The University of Missouri has increased its monetary support for its athletics programs, giving the athletic department around $22.8 million in direct support in 2023.
“This is going to be the new normal,” University of Missouri President Mun Choi said at the Dec. 5 Faculty Council meeting. “Part of the reason this is going to be the new normal is because athletics is going to require more investments from the university.”
Choi said the athletic department has been self-sufficient in the past and therefore was not making necessary updates. He noted that two years ago, MU closed the indoor tennis facility because of mold and the outdoor tennis facility because of the condition of the concrete.
“We were not making the investments into athletics that we should have been making, whether that is through maintenance or the program,” Choi said.
MU is one of six schools in the Southeastern Conference whose athletic department receives direct institutional support. Between 2016 and 2021, the athletic department received around $1 million annually in direct support from the university. In 2022, that number jumped to just under $13.2 million, and in 2023, it reached around $22.8 million — a portion of which is a university loan. This makes MU the second-most university-funded athletic department in the SEC, coming in behind Auburn.
In 2023, MU Athletics brought in $141,558,287 in revenue and spent $141,558,286, leaving just $1 left over. While MU had the second-lowest total revenue in the SEC, it also had the second-lowest expenses. This was the third-lowest net-positive in the conference, although two schools, Alabama and Mississippi State, both finished in the red.
MU is also preparing for additional expenses from the upcoming $2.8 billion House v. NCAA settlement that will pay out student-athletes across the country who were unable to earn money from name, image and likeness — also known as NIL — prior to the NCAA policy change in 2021.
“The bottom line is that there are a number of increasing expenses or potential expenses for athletics,” MU Faculty Council Fiscal Committee chair Peter Wilden said at the Nov. 7 meeting. “What we don’t know now is how that is going to be addressed.”
The settlement, which has a final approval hearing scheduled for April 7, will also eliminate scholarship limits and allow athletic departments to share up to an estimated $22 million of annual revenues directly with student-athletes.
“The House v. NCAA settlement is going to be a dramatic change in which we operate,” Choi said.
