Nebraska’s financial report to the NCAA for the 2021 fiscal year provides a look at the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted business operations, and also at the way in which the athletic department was able to weather a year-plus with no fans in stands.
The department reported $92 million in revenue for fiscal 2021, which spanned July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021, approximately $41.5 million less than 2020 and more than $44.1 million off its high-water mark in 2019, according to a copy of the report obtained via records request by the Journal Star.
The biggest driver for that decrease, of course, was the almost entire lack of fan presence during that 12-month period.
In most years, football alone drives more than $30 million in ticket revenue and another $5 million in concessions, merchandising and other gameday-related revenue. Overall in FY 2020, the department reported $38.1 million in ticket revenue and $5.9 million in concessions and merchandising.
In fiscal 2021, with the Big Ten limiting attendance to family only, the entire athletic department did $706,138 in ticket revenue. About $384,000 of that came from the spring baseball season, $302,000 from football and the rest from softball and soccer.
NU was also able to trim expenses from $124.1 million in FY 2019, the last year fully uninterrupted by the pandemic, to $104.1 million in 2021.