Mississippi State Athletics spent the least on football out of any public SEC institution during the 2025 academic and fiscal year, and over $20 million less than the conference’s average football spending, according to the Knight-Newhouse College Athletics database.
MSU’s “total football operating expenses,” as defined by the database, was $37.58 million in 2025. The SEC average spending on football in 2025 was $59.4 million. That number excludes Vanderbilt, which, as a private institution, is not required to disclose its information publicly.
While State trails its conference counterparts in football spending, it has increased internally throughout the 2020s, including a 23% increase since its 2020 mark of $30.51 million.
The percentage increase is tied with LSU for the smallest in the SEC from 2020-25.
SEC football spending in 2025
n Alabama, $82.86 million
n Tennessee, $74.02 million
n Texas, $73.88 million
n Georgia, $71.11 million
n Oklahoma, $63.82 million
n Ole Miss, $61.88 million
n Texas A&M, $60.23 million
n Auburn, $59.37 million
n Arkansas, $57.37 million
n South Carolina, $55.86 million
n Florida, $52.02 million
n LSU, $50.74 million
n Missouri, $49.32 million
n Kentucky, $42.02 million
n Mississippi State, $37.58 million
n Vanderbilt, private
MSU spent $168.3 million on athletics in 2025, also the lowest amount of the 15 SEC programs that reported.
The single largest spending category in MSU’s FY2025 report was $39.31 million on “other expenses.” The expenses are classified by the Knight-Newhouse database as “sports equipment, uniforms and supplies, fundraising, marketing and promotion, sports camps, spirit groups, direct overhead and administrative expenses, indirect institutional support, membership and dues, student-athlete meals, and other operating expenses.”
MSU also spent $27.81 million on “facilities, debt service and equipment,” $27.41 million on “coaches compensation,” $22.72 million on “non-coaching athletics compensation” and $17.27 million on “athletics scholarships and cost of living benefits,” according to the database.
How does MSU’s football spending compare to other Power 4 conferences?
The average football spending for public institutions in Power 4 conferences is $51.85 million.
Big 12 (Conference average = $38.5 million)
MSU would be right in the middle of the Big 12 in terms of football spending.
Out of the 13 teams that publicly reported their finances, MSU would be the seventh-highest spender on football in the conference. State spent more on football than Iowa State, Kansas,
State, Oklahoma State, Cincinnati, Houston, Kansas and West Virginia in 2025.
ACC (Conference average = $50.2 million)
MSU spent more than just Louisville ($31.71 million) and Virginia (34.26 million) on football in 2025.
Only nine of the conference’s 17 teams’ data was available. The ACC’s seven private
institutions did not publicly report, and Pittsburgh’s numbers were not available.
Big Ten (Conference average = $59.3 million)
MSU would be third-to-last in football spending in the Big Ten.
State would rank just ahead of Maryland ($35.5 million) and Purdue ($37.19 million). Northwestern and USC did not publicly report its numbers as a private institution.
Jake is the Mississippi State athletics reporter for The Dispatch.
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