 1:32 pm to GeneralLee
I get your overall point, and I agree that player salaries have to hit a ceiling soon. There are also a lot of assumptions in those numbers and the real numbers could be quite different. For example, media rights at $20 million seems low.
quote:
The latest SEC distribution I found was $1.03 billion for 2024–25, announced in February 2026. Full-share schools averaged $72.4 million from sources including TV rights, bowl games, the College Football Playoff and other postseason events. That’s the conference payout benchmark for LSU.
This post was edited on 11/12/26 at 1:34 pm
Posted on 11/12/26 at 1:34 pm to TigerBlood17
quote:
For example, media rights at $20 million seems low.
Probably just depends on how you splice/dice the categories. Conference distributions and media rights are closely related, as the media contracts no doubt end up producing a lot of the conference distributions.
Here's what google said the difference was:
quote:
Core Definitions
• Media Right Revenues: The gross income generated when a college athletic conference bundles and sells its television, cable, and streaming broadcast rights (such as football and basketball games) to media networks like ESPN, Fox, CBS, or NBC.
• Conference Distributions: The net payout a conference actually shares and distributes to its member institutions after retaining a portion for administrative overhead, operational reserves, and special common expenses.
Posted on 11/12/26 at 1:39 pm to TigerBlood17
quote:ESPN's TV contract with the SEC averages $710 million per year. With 16 teams, that's over $44 million per year.
For example, media rights at $20 million seems low.
ETA: that's for all sports, so clearly not $44 million only for football.
This post was edited on 11/12/26 at 1:40 pm
Posted on 11/12/26 at 1:40 pm to atltiger6487
quote:
ESPN's TV contract with the SEC averages $710 million per year. With 16 teams, that's over $44 million per year.
Wonder how much Sankey skims off the top of that?
Posted on 11/12/26 at 1:42 pm to GeneralLee
And that has got us a 6-3 record with no wins over any ranked teams.
Posted on 11/12/26 at 1:44 pm to GeneralLee
How much FB money goes to DEI sports? Other things? The blood suckers are always looking for a host.
Posted on 11/12/26 at 2:56 pm to GeneralLee
$11 mil? Heck, that gives us some play money to hire Aranda! 
Posted on 11/12/26 at 3:39 pm to GeneralLee
We should take it out of the academic budget. Professors make too much.
Posted on 11/12/26 at 4:28 pm to GeneralLee
ChatGPT says average ticket price is 63 dollars
our 50 yard line tickets in section 300 row 19 on Saturday had face value of 100, but we paid about 530 each for 2
so my question is, who gets that 430 dollar difference?
SeatGeek gets what in that cut?
Would it be fair to assume that someone is making a lot more money off these tickets than the university?
our 50 yard line tickets in section 300 row 19 on Saturday had face value of 100, but we paid about 530 each for 2
so my question is, who gets that 430 dollar difference?
SeatGeek gets what in that cut?
Would it be fair to assume that someone is making a lot more money off these tickets than the university?
Posted on 11/12/26 at 4:50 pm to GeneralLee
quote:
Roster cost: $30M ($45M gross, less $15M NIL revenue share), (27%)
Are we transposing terms here? NIL and Revenue Share are two different things. $15 Mil comes from Revenue share which is capped at $20 mil across all sports. So I would believe the $30 mil is from NIL supplements.
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