Madison, Wisconsin · Football Bowl Subdivision · public university. University of Wisconsin-Madison reported $190.5M of athletic revenue in 2024-25 against $180.5M of expenses. That is 1.6 times the $116.0M median for the 128 Football Bowl Subdivision programs, and it ranks 21st of 128 in the FBS and 21st of 358 across Division I. Revenue rose 3.7% on the prior year’s $183.8M.
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 11.2% 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.
738 athletes were counted at the school in the survey year, filling 415 men’s and 448 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 35,196. Football is the largest single line, $112.3M of revenue against $40.9M of expenses, which is 59% of what the department earned.
Each row shows one sport’s revenue, expenses and athletes.
| Sport | Revenue | Expenses | Net | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Football | $112.3M | $40.9M | +$71.4M | 122 | 0 |
| Basketball | $20.6M | $17.6M | +$3.0M | 17 | 28 |
| Ice Hockey | $5.2M | $9.5M | −$4.4M | 26 | 24 |
| Volleyball | $4.1M | $5.2M | −$1.1M | 0 | 19 |
| Soccer | $1.5M | $4.9M | −$3.4M | 27 | 35 |
| Track and Field and Cross Country (combined) | $1.5M | $6.4M | −$4.9M | 91 | 124 |
| Swimming and Diving (combined) | $1.1M | $4.7M | −$3.7M | 32 | 32 |
| Rowing | $835k | $5.9M | −$5.1M | 52 | 141 |
| Tennis | $460k | $2.4M | −$1.9M | 9 | 9 |
| Softball | $458k | $2.6M | −$2.2M | 0 | 27 |
| Golf | $424k | $2.5M | −$2.0M | 10 | 9 |
| Wrestling | $366k | $2.0M | −$1.7M | 29 | 0 |
The table shows the 12 sports at University of Wisconsin-Madison 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 one organization as funding this program. Its tax return reports what it raised.
“Our Fund Exists to Advance the Efforts and Activities of Charitable and Educational Organizations in Wisconsin and to Support Intercollegiate Athletes at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. By Working with Student Athletes, We Will Provide Wisconsin Tax-Exempt Organizations with Access and Support of Intercollegiate Athletes and the Names, Images, and Likenesses of Intercollegiate Athletes. Through Communication, Speaking, Events and Community Relations, We Will Increase the Visibility and Reach of Other Charities and Attract Donors and Volunteers to Further Their Charitable Purposes.”
The link to University of Wisconsin-Madison 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 Madison.
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.