LSU struggles with multimillion-dollar athletics deficit: ‘We’ve got to stop that bleeding’

After years of minimal profits, LSU athletics is now tens of millions of dollars in the red.

LSU President Wade Rousse told the state Board of Regents on Tuesday the school’s sports program is projected to carry a $26 million deficit this year.

The program’s shortfall for fiscal year 2025-26 was $44 million, according to LSU spokeswoman Meg Sunstrom. It was the first year in which NCAA Division I programs were allowed to directly compensate student-athletes for their name, image and likeness. Like most Power Four conference schools, LSU spent the maximum amount allowed — $21. 5 million — accounting for the biggest portion of the deficit.

LSU athletics has overspent its budget over the past six years by a total of $177.5 million, Rousse told the Regents at their annual budget hearing for all schools under their purview.

Rousse said the university would soon publicly announce details of a new revenue generation plan discussed with donors in July at a private event at the Governor’s Mansion. Following that gathering, reports circulated that the plan includes a private equity deal linked to media rights for LSU sports. It would most likely involve getting upfront cash from investors who would share profits from an entity that receives income from broadcast deals or other business arrangements.

An announcement on the plan is on hold pending a valuation of LSU’s brand, Rousse said.

“We want to make sure that our brand is valued the right way,” Rousse said. “At no point do we ever lose control of anything there.”

The plan would provide funding not only to athletics but eventually across the entire LSU System, which includes campuses in New Orleans, Shreveport, Alexandria and Eunice, according to Rousse.

“The acute need is certainly athletics, so we’ve got to stop that bleeding first,” Rousse said in an interview. “But you know, I think what we’re building is scalable. And if we do it the right way, it could have a positive effect on revenue for the entire system.”

At the same time LSU is increasing its athletics spending, it’s also trying to boost investment in its academic research in its quest to rank as one of the top 50 research universities.

To do so, Chancellor Jim Dalton said the university needs to boost its federal funding by about $150 million and hire 100 to 150 faculty over the next five years. He leads LSU’s main campus in Baton Rouge and its research-intensive campuses, which include its medical schools in Shreveport and New Orleans, the Pennington Biomedical Research Center and LSU AgCenter.

For the first year, LSU is requesting $31.7 million from the state legislature to hire 45 faculty members and provide them with startup packages to build out their research programs.

LSU is also seeking $21 million from the state to offer competitive stipends for graduate students.

Lawmakers will consider the request in their next legislative session, which begins in April.