Kansas Athletics reports $4.1 million surplus in fiscal year 2023 NCAA financial statement

LAWRENCE — Kansas Athletics operated with a surplus of about $4.1 million during fiscal year 2023, according to a department NCAA financial statement.

Here are some takeaways from the report:

Revenues, expenses both continue to rise

The NCAA financial statement for Kansas Athletics for fiscal year 2021, a period of time affected by the pandemic, showed a deficit of about $1.8 million. That included total operating expenses of a bit more than $94.1 million and total operating revenues of a bit more than $92.3 million.

The NCAA financial statement for the department for fiscal year 2022, as KU continued to move past the height of the pandemic, showed a surplus of about $9.3 million. That included total operating expenses of a bit more than $108.6 million and total operating revenues of a bit more than $118 million.

The NCAA financial statement for the department for fiscal year 2023 showed a surplus about $4.1 million, as previously noted. That included total operating expenses of a bit more than $124.2 million and total operating revenues of a bit more than $128.3 million.

Football ticket sales see substantial increase as team invests more

The NCAA financial statement for fiscal year 2023 covers the 2022 football season, which was the second of head coach Lance Leipold’s tenure in Lawrence. Leipold’s rebuild, which saw the Jayhawks reach a bowl game for the first time in more than a decade that season, has seen fans flock to David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium in significant numbers. During the 2022 campaign, that was evidenced in part by the fact Kansas enjoyed three-straight sellout crowds.

The fiscal year 2022 report listed ticket sales for football at a bit more than $3.6 million, while fiscal year 2023 saw a substantial increase to a bit more than $6.7 million. It’s a key reason why, for the football program specifically, total operating revenues increased to a bit more than $45.2 million from a bit more than $39 million. It could have meant more of a surplus for the football program, but it didn’t as the team also assumed almost $7 million more in expenses.

Both surpluses for fiscal year 2022 and 2023 for the football program were more than $17 million, just with preceding fiscal year listing more of a surplus than the one that followed. It wasn’t just because there were expenses that came along with going to a bowl game. It was also because of investments like almost $3 million more for what was referred to as “Coaching Salaries, Benefits and Bonuses paid by the University and Related Entities.”

Media rights revenues also increase

The notable increase in expenses from fiscal year 2022 to 2023 went beyond a more significant investment in the football program, but did not lead to a deficit. A key reason why, was the increase in revenues from “Media Rights.”

From fiscal year 2022 to 2023, the revenues increased in total from about $29.6 million to about $34.3 million. That broke down into a little more than $22.3 million for football and a little more than $7.3 million in non-program specific funds the first year, and in the second year a little more than $23.6 million for football and a little more than $10.7 million in non-program specific funds.

The media rights section in the report is where there’s instruction to, “Input all revenue received for radio, television, internet, digital and e-commerce rights, including the portion of conference distributions related to media rights — if applicable.”

RELATED: Kansas incurred $10 million in legal fees defending NCAA men's basketball infractions case

RELATED: Breaking down Kansas athletics legal fees: What KU paid for in NCAA infractions defense

RELATED: Did KU pay all $10M in legal fees for NCAA infractions case out of athletics funds?

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: KU Athletics: $4.1 million surplus in FY 2023 NCAA financial statement