College Sports Money · Division I FBS

University of Southern Mississippi

Hattiesburg, Mississippi · Football Bowl Subdivision · public university. University of Southern Mississippi reported $31.9M of athletic revenue in 2024-25 against $31.9M of expenses. That is 27% of the $116.0M median for the 128 Football Bowl Subdivision programs, and it ranks 125th of 128 in the FBS and 189th of 358 across Division I. Revenue rose 13.4% on the prior year’s $28.1M.

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

$31.9M
athletic revenue, 2024-25
$31.9M
athletic expenses
$0
revenue less expenses
+13.4%
revenue against the prior year
125th of 128
by revenue in the FBS
189th of 358
by revenue in Division I
368
athletes · 252 men, 200 women
8,679
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 66.8% 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.

Who is on the rosters

Participation and enrollment as surveyed

368 athletes were counted at the school in the survey year, filling 252 men’s and 200 women’s roster spots across 12 sports. The two counts differ because an athlete who plays two sports fills a spot in both. Enrollment is 8,679. Football is the largest single line, $11.0M of revenue against $11.0M of expenses, which is 35% of what the department earned.

Sport by sport

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

SportRevenueExpensesNetMenWomen
Football$11.0M$11.0M+$01130
Basketball$4.3M$4.3M+$01614
Baseball$2.4M$2.4M+$0390
Softball$958k$958k+$0030
Track and Field and Cross Country (combined)$891k$891k+$0080
Volleyball$830k$830k+$0018
Golf$749k$749k+$0128
Soccer$729k$729k+$0026
Tennis$705k$705k+$099
Beach Volleyball$409k$409k+$0015
Track and Field (Outdoor)$302k$302k+$0310
Track and Field (Indoor)$243k$243k+$0320

The table shows the 12 sports at University of Southern Mississippi 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 one organization as funding this program. Its tax return reports what it raised.

University of Southern Mississippi Athletic Foundation

Booster foundation · EIN 640929171 · Hattiesburg, MS · tax year 2024, for the period ending 2025-06-30
Total revenue
$9.7M
Contributions
$8.9M
Total revenue, year before
$7.2M
Contributions, year before
$6.9M
Change in revenue
+$2.5M

“The Mission of the Athletic Foundation Is to Provide Financial Supportto the University of Southern Mississippi Athletic Program.”

The link to University of Southern Mississippi 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, and it is based in Hattiesburg.

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.