College Sports Money · Division I FBS

Florida State University

Tallahassee, Florida · Football Bowl Subdivision · public university. Florida State University reported $192.7M of athletic revenue in 2024-25 against $192.7M of expenses. That is 1.7 times the $116.0M median for the 128 Football Bowl Subdivision programs, and it ranks 20th of 128 in the FBS and 20th of 358 across Division I. Revenue rose 13.4% on the prior year’s $169.9M.

Analysis by , Chief Technology Officer at Civly · All 358 Division I schools

$192.7M
athletic revenue, 2024-25
$192.7M
athletic expenses
$0
revenue less expenses
+13.4%
revenue against the prior year
20th of 128
by revenue in the FBS
20th of 358
by revenue in Division I
476
athletes · 319 men, 267 women
29,271
students enrolled

Revenue cap and rosters

All figures come from the school’s own filings for 2024-25 and are compared with the 128 programs in its group.

The revenue-sharing cap

Cost of paying the full cap

Paying the full $21.3M revenue-sharing cap for 2026-27 would take 11.1% of this department’s revenue. The cap is the most a school may pay its athletes directly, and no school is required to pay it. Third-party name, image and likeness money is uncapped and does not count against it.

Who is on the rosters

Participation and enrollment as surveyed

476 athletes were counted at the school in the survey year, filling 319 men’s and 267 women’s roster spots across 11 sports. The two counts differ because an athlete who plays two sports fills a spot in both. Enrollment is 29,271. Football is the largest single line, $83.5M of revenue against $83.3M of expenses, which is 43% of what the department earned.

Sport by sport

Each row shows one sport’s revenue, expenses and athletes.

SportRevenueExpensesNetMenWomen
Football$83.5M$83.3M+$202k1240
Basketball$20.3M$20.3M+$01612
Baseball$6.9M$6.9M+$0400
Softball$3.7M$3.7M+$0021
Track and Field and Cross Country (combined)$3.6M$3.6M+$087102
Golf$3.4M$3.4M+$01012
Soccer$2.8M$2.8M+$0026
Swimming$2.7M$2.7M+$03247
Tennis$2.0M$2.0M+$0109
Volleyball$1.5M$1.5M+$0016
Beach Volleyball$1.1M$1.1M+$0022

The table shows the 11 sports at Florida State University that reported money or participants in 2024-25. Sports the school surveyed but left empty are not shown. Revenue and expenses attributed to no single sport, which at most departments is the larger share of both, are counted only in the department totals above, so these rows do not add to those totals. Sort by any column.

Who funds the athletes

We have verified 2 organizations as funding this program. Their tax returns report what each raised.

Seminole Boosters Inc

Booster foundation · EIN 591561180 · Tallahassee, FL · tax year 2024, for the period ending 2025-06-30
Total revenue
$82.1M
Contributions
$68.1M
Total revenue, year before
$80.6M
Contributions, year before
$66.4M
Change in revenue
+$1.6M

“To Provide Financial Support for the Students and Intercollegiate Athletic Programs at Florida State University.”

The link to Florida State University comes from what this organization says it exists for, in the mission statement on its own tax return, plus its registration in the same state. Its 990 mission names the school and uses athletics or NIL language, its name includes athletics wording, and it is based in Tallahassee.

Florida State University Athletics Association Inc

Booster foundation · EIN 813227626 · Tallahassee, FL · tax year 2024, for the period ending 2025-06-30
Total revenue
$29.3M
Contributions
$18.4M
Total revenue, year before
$42.9M
Contributions, year before
$42.9M
Change in revenue
−$13.6M

“The Purpose of the Florida State University Athletic Association, Inc. Is to Administer Varsity Collegiate Athletics for and On Behalf of Florida State University, Including Oversight, Governance, Coordination Between the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics and Seminole Boosters.”

The link to Florida State University comes from the school’s own name inside this organization’s filed name, plus its registration in the same state. Its name includes athletics wording, it is based in Tallahassee, and it is filed under IRS activity code N11.

Limits of these figures

1

The survey year comes before revenue sharing started

The revenue-sharing cap is the most a school may pay its athletes directly: $20.5M for 2025-26 and $21.3M for 2026-27. No school is required to pay it. Third-party NIL money is uncapped and does not count against it. No federal athletics survey covers a revenue-sharing year yet. The first is expected around spring 2027.

2

What the survey is

Every college that takes federal student aid and fields a team files this survey each year under the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act. Because filing is a federal requirement, the survey covers private universities that NCAA-based databases do not include. The figures are the school’s own reported numbers for 2024-25, and the Department of Education does not audit them. Reported revenue includes direct institutional support and student fees, so every department in the survey reports revenue at least equal to its expenses, and a reported surplus does not mean a profit.

3

What a Form 990 shows

A Form 990 shows what an organization raised. It never shows what any athlete was paid. No figure in the funder section is anyone’s compensation or the value of any deal. The form has no single donor-money line. Some organizations book donor money as contributions and others as program service revenue or fees for services, so each funder card lists total revenue first.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act survey, 2024-25; IRS Form 990 e-file releases for donor entities. Analysis: Civly.

Vet athletes and find collective donors

Civly Athletics vets athletes. Collective Prospecting finds and qualifies the donors behind a collective and traces each name to a filing or a public post.