- Ohio State University President Ted Carter expects conversation about the Big Ten’s revenue-sharing model.
- Carter highlighted Ohio State’s significant brand value, citing high TV viewership for its football games.
- Future financial self-sufficiency could be challenged by rising costs related to athlete compensation for name, image, and likeness (NIL).
WASHINGTON — Ohio State University President Ted Carter left open the possibility of changes to Big Ten Conference schools’ revenue-sharing arrangements and his own institution’s approach to how its athletics department is funded.
During a Tuesday, Sept. 9 interview with USA TODAY that also covered an array of Ohio State-specific and national higher-education topics, Carter addressed questions about two longstanding features of the school’s sports financial picture: Roughly equal sharing of Big Ten revenue among the conference’s longest-standing members and zero dollars in university or student-fee money being used to support the athletics department.
Ohio State is one of the biggest brand names in college sports. Its department supports 35 NCAA teams, making it one of the most broad-based programs at a Bowl Subdivision public school. And it has averaged more than $262 million in operating revenues and expenses over the three most recent fiscal years for which USA TODAY has been able to obtain data in conjunction with the Knight-Newhouse College Athletics Database at Syracuse University – 2022 through 2024.
Carter said during the interview that Ohio State had around $325 million in athletics revenue for the 2024-25 fiscal year and that the department operated at a surplus.
In the context of Clemson’s and Florida State’s recent disputes with the Atlantic Coast Conference that has resulted in the ACC adopting an unbalanced revenue-sharing model, Carter was asked whether he foresaw that happening in the Big Ten, given the television draws of Ohio State and Michigan.
“I don’t want to get into the type of conversations that are happening inside the Big Ten,” said Carter, who began at Ohio State on Jan. 1, 2024, after four years as president of the University of Nebraska System. “I would just tell you that we’re a proud member of the Big Ten, and that’s where we’re going to stay. We have … our own bylaws for how we do the distributions. When new members join the conference, they don’t always come in at the same share, as you know. So … that’s the way our media rights deals are set up. That’s how we’re set up for now.”
Carter was then asked what he thinks about where this goes four to five years from now, as conferences’ current, respective, television contracts begin winding down.
“We don’t have any answers,” he replied. “I will say that there’s only a couple of schools that really represent the biggest brands in the Big Ten, and you can see that by the TV viewership. I mean, look what we just went through with the Texas game (Ohio State’s football season opener). … You know, 16.(6) million people watching that game over the whole game. And it peaked at 18.6 million. It’s the most watched opening game in history, third-largest game ever watched in a regular season (on Fox). So, that’s what happens when you put the Ohio State brand out there.”
Asked whether that should translate into something different in terms of revenue share, Carter said:
“It doesn’t matter what Ted Carter thinks. I think that’s going to be a conversation that will be had over time.”
Carter said Ohio State is “committed to maintaining” its current number of sports and has undertaken a number of initiatives aimed at increasing revenue. Those range from the creation of a members-only club at Ohio Stadium that is scheduled be open on non-game days, to new luxury suite and seating areas in the stadium, to greater effort to book other events at university facilities.
All of this aimed at allowing Ohio State to continue being among a small group of Division I public schools nationally whose athletics department annually reports netting $0 in revenue from school or government sources or student fees. Ohio State’s athletics department also annually reports transfers of money, beyond operating expenses, to the university’s general fund.
Asked whether the athletics department will be able to continue working in that fashion, Carter said: “I think that will depend on the types of rules that have to be set up for NIL and shared revenue (with athletes from the school for the use of their name, image and likeness). I mean, that’s one of the reasons we want to see those things get a little bit more under control. If those costs continue to go up, then there’s risk to those types of things (the department remaining financially self-sufficient. And so that’s something obviously we’re paying attention to.”
The goal, he said, is for the department to remain self-sufficient.
‘At some point there’s only so many things you can do to generate additional revenue,” he said. “… So, again you’ve got to be able to think a little bit differently. I mean, we’re the top-selling brand for apparel. We’re a proud member of using Nike. That’s a relationship that really matters to us. And, so, again, you’ve got to look at everything that can help generate revenue. And we’re still looking at other ways to help offset these costs.”