# Who pays for Texas Athletics?

## Fifteen years of money, student access, and the promises attached to each dollar

Research draft • Evidence checked November 2, 2026 • Financial series: FY2011–FY2025 • All dollar comparisons are nominal unless stated.


A student can buy Texas football access and still have to compete for a seat. Texas Athletics can report record revenue and still spend more than it takes in. A department can send money to the university while relying on university credit to build its stadium.

Those are three different financial relationships. Treating them as one question—“Does football subsidize students, or do students subsidize football?”—conceals more than it explains.

The annual athletics ledger gives a clear, limited answer. In each year from 2011 through 2025, Texas reported zero revenue in Knight-Newhouse’s student-fee and institutional/government-support categories. Students who buy the Big Ticket make a voluntary purchase; it is not a mandatory athletics assessment on every student. The department also transfers money to the institution. But those transfers represent a much smaller share of reported revenue than they did a decade ago. [[S01](https://knightnewhousedata.org/fbs/sec/university-texas-austin), [S02](https://knightnewhousedata.org/about-the-data)]

That operating answer is not a valuation of everything the university supplies. UT System credit supports stadium borrowing. University land and shared infrastructure help make the Moody Center possible. Neither a zero subsidy line nor a privately financed arena establishes that athletics is economically separate from the university. [[S09](https://www.utbonds.utsystem.edu/revenue-financing-system/about/i617), [S11](https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/default/files/documents/2017/cip-updates/fy-2022-2027fullcipaug2021.pdf), [S12](https://texasconnect.utexas.edu/2022/05/04/moody-center-will-be-new-home-for-longhorn-basketball-and-major-touring-acts/)]

The useful structure is a set of obligations. Ticket buyers purchase admission or eligibility to claim it. Donors may designate purposes or obtain priority. Broadcasters and sponsors purchase commercial rights. Lenders require repayment. Athletes now have a larger contractual claim. Students outside varsity sports receive some direct services and transfers, and a cultural affiliation whose financial value these accounts cannot measure.

Following the money means keeping those claims, and their calendars, separate.

## What existing coverage already establishes

Knight-Newhouse and USA Today did the essential collection work. Their NCAA-derived data make a long series possible. Annual reporting by the Austin American-Statesman and USA Today already established Texas’s revenue records, FY2025 deficit and SEC transition. Sports Business Journal identified a large Moody-related payment in FY2024. The Daily Texan already documented the mismatch between pass sales and student capacity. This investigation builds on those findings; it does not claim to have discovered them. [[S02](https://knightnewhousedata.org/about-the-data), [S05](https://www.statesman.com/sports/college/longhorns/football/article/texas-longhorns-finances-sec-tv-deal-21304630.php), [S06](https://sports.yahoo.com/texas-athletics-department-topped-300-000205086.html), [S13](https://thedailytexan.com/2026/04/20/big-ticket-little-seating-a-look-into-the-history-of-the-big-ticket-and-how-it-compares-to-other-sec-schools-amid-higher-ticket-sales-outpacing-student-seating/)]

Academic work offers a mechanism to test. “Who Profits From Amateurism?” studies how restrictions on athlete compensation distributed college-sports rents to other programs, coaches and facilities. Its national historical evidence is not a Texas-specific estimate of what the new payment rules will do. It does, however, make the allocation of additional revenue a more useful question than whether the department is “rich.” [[S28](https://www.nber.org/papers/w27734)]

The additional work here is a fifteen-year reconciliation: every Knight revenue and expense category, a separate university-transfer series, student prices and access rights, capital-project funding, and the distinct conference and athlete-payment calendars. The companion workbook retains exact dollars, source URLs and missing observations.

## The growth came mainly through the donor category

Reported annual revenue rose from $150.3 million in FY2011 to $352.5 million in FY2025, an increase of 134.6%. Tickets rose much less: from $61.2 million to $71.0 million, or 16.0%.

The largest accounting source of growth was donor-related revenue. Its $133.8 million increase explains 66.2% of the $202.3 million increase in total reported revenue. That is an endpoint decomposition, not a causal estimate of why donors gave.

| Revenue source | FY2011, $m | FY2025, $m |
| :---- | :---- | :---- |
| Donor contributions, including in-kind | 37.34 | 171.17 |
| Ticket sales | 61.20 | 70.98 |
| Sponsorship, advertising and licensing | 22.84 | 51.96 |
| Conference/NCAA/media/postseason football | 14.87 | 33.60 |
| Other revenue | 13.52 | 22.92 |
| Competition guarantees | 0.53 | 1.92 |
| Student fees | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Institutional/government support | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| **Total** | **150.30** | **352.55** |

Source: Knight-Newhouse’s live Texas profile, each year selected individually. The workbook contains all fifteen annual observations and calculations. [[S01](https://knightnewhousedata.org/fbs/sec/university-texas-austin)]

“Donations” does not mean a pile of unrestricted cash. The NCAA definition includes funds provided and used during the reporting year, including amounts above a ticket’s face value for priority and gifts used for current facility debt or lease obligations. Unpaid pledges and gifts for future years are excluded. The FY2025 Knight donor total combines $167.79 million in contributions with $3.38 million of in-kind support. In-kind receipts have corresponding expenses. [[S03](https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/ncaa/finance/NCAAFIN_AgreedUponProcedures.pdf), [S04](https://college-sports-finance.com/schools/university-of-texas-at-austin)]

This creates an important distinction between a source category and a person. A season-ticket holder can appear partly in ticket revenue and partly in contributions. Adding “tickets” and “donations” does not double-count the accounts, but describing the two as wholly separate constituencies is wrong.

The media line presents another trap. Texas’s 2015 annual report says television and radio rights were reclassified into royalties, advertising and sponsorships beginning in 2012–13. A long-run chart of one line called “media rights” cannot capture the full television relationship. [[S07](https://texaslonghorns.com/documents/download/2015/2/25/2015_athletics_report.pdf)]

Capital transactions can also enlarge both sides of a year’s ledger. USA Today and Sports Business Journal reported that FY2024 included a large one-time Moody Center donation and a $43 million Moody payment funded partly through contributions. The precise donation amount was not disclosed. It would therefore be unjustified to assume a verified dollar-for-dollar match or to call either headline total a clean measure of recurring operations. [[S06](https://sports.yahoo.com/texas-athletics-department-topped-300-000205086.html)]

Revenue growth therefore says more about the scale of the enterprise than about money freely available for another scholarship, a cheaper student ticket or a payment to a player.

## The fifteen-year ledger—and the two different deficits

The table uses NCAA operating expenses. Knight’s headline expense total also includes excess transfers to the institution; those appear separately here.

| Fiscal year | Revenue, $m | NCAA operating expenses, $m | Excess transfer, $m |
| :---- | :---- | :---- | :---- |
| 2011 | 150.30 | 133.69 | Not comparable |
| 2012 | 163.30 | 138.27 | Not comparable |
| 2013 | 165.69 | 146.81 | Not comparable |
| 2014 | 161.04 | 154.13 | Not comparable |
| 2015 | 183.52 | 173.25 | 9.81 |
| 2016 | 187.98 | 171.39 | 10.10 |
| 2017 | 214.83 | 207.02 | 10.34 |
| 2018 | 219.40 | 206.55 | 10.77 |
| 2019 | 223.88 | 204.23 | 3.19 |
| 2020 | 200.77 | 173.65 | 5.02 |
| 2021 | 152.70 | 160.53 | 6.79 |
| 2022 | 239.29 | 225.15 | 2.09 |
| 2023 | 271.13 | 232.32 | 1.59 |
| 2024 | 331.91 | 325.03 | 2.76 |
| **2025** | **352.55** | **375.89** | **3.40** |

Sources: primary Knight category sums; NCAA operating totals cross-checked against College Sports Finance. Pre-2015 transfers require a separate historical measure. These are reported accounting amounts, not inflation-adjusted results or GAAP net income. [[S01](https://knightnewhousedata.org/fbs/sec/university-texas-austin), [S02](https://knightnewhousedata.org/about-the-data), [S04](https://college-sports-finance.com/schools/university-of-texas-at-austin)]

For FY2025, the exact bridge is:

$352,547,602 revenue − $375,887,077 NCAA operating expenses = −$23,339,475.

Subtract the $3,397,451 institutional transfer as well, and the balance becomes −$26,736,926. That is the difference between the widely reported $23.3 million operating deficit and Knight’s $26.7 million gap after transfers. Both can be correct.

Neither is automatically a measure of free cash flow. The NCAA facilities category includes principal repayments as well as interest, leases and rent; it excludes depreciation. That differs from conventional business profit accounting. And Texas’s official 2024–25 annual report uses yet another presentation—$336.6 million of sources and $364.0 million of uses—which remains unreconciled to the NCAA submission. It should not be spliced into this series. [[S03](https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/ncaa/finance/NCAAFIN_AgreedUponProcedures.pdf), [S08](https://texaslonghorns.com/documents/download/2026/1/27/2024-25_Annual_Report_Web.pdf)]

A further reporting change affects athlete support. The primary Knight category is “Athlete Scholarships and Related Support,” not tuition scholarships alone. In FY2025 its $22.61 million includes $13.92 million of athletic student aid, $5.69 million of non-travel meals and $3.00 million of enhanced educational benefits. The institutional NIL line is separate. [[S04](https://college-sports-finance.com/schools/university-of-texas-at-austin)]

## What Texas actually spends it on

The FY2025 expense allocation, using Knight’s harmonized categories, accounts for the full $379.3 million including transfers.

| Use | FY2025, $m |
| :---- | :---- |
| Facilities, debt service, equipment and overhead | 129.49 |
| Coaches’ compensation, including postseason amounts | 57.05 |
| Non-coaching staff compensation | 50.28 |
| Other expenses | 49.62 |
| Games and travel | 47.81 |
| Scholarships and related athlete support | 22.61 |
| Competition guarantees | 6.20 |
| Recruiting | 5.79 |
| Excess transfer to the institution | 3.40 |
| Institutional NIL/revenue sharing | 3.24 |
| Medical | 2.17 |
| Coaching severance | 1.63 |
| **Total including transfers** | **379.28** |

Source: Knight-Newhouse. Labels preserve the scope of the underlying categories; rounded entries may not sum precisely. [[S01](https://knightnewhousedata.org/fbs/sec/university-texas-austin), [S02](https://knightnewhousedata.org/about-the-data)]

Coaches and non-coaching staff together received $107.3 million, before the separate severance category. That is a clearer annual compensation measure than adding headline coaching-contract values, which can cover different years and omit benefits or bonuses.

The broad $129.49 million facilities category needs particular care. It combines $94.02 million in the NCAA facilities debt/lease/rent line, $19.52 million in overhead and administration, $11.93 million in maintenance and operations, and $4.02 million in equipment. Calling all $129.49 million “stadium debt payments” would be false. [[S04](https://college-sports-finance.com/schools/university-of-texas-at-austin)]

The department’s reported supplemental annual debt-service figure is much smaller: $22.50 million. Its outstanding athletics debt was $192.17 million. These are three different measures—a broad spending category, an annual payment measure and a debt balance—not amounts to add together.

The full FY2024 and FY2025 agreed-upon-procedures reports were not publicly located during this research. The exact bridge from the $94.02 million line to the $22.50 million debt-service measure, including rents, capital-related transfers and individual projects, therefore remains open. The CFO associated the larger facilities spending with DKR work and the basketball/rowing training facility in contemporary reporting. That explanation is attributed, not a substitute for the underlying schedule. [[S05](https://www.statesman.com/sports/college/longhorns/football/article/texas-longhorns-finances-sec-tv-deal-21304630.php)]

Nor should a sport’s reported surplus automatically be called its fully allocated economic profit. In the FY2023 filing, most of the facilities debt/lease/rent amount was unallocated by sport, while football had no allocation in that line. Subtracting football’s direct costs from its revenue leaves shared departmental costs elsewhere. Football can be the principal revenue engine without every published football “profit” figure being money available to transfer to academics. [[S29](https://www.scribd.com/document/699635054/Texas-Fiscal-2023)]

## The university gets money—but a smaller share

For the comparable FY2015–FY2025 period, excess transfers to the institution total $65.87 million. The annual amount fell between the endpoints from $9.81 million to $3.40 million, a nominal decline of 65.4%. It fluctuated along the way.

Measured against reported revenue, the transfer fell from 5.35 cents per dollar in 2015 to 0.96 cents in 2025. Call this the institutional transfer share:

Excess transfer to the institution ÷ reported athletics revenue.

This measure makes a narrow question answerable: how much of the reported athletics revenue base was transferred for non-athletics purposes? It does not measure every benefit to students or the net value of the university-athletics relationship. Capital transactions can also enlarge its revenue denominator.

The older records demonstrate why the label matters. Texas’s official annual report records direct support to the institution of $9.03 million in FY2011, $8.29 million in FY2012, $9.20 million in FY2013 and $9.72 million in FY2014. The Knight interface’s zero transfer entries in those years are not evidence that no money moved.

For FY2014, Texas separated roughly $6.6 million for academic initiatives from $3.1 million for central administrative services. The latter reimburses services; it is not the same thing as a gift to classrooms. The report also identifies a concrete benefit to students: $144,200 for the library system, helping support extended Perry-Castañeda Library hours. [[S07](https://texaslonghorns.com/documents/download/2015/2/25/2015_athletics_report.pdf)]

A dollar spent on an athlete’s tuition is a third relationship: athletics pays for that student’s education. It is neither a rebate to other students nor necessarily a discretionary transfer to the academic budget.

The defensible conclusion is that the reported operating flow goes from athletics to the institution. Calling Texas an “academic subsidy machine” would require knowing what each transfer paid for, what university services cost and which benefits sit outside the athletics ledger. The available records do not support a fifteen-year tuition-discount calculation.

## “Self-supporting” operations still use university credit and capital

The runaway-debt version of the story fails a useful test. Within the comparable post-2015 series, outstanding athletics debt was $218.10 million in FY2015 and $192.17 million in FY2025, down 11.9%. Debt did jump from $167.91 million in FY2021 to $217.91 million in FY2022 before declining again. Knight warns against comparing debt figures across its pre-2015 definition change. [[S01](https://knightnewhousedata.org/fbs/sec/university-texas-austin), [S02](https://knightnewhousedata.org/about-the-data)]

The obligation is still substantial. Debt service commits receipts before those receipts can fund a discretionary initiative. But the amount borrowed and the parties standing behind it matter more than the visual size of a stadium.

The DKR south-end-zone project illustrates how the funding plan changed. In 2018, the approved plan was $175 million: $125 million in gifts and $50 million through UT System’s Revenue Financing System. The plan identified ticket and premium-seating revenue as repayment sources and allowed interim borrowing while gifts arrived. By August 2021, the capital plan showed $179 million, with $56 million in gifts and $123 million in RFS financing. Those are successive funding snapshots, not amounts to total. [[S10](https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/default/files/offices/board-of-regents/board-meetings/board-minutes/8-2018Meeting1184.pdf), [S11](https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/default/files/documents/2017/cip-updates/fy-2022-2027fullcipaug2021.pdf)]

RFS debt is backed by a system-wide pledge of legally available revenues. UT System describes the Board’s payment obligation as unconditional. Thus “athletics expects to repay from athletics receipts” and “university credit supports the borrowing” can both be true. The pledge does not establish that a student’s tuition was actually diverted to make a stadium payment. It establishes whose credit stands behind the arrangement. [[S09](https://www.utbonds.utsystem.edu/revenue-financing-system/about/i617)]

Moody offers a related distinction. UT’s own account says the university provided land and infrastructure, owns the land and building, and gave Oak View Group a 35-year operating arrangement. Private parties financed construction under that partnership. The university received a venue and access while the operator received a long commercial opportunity. [[S12](https://texasconnect.utexas.edu/2022/05/04/moody-center-will-be-new-home-for-longhorn-basketball-and-major-touring-acts/)]

The public capital plan identifies one of those university inputs: the $46.6 million Red River Street Realignment project, including $44.1 million from the Available University Fund. It explicitly connects the street realignment to creating the arena site. The project also included a roadway, pedestrian lighting, separated bike lanes, stormwater facilities and other shared improvements. [[S11](https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/default/files/documents/2017/cip-updates/fy-2022-2027fullcipaug2021.pdf)]

That is a documented university capital commitment connected to Moody. It is not evidence that every dollar should be assigned to basketball, or that the budgeted allocation equals final expenditure. It does establish that “privately financed arena” cannot answer the broader question of university resources involved.

There is no defensible single “student subsidy” number here until shared costs, project outturns and financing support are valued. Inventing one would be less informative than showing the arrangements.

## What a student pays—and which right the payment buys

The mandatory-fee answer is simple: no student-fee revenue is reported in the fifteen-year athletics series. The voluntary-price answer requires more care.

| Period | Published student offer | Qualification |
| :---- | :---- | :---- |
| 2010–2013 | $80 Longhorn All-Sports Package | Earlier product; reserved football could require an upgrade |
| 2014–2021 | $175 Big Ticket plus $20 processing | $195 documented advertised charge; access rules changed during this period |
| 2022–2024 | $200 Big Ticket | No processing fee explicitly documented in 2022 and 2024; other missing fee observations stay unknown |
| 2025 | $250 Big Ticket; $130 optional LHF | $380 combined advertised prices |
| 2026 | $270 with football; $110 without | Football-inclusive purchases closed October 25 under the published rules |
| 2026 priority option | Additional $140 LHF membership | $410 combined advertised prices; limited to 6,000, now sold out |

Sources and annual observations are in the workbook. Current prices come from the official graphic, which conflicts with a stale $250 reference elsewhere on the official page. Separately unverified processing fees are not assumed to be zero. [[S14](https://texaslonghorns.com/sports/2026/4/6/the-big-ticket-the-ticket-option-for-ut-students), [S15](https://dxbhsrqyrr690.cloudfront.net/sidearm.nextgen.sites/texassports_com/images/2026/4/21/Big_Ticket_Table_Finalv2.jpg), [S16](https://catalog.utexas.edu/archive/2014-15/general-information/registration-tuition-and-fees/tuition-and-fees/optional-fees/), [S17](https://texaslonghorns.com/sports/2021/2/22/student-membership)]

Both packages cover ticketed regular-season home volleyball, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, softball and Texas Relays, subject to available student space. [[S14](https://texaslonghorns.com/sports/2026/4/6/the-big-ticket-the-ticket-option-for-ut-students), [S15](https://dxbhsrqyrr690.cloudfront.net/sidearm.nextgen.sites/texassports_com/images/2026/4/21/Big_Ticket_Table_Finalv2.jpg)]

The distinction between the two 2026 packages makes the price of football eligibility visible: $160 more than the package without football. The optional $140 Foundation membership purchases an earlier claim window. Under the published rules, an eligible member who claims during that window has a conditional route to guaranteed admission; buying the ordinary package alone does not guarantee a ticket for every home game. Seating remains general admission, and attendance and return rules still apply. Oklahoma, away games and postseason tickets cost extra. [[S14](https://texaslonghorns.com/sports/2026/4/6/the-big-ticket-the-ticket-option-for-ut-students), [S15](https://dxbhsrqyrr690.cloudfront.net/sidearm.nextgen.sites/texassports_com/images/2026/4/21/Big_Ticket_Table_Finalv2.jpg), [S17](https://texaslonghorns.com/sports/2021/2/22/student-membership)]

The base 2026 advertised price is 38.5% above the documented $195 charge in 2021. It is misleading to compare $270 with the old $175 sticker and forget the old $20 fee. The current evidence does not independently establish whether every later purchase carried an additional processing charge, so the workbook preserves that uncertainty.

A tuition comparison can be made precisely. Traditional flat-rate tuition for a Texas-resident Liberal Arts undergraduate taking at least twelve hours was $5,429 per semester in both 2021–22 and 2026–27. Against that defined student and period, the ticket price rose faster than tuition. The statement should not be generalized to every college, residency status or fixed-tuition cohort. [[S18](https://catalog.utexas.edu/archive/2021-22/general-information/registration-tuition-and-fees/tuition-and-fees/tables-tuition-for-fall-and-spring/), [S19](https://catalog.utexas.edu/general-information/registration-tuition-and-fees/tuition-and-fees/tables-tuition-for-fall-and-spring/)]

The price of greater certainty changed more sharply than the base price. The 2014 reserved-football arrangement cost $195 including its documented fee. The 2026 football package plus priority membership totals $410 in advertised prices, 110.3% more. These are different products: a reserved-seat arrangement versus a limited membership with a conditional claim guarantee. The comparison captures a change in the offer, not a constant-quality price index. [[S15](https://dxbhsrqyrr690.cloudfront.net/sidearm.nextgen.sites/texassports_com/images/2026/4/21/Big_Ticket_Table_Finalv2.jpg), [S16](https://catalog.utexas.edu/archive/2014-15/general-information/registration-tuition-and-fees/tuition-and-fees/optional-fees/), [S17](https://texaslonghorns.com/sports/2021/2/22/student-membership)]

## The capacity squeeze is measurable; individual lottery odds are not

The Daily Texan reported 16,890 football-inclusive passes sold in 2021 and 22,789 in 2025, an increase of 34.9%. It reported 11,307 student seats in 2025 and fewer than 1,000 seats added over that period. The supported recent story is that passes grew faster than capacity. [[S13](https://thedailytexan.com/2026/04/20/big-ticket-little-seating-a-look-into-the-history-of-the-big-ticket-and-how-it-compares-to-other-sec-schools-amid-higher-ticket-sales-outpacing-student-seating/)]

A useful measure is student seats per 100 football-inclusive passes:

11,307 ÷ 22,789 × 100 = 49.6.

This is a capacity ratio, not a 49.6% chance of getting into a game. The denominator contains annual pass holders who may not request a given game. Priority access, eligibility, returns and no-shows also change the outcome.

Older published capacity estimates conflict, and their definitions have not been reconciled. They do not support a clean claim that a fixed, consistently defined student allocation fell from 16,000 to 11,307. That proposed finding is dropped.

The better outcome measure would be the percentage of eligible requests fulfilled for each game, split between ordinary and priority buyers, followed by the percentage actually scanned into the stadium. Neither the annual pass count nor the stadium’s nominal capacity supplies that answer. It would require game-level request, claim, return and scan records.

That gap matters because a cheaper pass with more access can be better value than a higher-priced pass with fewer realized admissions. The public price history alone cannot measure value per game attended.

## The first SEC season did not bring a full share

The first full SEC football season did not give Texas the SEC’s full distribution.

| SEC fiscal year | Texas receipt | Meaning |
| :---- | :---- | :---- |
| 2023–24 | $27.5m | Transition television money plus refunded application fees |
| 2024–25 | $12.1m | CFP/bowl participation and designated NCAA funds during phase-in |
| 2024–25 incumbents | $72.4m average | Fourteen incumbent members with full financial participation |

The SEC’s official releases establish the distinction. Texas’s $12.1 million should not be replaced by the $72.4 million headline average. Likewise, the earlier $27.5 million was not all recurring television income. [[S20](https://www4.msstate.edu/newsroom/article/2025/02/sec-announces-2023-24-revenue-distribution), [S21](https://www.secsports.com/news/2026/02/sec-announces-2024-25-revenue-distribution)]

The league’s new ten-year ESPN agreement began in 2024–25 and runs through 2033–34. Full distributions to Texas and Oklahoma were scheduled for 2025–26. The fiscal transition also coincided with the end of Texas’s old Longhorn Network payment stream; contemporary reporting attributed part of the FY2025 shortfall to that transition. [[S05](https://www.statesman.com/sports/college/longhorns/football/article/texas-longhorns-finances-sec-tv-deal-21304630.php), [S22](https://espnpressroom.com/press-release/espn-and-southeastern-conference-reach-a-new-10-year-agreement/), [S30](https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/sec-financial-boom-brings-revenue-223212797.html)]

The Big 12 exit arrangement was $100 million combined for Texas and Oklahoma in foregone distributable revenue. It was not a new $100 million Texas check to subtract again from already reduced receipts. [[S23](https://big12sports.com/news/2023/2/9/conference-big-12-announces-agreement-for-withdrawal-of-oklahoma-and-texas.aspx)]

This supports a timing finding, not a complete verdict on the move. The first-year finances cannot establish the long-run gain or loss from SEC membership. A credible calculation would compare actual phased-in receipts, exit terms and the lost Longhorn Network arrangement with a defensible Big 12 counterfactual.

## Athlete pay is a new claim, not an explanation for every increase

The House settlement opened a new institutional payment system in July 2025. Texas HB 126 aligned state law with actions authorized under the applicable governing rules and court orders. The change concerns direct institutional NIL/revenue-sharing payments; athletes already received scholarships and other benefits. [[S24](https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/89R/billtext/html/HB00126F.htm), [S25](https://www.collegesportscommission.org/fact-sheet/ncaa-qa-implementation-of-the-house-settlement-may-29-2026/)]

The first benefits cap was $20.5 million for July 2025–June 2026. It was based on 22% of average defined revenues across the defendant-conference schools and Notre Dame, not 22% of Texas’s own $352.5 million. Certain new scholarships and Alston awards count toward the cap. NIL payments funded entirely by outside parties are a separate stream; routing university-funded payments through an intermediary does not make them outside money. The current 2026–27 cap is $21.58 million. [[S25](https://www.collegesportscommission.org/fact-sheet/ncaa-qa-implementation-of-the-house-settlement-may-29-2026/), [S26](https://www.collegesportscommission.org/college-sports-commission-tracks-1-8-billion-in-payments-to-student-athletes-during-first-year-of-revenue-sharing/)]

Texas’s FY2025 institutional NIL expense was $3,235,078. Its fiscal year ended August 31, so that figure covers the first two months of the system. It is not the cost of a full revenue-sharing year, and multiplying it by six would assume payment schedules the evidence does not establish.

There is nevertheless a decisive arithmetic test. Remove that entire line from FY2025’s reported operating expenses, holding everything else fixed, and the deficit is still $20,104,397. New institutional NIL accounts for about 13.9% of the reported $23.34 million operating gap. It cannot explain most of that year’s shortfall. This is an accounting sensitivity, not a claim about how administrators would otherwise have behaved. [[S04](https://college-sports-finance.com/schools/university-of-texas-at-austin)]

Houston Public Media reported that UT disclosed $13.5 million in payments from July 2025 through the end of March 2026. The newsroom described that as an approximately $18 million annual pace, with scholarship growth bringing benefits to the initial cap. It also reported that Texas schools withheld athlete- and team-level payment details. Those are the newsroom’s records requests, not requests made for this investigation. [[S27](https://radio.kttz.org/2026-04-03/how-much-money-do-college-athletes-in-texas-make-public-universities-wont-say)]

What pays for the new claim? One link is explicit. In March 2025, Athletics said an approximately $13-per-game general season-ticket increase, together with expense cuts and budgeting, would help fund NIL publicity rights and scholarships. That directly supports a connection to ordinary season-ticket pricing. It does not establish that the Big Ticket’s increase was earmarked for athlete payments. [[S31](https://texaslonghorns.com/news/2025/3/4/forty-acres-insider-march-4)]

A scale check is useful. A $50 increase applied to 22,789 passes would generate $1.139 million before discounts, refunds or other changes—5.6% of the initial $20.5 million cap. That is modeled gross revenue, not an audited collection or proof of where it went. Students’ purchases matter, but the student-price change alone cannot plausibly be the whole funding plan.

Three calendars must remain separate: Texas’s September–August fiscal year, the July–June benefits-cap year, and announced annual plans. FY2026 contains ten months of the first cap year and two months of the second. Its eventual institutional NIL expense cannot be checked against the first cap with a simple one-line comparison.

## What the evidence changes

Texas Athletics’ growth has not produced a proportionate increase in transfers to the rest of the university. Students do not face a reported mandatory athletics charge, but voluntary purchasers pay for increasingly differentiated access. The department relies on a public university’s credit and shared capital even while its operating subsidy categories are zero. The SEC transition delayed the full distribution, and two months of direct athlete pay explain only a small part of the FY2025 gap.

The question that follows is more concrete than whether football is “good for students.” Which student benefit is an obligation, and which depends on the next allocation decision?

Debt repayment has financing documents. Priority access has purchase conditions. Athlete payments have contracts and a cap. The broader student body’s financial return is harder to identify: some documented institutional transfers, particular services, the opportunity to attend games, and an affiliation that is not a distributable cash asset.

The records support scrutinizing those choices. They do not support charging every athletics expense to tuition, treating every dollar of football revenue as academic profit, or blaming the newest payee for commitments made before that payee could be paid.

# Methods and limits

The financial workbook reproduces all eight revenue categories and all displayed expense categories for FY2011–FY2025 from Knight-Newhouse’s live Texas profile, with inflation adjustment off. Category sums reconcile to the published totals. NCAA operating expense excludes Knight’s excess transfer category. College Sports Finance independently corroborates the operating totals and supplies the FY2025 detailed-line cross-check.

The original FY2024/FY2025 NCAA submissions and accountant reports were not located in full. This is a sourced reconciliation of public records and data publications, not a claim to have audited Texas’s books. The current NCAA instructions help explain definitions, but cannot establish whether a particular historical filing applied every rule consistently.

FY2025 is the latest NCAA/MFRS year used here. Texas has listed a newer EADA report, but that is a different reporting system. NCAA FY2026 submissions are due January 15, 2027; this analysis does not fill that missing year with a budget or an EADA total. [[S02](https://knightnewhousedata.org/about-the-data), [S32](https://www.ncaa.org/what-we-do/finances/financial-reporting-system/)]

The student series records published offers, not verified individual invoices. Null fees, missing membership prices, 2026 pass sales and unobserved seat counts remain unknown. The historical 2020 advertised price does not establish pandemic-era charges or refunds.

High confidence: category arithmetic; zero reported support categories; comparable post-2015 transfer share; official current price graphic; SEC distribution distinction; cap and fiscal calendars.

Qualified confidence: the extent to which “donations” represent discretionary resources; particular capital-payment explanations; tuition comparisons beyond the specified cohort; historical seat definitions.

Unresolved: a complete net public-support valuation; current future principal-and-interest schedule; final project spending and shared-cost allocation; sport-level institutional NIL; game-level admission success; the bridge between UT’s management annual report and its NCAA submission.

# Sources

[[S01](https://knightnewhousedata.org/fbs/sec/university-texas-austin)] Knight-Newhouse, University of Texas at Austin profile. Primary standardized NCAA-derived category data, FY2011–FY2025. [https://knightnewhousedata.org/fbs/sec/university-texas-austin](https://knightnewhousedata.org/fbs/sec/university-texas-austin)

[[S02](https://knightnewhousedata.org/about-the-data)] Knight-Newhouse, About the Data. Category definitions, transfer adjustments, 2015 debt break, reporting limitations. [https://knightnewhousedata.org/about-the-data](https://knightnewhousedata.org/about-the-data)

[[S03](https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/ncaa/finance/NCAAFIN_AgreedUponProcedures.pdf)] NCAA, current Agreed-Upon Procedures. Contributions, in-kind, facilities, operating expenses and other reporting items. Live PDF is 2026; used for definitions, not as Texas’s FY2025 filing. [https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/ncaa/finance/NCAAFIN\_AgreedUponProcedures.pdf](https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/ncaa/finance/NCAAFIN_AgreedUponProcedures.pdf)

[[S04](https://college-sports-finance.com/schools/university-of-texas-at-austin)] College Sports Finance, Texas NCAA MFRS data. Secondary exact operating totals and FY2025 line-level transcription. [https://college-sports-finance.com/schools/university-of-texas-at-austin](https://college-sports-finance.com/schools/university-of-texas-at-austin)

[[S05](https://www.statesman.com/sports/college/longhorns/football/article/texas-longhorns-finances-sec-tv-deal-21304630.php)] David Eckert, Austin American-Statesman, January 21, 2026. FY2025 report and CFO explanations. [https://www.statesman.com/sports/college/longhorns/football/article/texas-longhorns-finances-sec-tv-deal-21304630.php](https://www.statesman.com/sports/college/longhorns/football/article/texas-longhorns-finances-sec-tv-deal-21304630.php)

[[S06](https://sports.yahoo.com/texas-athletics-department-topped-300-000205086.html)] USA Today, Steve Berkowitz and David Eckert, January 28, 2025, republished by Yahoo; Sports Business Journal summary. FY2024 Moody donation amount undisclosed; $43 million payment funded partly by contributions. [https://sports.yahoo.com/texas-athletics-department-topped-300-000205086.html](https://sports.yahoo.com/texas-athletics-department-topped-300-000205086.html) ; [https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2025/01/28/university-of-texas-revenue/](https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2025/01/28/university-of-texas-revenue/)

[[S07](https://texaslonghorns.com/documents/download/2015/2/25/2015_athletics_report.pdf)] Texas Athletics, 2015 Annual Report, printed pages30–37. Early support, library gift and accounting reclassification. [https://texaslonghorns.com/documents/download/2015/2/25/2015\_athletics\_report.pdf](https://texaslonghorns.com/documents/download/2015/2/25/2015_athletics_report.pdf)

[[S08](https://texaslonghorns.com/documents/download/2026/1/27/2024-25_Annual_Report_Web.pdf)] Texas Athletics, 2024–25 Annual Report. Separate management sources-and-uses presentation. [https://texaslonghorns.com/documents/download/2026/1/27/2024-25\_Annual\_Report\_Web.pdf](https://texaslonghorns.com/documents/download/2026/1/27/2024-25_Annual_Report_Web.pdf)

[[S09](https://www.utbonds.utsystem.edu/revenue-financing-system/about/i617)] UT System, Revenue Financing System investor information. System-wide pledge and Board obligation. [https://www.utbonds.utsystem.edu/revenue-financing-system/about/i617](https://www.utbonds.utsystem.edu/revenue-financing-system/about/i617)

[[S10](https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/default/files/offices/board-of-regents/board-meetings/board-minutes/8-2018Meeting1184.pdf)] UT System Board of Regents, August2018 minutes, DKR project approval. [https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/default/files/offices/board-of-regents/board-meetings/board-minutes/8-2018Meeting1184.pdf](https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/default/files/offices/board-of-regents/board-meetings/board-minutes/8-2018Meeting1184.pdf)

[[S11](https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/default/files/documents/2017/cip-updates/fy-2022-2027fullcipaug2021.pdf)] UT System FY2022–2027 Capital Improvement Program, August19,2021. DKR revised funding and Red River project, physical PDF pages 2, 15, 18 and 26. [https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/default/files/documents/2017/cip-updates/fy-2022-2027fullcipaug2021.pdf](https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/default/files/documents/2017/cip-updates/fy-2022-2027fullcipaug2021.pdf)

[[S12](https://texasconnect.utexas.edu/2022/05/04/moody-center-will-be-new-home-for-longhorn-basketball-and-major-touring-acts/)] Texas Connect, May4,2022. Moody ownership, land/infrastructure and35-year operating arrangement. [https://texasconnect.utexas.edu/2022/05/04/moody-center-will-be-new-home-for-longhorn-basketball-and-major-touring-acts/](https://texasconnect.utexas.edu/2022/05/04/moody-center-will-be-new-home-for-longhorn-basketball-and-major-touring-acts/)

[[S13](https://thedailytexan.com/2026/04/20/big-ticket-little-seating-a-look-into-the-history-of-the-big-ticket-and-how-it-compares-to-other-sec-schools-amid-higher-ticket-sales-outpacing-student-seating/)] The Daily Texan, April20,2026, “Big Ticket, little seating.” Annual pass and capacity observations. [https://thedailytexan.com/2026/04/20/big-ticket-little-seating-a-look-into-the-history-of-the-big-ticket-and-how-it-compares-to-other-sec-schools-amid-higher-ticket-sales-outpacing-student-seating/](https://thedailytexan.com/2026/04/20/big-ticket-little-seating-a-look-into-the-history-of-the-big-ticket-and-how-it-compares-to-other-sec-schools-amid-higher-ticket-sales-outpacing-student-seating/)

[[S14](https://texaslonghorns.com/sports/2026/4/6/the-big-ticket-the-ticket-option-for-ut-students)] Texas Athletics, current Big Ticket page. Claims, attendance and purchase rules; contains conflicting stale price wording. [https://texaslonghorns.com/sports/2026/4/6/the-big-ticket-the-ticket-option-for-ut-students](https://texaslonghorns.com/sports/2026/4/6/the-big-ticket-the-ticket-option-for-ut-students)

[[S15](https://dxbhsrqyrr690.cloudfront.net/sidearm.nextgen.sites/texassports_com/images/2026/4/21/Big_Ticket_Table_Finalv2.jpg)] Texas Athletics, official2026 Big Ticket graphic, visually verified. [https://dxbhsrqyrr690.cloudfront.net/sidearm.nextgen.sites/texassports\_com/images/2026/4/21/Big\_Ticket\_Table\_Finalv2.jpg](https://dxbhsrqyrr690.cloudfront.net/sidearm.nextgen.sites/texassports_com/images/2026/4/21/Big_Ticket_Table_Finalv2.jpg)

[[S16](https://catalog.utexas.edu/archive/2014-15/general-information/registration-tuition-and-fees/tuition-and-fees/optional-fees/)] UT catalog archived optional fees,2014–15 and2021–22. [https://catalog.utexas.edu/archive/2014-15/general-information/registration-tuition-and-fees/tuition-and-fees/optional-fees/](https://catalog.utexas.edu/archive/2014-15/general-information/registration-tuition-and-fees/tuition-and-fees/optional-fees/) ; [https://catalog.utexas.edu/archive/2021-22/general-information/registration-tuition-and-fees/tuition-and-fees/optional-fees/](https://catalog.utexas.edu/archive/2021-22/general-information/registration-tuition-and-fees/tuition-and-fees/optional-fees/)

[[S17](https://texaslonghorns.com/sports/2021/2/22/student-membership)] Texas Athletics, student Longhorn Foundation membership. [https://texaslonghorns.com/sports/2021/2/22/student-membership](https://texaslonghorns.com/sports/2021/2/22/student-membership)

[[S18](https://catalog.utexas.edu/archive/2021-22/general-information/registration-tuition-and-fees/tuition-and-fees/tables-tuition-for-fall-and-spring/)] UT traditional flat-rate tuition,2021–22. [https://catalog.utexas.edu/archive/2021-22/general-information/registration-tuition-and-fees/tuition-and-fees/tables-tuition-for-fall-and-spring/](https://catalog.utexas.edu/archive/2021-22/general-information/registration-tuition-and-fees/tuition-and-fees/tables-tuition-for-fall-and-spring/)

[[S19](https://catalog.utexas.edu/general-information/registration-tuition-and-fees/tuition-and-fees/tables-tuition-for-fall-and-spring/)] UT traditional flat-rate tuition,2026–27. [https://catalog.utexas.edu/general-information/registration-tuition-and-fees/tuition-and-fees/tables-tuition-for-fall-and-spring/](https://catalog.utexas.edu/general-information/registration-tuition-and-fees/tuition-and-fees/tables-tuition-for-fall-and-spring/)

[[S20](https://www4.msstate.edu/newsroom/article/2025/02/sec-announces-2023-24-revenue-distribution)] SEC FY2023–24 distribution release, reproduced by Mississippi State. [https://www4.msstate.edu/newsroom/article/2025/02/sec-announces-2023-24-revenue-distribution](https://www4.msstate.edu/newsroom/article/2025/02/sec-announces-2023-24-revenue-distribution)

[[S21](https://www.secsports.com/news/2026/02/sec-announces-2024-25-revenue-distribution)] SEC FY2024–25 distribution release, February5,2026. [https://www.secsports.com/news/2026/02/sec-announces-2024-25-revenue-distribution](https://www.secsports.com/news/2026/02/sec-announces-2024-25-revenue-distribution)

[[S22](https://espnpressroom.com/press-release/espn-and-southeastern-conference-reach-a-new-10-year-agreement/)] ESPN, new ten-year SEC agreement, announced2020, starting2024–25. [https://espnpressroom.com/press-release/espn-and-southeastern-conference-reach-a-new-10-year-agreement/](https://espnpressroom.com/press-release/espn-and-southeastern-conference-reach-a-new-10-year-agreement/)

[[S23](https://big12sports.com/news/2023/2/9/conference-big-12-announces-agreement-for-withdrawal-of-oklahoma-and-texas.aspx)] Big12, February9,2023 withdrawal agreement. [https://big12sports.com/news/2023/2/9/conference-big-12-announces-agreement-for-withdrawal-of-oklahoma-and-texas.aspx](https://big12sports.com/news/2023/2/9/conference-big-12-announces-agreement-for-withdrawal-of-oklahoma-and-texas.aspx)

[[S24](https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/89R/billtext/html/HB00126F.htm)] Texas Legislature, HB126 enrolled text and history. [https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/89R/billtext/html/HB00126F.htm](https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/89R/billtext/html/HB00126F.htm) ; [https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R\&Bill=HB126](https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=HB126)

[[S25](https://www.collegesportscommission.org/fact-sheet/ncaa-qa-implementation-of-the-house-settlement-may-29-2026/)] College Sports Commission/NCAA, House implementation Q\&A, May29,2026, SectionD. [https://www.collegesportscommission.org/fact-sheet/ncaa-qa-implementation-of-the-house-settlement-may-29-2026/](https://www.collegesportscommission.org/fact-sheet/ncaa-qa-implementation-of-the-house-settlement-may-29-2026/)

[[S26](https://www.collegesportscommission.org/college-sports-commission-tracks-1-8-billion-in-payments-to-student-athletes-during-first-year-of-revenue-sharing/)] College Sports Commission, first-year payments and2026–27 cap announcement, October2026. [https://www.collegesportscommission.org/college-sports-commission-tracks-1-8-billion-in-payments-to-student-athletes-during-first-year-of-revenue-sharing/](https://www.collegesportscommission.org/college-sports-commission-tracks-1-8-billion-in-payments-to-student-athletes-during-first-year-of-revenue-sharing/)

[[S27](https://radio.kttz.org/2026-04-03/how-much-money-do-college-athletes-in-texas-make-public-universities-wont-say)] Dominic Anthony Walsh, Houston Public Media/Texas Newsroom, April3,2026, reproduced by KTTZ. [https://radio.kttz.org/2026-04-03/how-much-money-do-college-athletes-in-texas-make-public-universities-wont-say](https://radio.kttz.org/2026-04-03/how-much-money-do-college-athletes-in-texas-make-public-universities-wont-say)

[[S28](https://www.nber.org/papers/w27734)] Garthwaite and coauthors, “Who Profits From Amateurism?” NBER Working Paper27734. [https://www.nber.org/papers/w27734](https://www.nber.org/papers/w27734)

[[S29](https://www.scribd.com/document/699635054/Texas-Fiscal-2023)] Texas Fiscal2023 NCAA MFRS submission, public copy. [https://www.scribd.com/document/699635054/Texas-Fiscal-2023](https://www.scribd.com/document/699635054/Texas-Fiscal-2023)

[[S30](https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/sec-financial-boom-brings-revenue-223212797.html)] USA Today, SEC financial distributions and phased-in full membership, February2026, republished by Yahoo. [https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/sec-financial-boom-brings-revenue-223212797.html](https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/sec-financial-boom-brings-revenue-223212797.html)

[[S31](https://texaslonghorns.com/news/2025/3/4/forty-acres-insider-march-4)] Texas Athletics, Forty Acres Insider, March4,2025. General season-ticket increase and athlete-benefit funding explanation. [https://texaslonghorns.com/news/2025/3/4/forty-acres-insider-march-4](https://texaslonghorns.com/news/2025/3/4/forty-acres-insider-march-4)

[[S32](https://www.ncaa.org/what-we-do/finances/financial-reporting-system/)] NCAA Membership Financial Reporting System. FY2026 reporting deadline. [https://www.ncaa.org/what-we-do/finances/financial-reporting-system/](https://www.ncaa.org/what-we-do/finances/financial-reporting-system/)


## Supporting data downloads

The public package contains curated, dated aggregate snapshots, dataset definitions and source notes. Its Excel workbook contains values, rather than the original editable formulas. The source and formula notes describe the reproducible scope.

- [Curated data, definitions and source notes (ZIP)](/research/deep-research/data/texas-athletics-money-and-student-tickets-support.zip)
- [Curated tables, values only (Excel)](/research/deep-research/data/texas-athletics-money-and-student-tickets/support.xlsx)
- [Primary comparison table (CSV)](/research/deep-research/data/texas-athletics-money-and-student-tickets/annual-finances.csv)
- [Dataset definitions (JSON)](/research/deep-research/data/texas-athletics-money-and-student-tickets/definitions.json)