The following table compares several aspects of the financial health of men’s basketball for OSU with Pac-12 peer programs in FY 2013 (source – US Dept. of Education). Considered here are the program revenues and expenses, revenues and expenses as a percentage of total revenues and expenses, and the net revenue for the men’s basketball programs in the conference. All values are $ millions except for % as noted.
| Revenue | Expenses | Basketball | |||||
| School | Bask. | Total | % of Total | Bask. | Total | % of Total | Net revenue |
| OSU | 6.5 | 60.2 | 11 | 3.9 | 59.0 | 7 | 2.6 |
| Oregon | 8.4 | 81.4 | 10 | 5.9 | 75.6 | 8 | 2.5 |
| UW | 10.2 | 85.1 | 12 | 6.9 | 76.2 | 9 | 3.3 |
| WSU | 5.1 | 50.2 | 10 | 3.8 | 50.1 | 8 | 1.3 |
| Cal | 9.5 | 91.8 | 10 | 6.3 | 76.4 | 8 | 3.2 |
| Stanford | 5.4 | 90.5 | 6 | 4.4 | 90.5 | 5 | 1.0 |
| USC | 5.5 | 97.8 | 6 | 5.6 | 97.8 | 6 | -0.1 |
| UCLA | 12.4 | 83.9 | 15 | 12.7 | 83.9 | 15 | -0.3 |
| Arizona | 24.9 | 66.3 | 38 | 7.8 | 66.1 | 12 | 17.1 |
| ASU | 7.7 | 63.8 | 12 | 6.3 | 63.7 | 10 | 1.4 |
| Colorado | 4.5 | 66.3 | 7 | 4.9 | 66.3 | 7 | -0.4 |
| Utah | 5.4 | 51.8 | 10 | 4.2 | 51.8 | 8 | 1.2 |
| Mean | 8.8 | 74.1 | 12 | 6.1 | 71.5 | 9 | 2.7 |
In terms of revenue production in FY 2013, OSU ranked 7th in the Pac-12 and generated $2.3 million less than the conference average. However, expenses for men’s basketball are very low with only WSU spending slightly less than OSU. As a result, OSU was one of the more profitable men’s basketball programs in the conference and was 4th in net revenues in FY 2013 at $2.6 million. Three programs lost money in FY 2013 while Arizona made a whopping $17.1 million after expenses. By comparison, OSU football netted $16.8 million after expenses in FY 2013.
Men’s basketball generated 11% of OSU’s total athletic department revenues not far off the conference average of 12%. Expenses for men’s basketball were 7% of total expenses at OSU while the conference on average had expenses for men’s basketball that were 9% of the total. OSU’s net revenue of $2.6 million was about average but higher than average with conference outlier Arizona taken out of the picture. Net revenue at OSU was greater than that attained by conference rival Oregon.
Oregon State’s low expenses for men’s basketball in relationship to conference peers is a factor in the relatively high net revenue for the program. These values suggest a need for greater investment in the program to improve competitiveness and the long-term revenue production potential for men’s basketball.
