Texas leads the SEC with almost $168 million in athletics donations
According to Matt Stahl of AL.com, the Texas Longhorns athletic department raked in $167,786,462 in donations during fiscal year 2025. That total cleared second-place Tennessee by over $50 million, rival Oklahoma by over $70 million, and Texas A&M by over $110 million.
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Stahl reported that Texas brought in $59.5 million in football-specific donations, a drop from fiscal year 2024’s $63.3 million. Oklahoma and Tennessee also cracked the $50 million barrier in football-specific donations.
SEC schools reported almost $1 billion in all-sport donations with a total of $952 million.
This covered the 2024 football season, where Texas went 13-3 in football, appearing in the SEC Championship game and advancing to the semifinals of the College Football Playoff. In addition, the entire athletic department took home the NACDA Directors Cup for the fourth time in five years in the reporting period thanks in large part to national championships won in men’s swimming and diving and softball.
According to data from Knight Newhouse, Texas brought home $137 million via donor contributions in 2024 as part of $331.9 million in total revenue. The Longhorns spent $327.8 million according to that same entity. $127 million was spent on facilities, debt service, and equipment. Coaches compensation made up the next highest percentage of spending with $48.6 million.
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It’s not clear whether or not Knight-Newhouse’s data is for the year 2024 or for fiscal year 2024. However, Texas athletics director Chris Del Conte said in February that the athletic department brought in $352.5 million in revenue in FY2024-25 and had $379.3 million in expenses. Del Conte also added the athletic department planned for said shortfall.
Texas has new expenses like additional scholarships and revenue sharing payouts as part of opting into the House v. NCAA court settlement. It has a variety of revenue streams like media rights payouts, sponsorships, and to help pay for those newfound expenses.
But Texas, especially compared to its SEC peers, does not lack for donor contributions to fund a top-flight athletic department.
