STARKVILLE – Mississippi State’s athletic department operated at a $200,000 surplus in Fiscal Year 2025, while posting record revenue and expenditures, according to the university’s annual NCAA membership report.

The Dispatch obtained a copy of the membership report Thursday through a public records request.

Athletic Director Zac Selmon revealed in a newsletter last week that the department saw an all-time high in total revenue and contributions, with a record revenue of $164,684,369 for FY 2025 per the report, up 29% from the previous year. The total expenses amounted to $164,482,616.

The department operated at a planned deficit of $6,991,258 for FY24, based on a then-record $127,241,981 in revenue against $134,233,239 in expenses.

The report obtained by The Dispatch also shows a 79% increase in departmental fundraising contributions from 2024, with MSU athletics raising $59.1 million in cash received during FY 2025.

The total does not match the common university and stakeholder reporting, which accrues both cash received and cash pledged during the year. Selmon announced in July that athletics set a new fundraising record with $84.6 million in donations and pledges.

The department increased spending on the football program for the third straight year, which reflected renovations to Davis Wade Stadium and the start of renovation projects for the team’s Leo Seal practice complex.

Football raked in more than any other sport, including $13,450,045 from ticket sales, $18,630,506 in media rights, $14,132,213 from shared postseason revenue, $1,160,080 from concessions and $400,000 from away-game guarantees.

The department unveiled plans to build an indoor facility over the current turf field in place at the practice field, a $60 million project funded by a lead gift from Howard Industries founder and former Bulldog, the late Billy Howard.

Davis Wade Stadium received improved lighting features as well as foundational reinforcement and renovations to certain concession areas. Future renovations to the stadium soundsystem are underway with plans to host more concerts in the future, starting with an appearance by country music artist Zach Bryan for a stadium show in May.

University annual financial reports will include a new expense category going forward for “Institutional NIL Revenue Share,” but the FY 2025 report does not reflect any expenses for NIL given that the new revenue-sharing system did not go into effect until July 1. The changes were a result of the House v. NCAA settlement, which required that participating programs spend up to $20.5 million each year in revenue sharing for student athletes. While this was meant to act as a soft salary cap, third-party NIL deals are still allowed outside of the revenue-sharing structure.

MSU Athletics, like most other athletic departments, has not released any specific numbers related to revenue-sharing distribution across its sports, though Selmon told The Dispatch in August that the department’s approach is focused on rewarding revenue-generating sports without ignoring non-revenue sports.

“We’ve looked at it as the revenue that is driven, clearly, is mainly driven through football and the television deals that we all have, then basketball,” Selmon said. “But for us, you look at the lofts that we have and seat licenses in baseball, some of the gifts that we get in women’s basketball. Across the board, we’ve looked at it as, where’s the revenue coming from?”

The department received $43,185,677 in revenue from the SEC’s media-rights distribution deals, a number that continues to increase in terms of the average shared among conference members as the value of sports programming on TV skyrockets. The conference announced record revenue distribution for FY25, reporting an increase of more than $200 million from the previous year to surpass $1 billion total.