Mobile, Alabama · Football Bowl Subdivision · public university. University of South Alabama reported $32.6M of athletic revenue in 2024-25 against $32.6M of expenses. That is 28% of the $116.0M median for the 128 Football Bowl Subdivision programs, and it ranks 122nd of 128 in the FBS and 184th of 358 across Division I. Revenue rose 6.4% on the prior year’s $30.6M.
Analysis by Matthew Hanauer, PhD, Chief Technology Officer at Civly · All 358 Division I schools
All figures come from the school’s own filings for 2024-25 and are compared with the 128 programs in its group.
Paying the full $21.3M revenue-sharing cap for 2026-27 would take 65.4% 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. At that share of revenue, paying the full cap is not a realistic budget for this program.
386 athletes were counted at the school in the survey year, filling 304 men’s and 199 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 7,790. Football is the largest single line, $13.5M of revenue against $13.9M of expenses, which is 41% of what the department earned.
Each row shows one sport’s revenue, expenses and athletes.
| Sport | Revenue | Expenses | Net | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Football | $13.5M | $13.9M | −$447k | 122 | 0 |
| Basketball | $4.8M | $4.5M | +$305k | 14 | 15 |
| Baseball | $2.0M | $1.9M | +$97k | 40 | 0 |
| Softball | $1.6M | $1.5M | +$45k | 0 | 26 |
| Soccer | $1.2M | $1.2M | +$0 | 0 | 26 |
| Volleyball | $1.1M | $1.1M | +$0 | 0 | 19 |
| Tennis | $1.0M | $1.0M | +$0 | 5 | 7 |
| Golf | $912k | $912k | +$0 | 10 | 10 |
| Track and Field (Indoor) | $793k | $793k | +$0 | 52 | 41 |
| Track and Field (Outdoor) | $786k | $786k | +$0 | 51 | 41 |
| Cross Country | $213k | $213k | +$0 | 10 | 14 |
The table shows the 11 sports at University of South Alabama 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.
We have verified 2 organizations as funding this program. Their tax returns report what each raised.
“Provide Financial Support for the University of South Alabama'S Athletics Department.”
The link to University of South Alabama 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 Mobile.
This organization books most of its money as program service revenue ($1.9M of $2.3M), so its contributions line understates what supporters gave.
“Jags Impact, Inc. Is a Not-For-Profit Corporation Organized for the Use of Name Image Likeness to Serve the Local Community and Student Athletes at the University of South Alabama Who Support Local Charities and Their Charitable Events.”
This is the collective's final return. It dissolved in 2025 and gave its remaining $41,000 to the Loyal, Strong & Faithful Fund, which the university launched in April 2025 to take over the collective's fundraising.
The link to University of South Alabama 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, and it is based in Mobile.
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.
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.
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.
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.