I found 18 profitable & 211 money-losing NCAA Division-I public athletic programs in 2020

I was doing some research using the Knight-Newhouse College Athletics Database to calculate the profit of Divison I public athletic programs. I was trying to learn how many programs turned a profit in 2020 (the 2021 COVID year was not used because it has some convoluted, though interesting, data: for instance, ticket sales varied greatly based on conference rules and state laws related to the pandemic; and, many athletic departments reduced staff or asked coaches to take pay cuts). Therefore, I created a complete list for all Division I institutions (below).

Of available data, a total of 18 of 229 public Division I athletics programs generated more money than they spent in 2020. This ranged from a whopping $270 million profit (thank you for the gift, Nike co-founder Phil Knight) at the University of Oregon to a massive $48.2 million deficit at James Madison University. (Notably, military academies were not included, and some institutions did not provide data).

How was this calculated?  Link here to read the article on LinkedIn and to access the full data set.

Watch the video interview posted on Matt Brown's "Extra Points" through College Sports Connect: