Cal’s athletic department shelled out more than $165 million in operating expenses in the 2024-25 fiscal year, its first full season in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The result was a multi-million dollar gap, even after donors opened their wallets. The new numbers put hard figures on the tradeoffs Cal is living with: higher travel and staffing costs to compete in an East-heavy league, plus long-running debt tied to Memorial Stadium. Administrators say fundraising and one-time payments softened the blow, but the budget picture is still tight.
The headline figures
University records list total operating expenses at more than $165 million in 2024-25, with revenues of roughly $153 million and a reported operating deficit of more than $24 million. That tally counts more than $42 million in “direct institutional support” as revenue, an accounting move critics argue hides how much the university is really subsidizing athletics. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the report spells out how conference realignment and other one-off factors reshaped the ledger.
Donors and one-time payments masked pressure
Cal Athletics logged a record $82 million in donor support for 2024-25, although much of that windfall went into endowments instead of day-to-day operations. The campus also announced a $26 million endowment for men’s aquatics from Ned and Carol Spieker, described by the university as the largest single gift in the department’s history. Those headline-making gifts have given Cal some breathing room, even as recurring costs keep creeping upward.
Revenue sharing adds a new recurring cost
The nationwide House settlement that reshaped NCAA rules created a new line item: roughly $20.5 million available for revenue-sharing payouts in 2025-26, which many Power Five programs are expected to steer largely toward football. Athletic departments across the country are already gaming out how to cover that recurring obligation, and trade publications note that Cal’s leaders have talked about donor matching and other fundraising tactics to help shoulder the new burden. See Sports Business Journal for coverage of those preparations.
Travel, media payouts and a century long stadium loan
Conference realignment drove much of the near-term spike in costs. Team travel jumped about 40 percent to $14.3 million as most road trips now require cross-country flights, while media rights receipts dropped from roughly $25 million to about $11 million in Cal’s first ACC season. The department is still lugging around large annual payments from the 2011–12 Memorial Stadium renovation, and public records reviewed by reporters show a restructuring that stretches some of that stadium debt out as far as the year 2112. A university critic’s calculations suggest those payments could total roughly $1.25 billion over the life of the loan. The Chronicle also reported that the school covered a roughly $10.9 million buyout for its former head coach while recruiting new leadership, adding yet another short-term cash strain. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, those pieces together help explain why a record fundraising year still ended with the department in the red.
What Berkeley should watch next
Expect sharper debates over how much the university and its donors should shoulder to keep Cal competitive. Expanded fundraising drives, revamped ticketing and sponsorship packages, and continued central support from the UC system are all in the mix. For fans in Berkeley neighborhoods, the most immediate changes may show up as new premium offerings, adjusted prices and tweaked gameday programming. Administrators say more detailed budget updates and formal filings are on the way as the school heads deeper into the revenue-sharing era and its second season in the ACC.
