UCLA Athletics Reportedly Facing Enormous Debt Amid Effort to Leave Rose Bowl and Campus Budget Cuts

UCLA’s athletic department is running an enormous debt according to a letter sent from the Academic Senate to college leaders.

Last year, the university fronted the athletics department $30 million to help cover an $80 million shortfall, according to media reports.

According to a May 23 letter obtained by Pasadena Now, and addressed to Chancellor Julio Frenk and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Darnell Hunt, Senate Chair Kathy Bawn, UCLA Athletics has operated at a deficit for six consecutive years, accumulating $219 million in losses while the campus has imposed hiring freezes, weighed cuts to teaching assistants and warned faculty that terminated federal research grants will not be backstopped by the university.

According to court documents filed by the City, UCLA is currently trying to get out of its lease with the Rose Bowl Operating Company that allows the Bruins to play football in the iconic stadium rent free until 2044.

The Bruins are attempting to move to SoFi Stadium and receive money for premium suites.

In 2023-24, UCLA made about $16.4 million in ticket revenue, according to its financial disclosures to the NCAA, from $20.2 million the year before.

By comparison, Ohio State, which sold the most tickets, made a whopping $47.9 million in ticket sales, and that’s a decrease from the prior year, partly due to fewer home games.

UCLA has entered into a deal with Elevate. The five-year ticketing revenue-share arrangement grants the company a commission fee of 5% on the Bruins’ net ticket revenue, provided the university sells at least $100 million of athletic tickets over the term.

In order to hit that mark the Bruins would need to sell $20 million in tickets for the lifetime of the deal.

UCLA was scheduled to receive $4 million up front as part of the deal. According to one website that reviewed the deal:

“The document is tightly tethered to the Rose Bowl, UCLA’s current home venue, with extensive detail devoted to the specific ticket inventory and revenue assumptions tied to the stadium’s current layout and its new configuration once pending renovations are complete.”

The letter from the Academic Senate said continued financial support for the beleaguered athletics program is undermining the university’s academic mission at a time of deepening budget cuts.

The letter states that in 2024, UCLA Athletics generated roughly $100 million in revenue while incurring $180 million in expenses.

The resulting $80 million deficit was partially offset by a $30 million subsidy from the campus budget.

Despite the red ink, the Senate said athletics spending has continued to rise.

UCLA Athletics is expected to face an additional $22 million in costs in 2025 related to settlements in class-action lawsuits against the NCAA, while anticipated Big Ten media rights revenue of $60 million to $75 million will not be enough to offset current spending levels, according to the letter.

Bawn acknowledged the department’s historic success, citing 124 NCAA championships and decades of Olympic participation, but questioned how austerity could be imposed on academic programs while athletics expenditures continue unchecked.

The Senate criticized executive compensation and recent administrative hires within athletics, noting that the athletics department has not posted a balanced budget during Jarmond’s tenure, and noted Jarmond recently received a contract upgrade with a salary exceeding $1.5 million annually.

UCLA officials have previously said athletic deficits reflect conference realignment costs, long-term capital investments, and broader changes in college sports finance.

The UC Regents are asking a judge to quash deposition notices issued by the Rose Bowl Operating Committee for UCLA Athletic Director Martin Jarmond; Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer Stephen Agostini; and Deputy Athletics Director and Chief Revenue Officer Daniel Cruz.

The letter also raised concerns that athletics received a blanket exemption from newly issued travel and entertainment spending restrictions while research activities did not, and said there is no systematic evidence that increased athletic spending benefits the academic mission, even indirectly through alumni giving.

To illustrate the scale of the deficit, the Senate said $80 million could instead provide roughly $30,000 in research funding for each ladder faculty member, cover nearly all in-state tuition for doctoral students, or support approximately 1,200 teaching assistants for a quarter.

The Senate called for an immediate end to campus subsidies for athletics, including loans, and renewed demands for greater faculty consultation on budget decisions.