The NCAA posted revenue of $1.14 billion in fiscal 2022, a slight dip from the previous year, as the college sports governing body continues to deal with the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The figure is 1.6% below the record $1.16 billion that the organization posted last year, according to its audited financial statements. It operated at a $59 million deficit for 2022, following a $122 million surplus in 2021.
Revenue actually increased for the March Madness basketball tournaments—the organization’s main cash cow—but those gains were offset by the performance of its investments. Expenses rose with increased legal fees, higher payouts to member schools and the resumption of full-scale championship events in all sports. The biggest new expense, however, was the creation of an NCAA-owned insurance entity designed to protect the organization from future cancellations.
The NCAA was one of the few major sports entities that received a sizeable insurance payout when COVID-19 hit. The organization received $270 million in 2020, $81 million in 2021 and another $17 million in 2022, according to the financial statements. Those policies have since become prohibitively expensive to renew. The organization has also faced difficulty with insurance related to its various legal battles, so it took a creative new approach.
As a result, in March of last year, the Indianapolis-based organization created its own insurance subsidiary, called the 1910 Collective LLC (The NCAA assumed its current name in 1910). The entity was seeded with a one-time payment and ended fiscal 2022 with a balance of $84 million. That money will be used as needed to cover future loss of revenue due to canceled events, plus possible legal rulings.
Revenue from the NCAA media rights jumped to $940 million from $916 million, largely a result of escalators in the group’s contract with CBS and Turner. Non-media championship revenue more than tripled, to $199 million from $61 million, as the basketball tournaments returned to full attendance and ticket sales. The NCAA ended the year with net assets of $457 million.
(The headline has been updated to reflect that the NCAA revenue decline and insurance costs are not connected.)
