Lexington, Kentucky · Football Bowl Subdivision · public university. University of Kentucky reported $186.6M of athletic revenue in 2024-25 against $186.6M of expenses. That is 1.6 times the $116.0M median for the 128 Football Bowl Subdivision programs, and it ranks 22nd of 128 in the FBS and 22nd of 358 across Division I. Revenue fell 3.8% from the prior year’s $194.0M.
Analysis by Matthew Hanauer, PhD, Chief Technology Officer at Civly · All 358 Division I schools
Everything below is the school’s own filed figures for 2024-25, read against the 128 programs it is grouped with.
Paying the full $21.3M revenue-sharing cap for 2026-27 would take 11.4% of everything this department took in. The cap is a ceiling on what a school may pay its athletes directly, not a spending figure and not an obligation, and third-party name, image and likeness money is uncapped and does not count against it.
614 athletes were counted at the school in the survey year, filling 360 men’s and 357 women’s roster spots across 13 sports. The two counts differ because an athlete who plays two sports fills a spot in both. Enrollment is 23,338. Football is the largest single line, $43.3M of revenue against $43.3M of expenses, which is 23% of what the department earned.
What each sport brought in, what it cost, and how many athletes it carried.
| Sport | Revenue | Expenses | Net | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Football | $43.3M | $43.3M | +$0 | 122 | 0 |
| Basketball | $29.0M | $29.0M | +$0 | 15 | 13 |
| Track and Field and Cross Country (combined) | $7.4M | $7.4M | +$0 | 85 | 109 |
| Baseball | $5.2M | $5.2M | +$0 | 42 | 0 |
| Soccer | $4.9M | $4.9M | +$0 | 27 | 56 |
| Swimming and Diving (combined) | $4.4M | $4.4M | +$0 | 44 | 37 |
| Volleyball | $3.4M | $3.4M | +$0 | 0 | 16 |
| Softball | $3.2M | $3.2M | +$0 | 0 | 21 |
| Tennis | $2.8M | $2.8M | +$0 | 9 | 8 |
| Gymnastics | $2.7M | $2.7M | +$0 | 0 | 19 |
| Golf | $2.0M | $2.0M | +$0 | 11 | 8 |
| Other Sports | $1.7M | $1.7M | +$0 | 0 | 64 |
| Rifle | $976k | $976k | +$0 | 5 | 6 |
The 13 sports at University of Kentucky 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, sit in the department totals above and not in this table, so these rows do not add to those totals. Sort by any column.
The organization we have verified as funding this program, and what its own tax return says it raised.
“Aid and Assist the University of Kentucky in Raising Funds to Further the Education, Religious, Charitable and Athletic Programs at the University”
The link to University of Kentucky comes from the school’s own name inside this organization’s filed name, plus its registration in the same state. School name 'university of kentucky'; athletics wording in the name; athletics/NIL language in the 990 mission; same city (Lexington).
This organization books most of its money as program service revenue ($162k of $162k) rather than contributions, so the contributions line understates what supporters gave. Total revenue is the figure to read.
Three things that change how the figures above should be read.
The revenue-sharing cap is a ceiling on what a school may pay its athletes directly ($20.5M for 2025-26, $21.3M for 2026-27), not a spending figure and not an obligation. Third-party NIL is uncapped and does not count against it. No federal athletics survey covers a revenue-sharing year yet; the first lands around spring 2027.
Every college that takes federal student aid and fields a team files this survey each year under the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act. It is a federal filing obligation rather than a public-records request, which is why it covers private universities that the NCAA-based databases cannot reach. The figures are the school’s own reported numbers for 2024-25, not audited by the Department of Education. Reported revenue includes direct institutional support and student fees, so every department in the survey reports revenue at least matching its expenses. A surplus here is not profit.
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. There is also no single donor-money line on the form: some organizations book donor money as contributions, others as program service revenue or fees for services, which is why total revenue leads.
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.
This page is what the public record gives up for free. Civly Athletics vets the athlete, and Collective Prospecting finds and qualifies the donors behind a collective, each name traced to a filing or a public post.