CLEMSON — Profits from Clemson athletics are down about $11 million in fiscal year 2025, according to documents obtained by The Greenville News.
In Clemson’s most recent NCAA financial report, the school earned $893,714 after having total operating revenue of $198.6 million and total operating expenses of $197.7 million during the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2024, and ends June 30, 2025.
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Clemson’s profit in 2025 was down from when the school earned $12 million in fiscal year 2024. It continued a two-year downward trend in Clemson’s profits. From fiscal years 2022 to 2023, the school’s profits increased from $14.9 million to $21.7 million, but have since declined.
The largest parts of Clemson’s revenue in fiscal year 2025 were dues ($56 million), ticket sales ($39.1 million) and media rights ($31.3 million).
The school’s biggest expenses were coaching salaries, benefits and bonuses ($40.4 million), support/administrative staff compensation, benefits and bonuses ($37.4 million) and student aid for athletics ($22 million).
Here are some other takeaways from the NCAA report.
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Dabo Swinney, Clemson football profits drop by $14 million
Coach Dabo Swinney and Clemson football went 10-4 in 2024 to reach the ACC Championship and return to the College Football Playoff for the first time in three years.
That helped the football program turn a profit of $5.8 million, but that’s down nearly $14 million from fiscal year 2024, according to the report. In 2025, Clemson football brought in $88.7 million, a 1.7 percent increase over last year, but had $83 million in expenses, a 22.4 percent increase.
MORE: Steve Spurrier’s warning to Dabo Swinney on cheating allegations: ‘There are no rules’
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One reason for the increased spending came from Clemson making the postseason and being successful there. Clemson coaches’ salaries, benefits and bonuses increased by nearly $4 million after the Tigers won the conference title game and won the CFP. This also led to an increase in wages.
Clemson did not lose money due to the $5 million in guarantees the school received after facing Georgia in the Aflac Kickoff Game in Atlanta on August 31, 2024.
Clemson also made $7 million in reimbursements for postseason football expenses, an increase of more than $5 million over 2024.
Clemson baseball is among the sports that combined to lose nearly $14 million
Clemson sports outside of football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball also lost nearly $14 million. Revenue for these sports has dropped from $21.6 million in 2024 to $13.1 million in 2025.
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MORE: Clemson baseball’s Ariston Veasey will miss at least 3 games after arrest, Erik Bakich says
A major reason was a decline in contributions to other sports. Clemson received just $1 million in contributions in 2025 after getting $9.5 million the previous year.
Expenses also increased from $40.5 million to $45.6 million. Clemson paid $4.08 million for “enhanced educational benefits,” due to NCAA vs. Alston and others like it that ruled that the NCAA’s restrictions on education-related benefits for college athletes violated antitrust law. Clemson sports outside of football and basketball accounted for $3 million of the $4.08 million.
Where Clemson doubled its profit in 2025
Clemson’s “non-program specific” category earned $35.9 million, up from $16.9 million in 2024. That’s financial data covering the entire athletic department.
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In this section, Clemson’s revenue increased from $72.4 million in 2024 to $85.6 million in 2025. The increases came from contributions ($48.2 million to $54.3 million), direct institutional support ($6.6 million to $13 million), media rights ($0 to $1 million), and conference distributions (non-media) and 7 millions of dollars.
Expenses also fell from $55.5 million to $49.7 million. A major reason was the drop in fundraising, marketing and promotion, falling from $5.5 million in 2024 to $1.9 million.
Clemson’s earnings and expenses are the highest ever
Clemson has embraced how expensive the new college sports landscape is. In 2018, Clemson earned $133.8 million and spent $131.9 million. Its earnings rose 48.4% and expenses 49.9% in fiscal 2025 to set new highs.
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Clemson first saw massive jumps from fiscal years 2022 to 2023. It earned $158.2 million and spent $143.3 million in 2022. Those numbers rose to $195.5 million (revenues) and $174.2 million (expenses) the following year.
Two fiscal years later, Clemson surpassed both totals and ranked among the top programs in the country.
Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at DCarter@usatodayco.com and follow X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson football profits down $14 million in fiscal year 2025