The Ole Miss Athletic Department brought in $178.6 million total revenue, netting a loss after over $183.7 million in operating expenses this past year. Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey announced on Thursday, Feb. 5 that $1.04 billion in revenue from the 2024-25 fiscal year will be distributed among the conference’s 16 member schools.
The Ole Miss Athletic Department’s revenue was up from $149.3 million a year ago and expenses were also up from $157 million. Despite Ole Miss Athletics netting a loss this year, the department still improved on their bottom line.
“I think the issue that we run into at Ole Miss is that we’re just limited in space,” Vice Chancellor for Intercollegiate Athletics Keith Carter said in an interview with The Daily Journal. “When you look at our stadium and we’re 65,000 … but when you’re going up against Tennessee and (Texas) A&M and Texas and Georgia and Alabama that are all well above 90 (thousand) and in the hundreds, that just creates a math problem, too, that they have an opportunity to generate more revenue.”
The department scored a major sponsorship agreement with Aflac to place the company’s logo on the field at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Although the exact amount has not been made public at the time of publication, this will likely yield a large amount of revenue.
Ole Miss Women’s basketball took a sizable loss this year. They made $250,000 more than last year, totalling $1.05 million, but spent $8.4 million for a $7.35 million loss. 247Sports reporter Chase Parham stated that that is mostly due to the lack of ticket revenue and media rights.
Additionally, since the Rebels’ recent run in the College Football Playoffs occurred after the SEC’s fiscal year ended on Aug. 31, 2025, the funds earned from participating in the postseason have rolled over into the 2026 fiscal year.
The SEC’s fiscal year began in September and ended in August.
Each program that participated in a full SEC season will receive an average of $74.2 million, and universities that participated in a postseason football bowl game will receive an extra $37.4 million, an increase of over $20 million from last year’s payouts of $17.7 million. Conferences are awarded money for making the playoffs and reaching the quarterfinals, semifinals and national championship.
This marks an increase from last year’s figures, when the total revenue distribution in 2023-24 was over $808 million, and the average per school was $53.8 million.
This revenue is generated from television contracts, postseason bowl games, the CFP, the SEC Football Championship game, the SEC Men’s Basketball tournament and NCAA Championships.
“The SEC’s annual revenue sharing allows member universities to support elite athletics programs, including sustained and meaningful investment in women’s and Olympic sports that enhances opportunities and strengthens resources, while advancing the academic and athletic aspirations of thousands of student-athletes,” Sankey said.
