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UCLA mascot next to downward red arrow
UCLA left the Pac-12 for the Big Ten largely because there was an enormous pile of television money waiting on the other side. The television money absolutely arrived, but apparently somebody forgot to tell donors, ticket buyers and sponsors they were supposed to get more excited too.
The Bruins collected just $13.5 million in athletic donations during fiscal 2025, down from $18.5 million three years earlier, according to CBS Sports. That ranked UCLA 14th among the Big Ten’s 16 public schools and less than half the conference median of $34.1 million.
UCLA Got The Big Ten Money And Lost Money Everywhere Else
The entire financial picture is an incredible case of successfully fixing one problem while several others catch fire.
UCLA’s combined media and NCAA revenue jumped from $41.2 million in fiscal 2023 to $77.3 million in 2025, an 88% increase after the move. Its Big Ten media-rights money alone reached more than $61 million in Year 1.
Mission accomplished. Then you keep reading the spreadsheet.
Ticket sales fell from $20.2 million to $18.3 million over that two-year period. Sponsorship, advertising, and licensing revenue cratered from $18.3 million to $10.6 million. Donations dropped from $15.6 million to $13.5 million.
Meanwhile, game and travel expenses increased from $24.2 million to $33.1 million because joining a conference filled with schools in places like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey turns out to involve slightly more transportation when your campus is in Los Angeles.
UCLA essentially upgraded its cable package and then discovered the rest of the house was leaking.
The donor comparison might be the ugliest number. Washington, another West Coast school that joined the Big Ten, raised $52.9 million during fiscal 2025. Ohio State brought in $69 million, while Penn State collected $64.6 million.
UCLA brought in $13.5 million.
The Bruins Still Needed A $31 Million Rescue
The extra Big Ten money did improve the bottom line. UCLA’s reported athletic deficit fell from a horrific $51.9 million in fiscal 2024 to $21.6 million in 2025.
There is a catch. That $21.6 million loss already includes $31.1 million in university support counted as athletic revenue. Without that subsidy, the department generated $120.7 million against $173.4 million in expenses.
UCLA has now reported more than $240 million in cumulative athletic deficits since 2019.
There is at least some encouraging news beyond those 2025 numbers. UCLA announced in July that more than 6,500 donors provided over $41 million in broader private philanthropic support during fiscal 2025-26, suggesting fundraising improved substantially. The next standardized NCAA financial filing will provide a cleaner comparison with other schools.
That rebound could not arrive at a better time.
The Big Ten was supposed to give UCLA the financial firehose it needed, and in one important category, it absolutely did.
The Bruins just learned that television networks writing much bigger checks does not automatically make everyone else do the same.