BATON ROUGE – Thanks to an array of budgetary changes and alterations over the last 12 months, LSU athletics projects to be hit with a $26 million deficit for the 2026-27 fiscal year, first LSU President Wade Rousse told the Louisiana Board of Regents Tuesday.
According to a report from the Louisiana Illuminator, LSU spokesperson Meg Sunstrom shared that the LSU athletics department was $44 million in the hole last fiscal year, a number that went beyond what the initials projections for the 2025-26 year were when revenue sharing began last fall.
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During the group’s annual budget meeting Sept. 22, Rousse said athletics arm of the university exceeded its finalized budget over the previous six years by a combined $177.5 million.
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In that window of time, LSU fired former head football coach Brian Kelly, who is owed a $54 million buyout but most of that could be offset if Kelly were the find another coaching job where his new salary would cut into the buyout amount. The university also moved on from its former athletics director Scott Woodward last November as well as men’s basketball coach Matt McMahon.
LSU then went out and hired Lane Kiffin as football coach and signed him to seven-year, $91 million deal. The Athletic reported earlier this month that LSU football roster for this season has come in around $47 to $50 million.
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“There were a lot of coaching changes that were made,” Rousse told the board of regents. “There were a lot of NIL (deals). That money is fungible to a certain extent. It’s also a substitution effect.
“You’re taking money from where it was and paying NIL. That leaves a hole in your regular operating budget.”
LSU spent all of the $21.5 million that was allowed via the House Settlement for revenue sharing and that money was unequally distributed among all sports at the school. Football used the majority of that pool of money.
Rousse mentioned LSU’s plan to construct a new revenue generating model to the Louisiana Board of Regents and said it is preparing to announce it soon.
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From previous reporting, the university is considering a plan to place its broadcast rights money into a separate entity that could be used to invest and make money. Rousse said Tuesday that LSU is waiting on a brand valuation in order to make sure the LSU brand is “valued the right way.”
“At no point, do we every lose control there. We remain in complete control over the entity we will be putting in place that gives us the opportunity to not only fix our short-term needs but also we think generate alternative revenue well into the future,” Rousse said.
“Where the acute need is today is athletics. So we’re going to address the bleeding, the acute thing immediately. If we do this thing right, it could truly help fund the university in a way that’s better funded than it is today.”
Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU athletics projects $26 million deficit for 2026-27 fiscal year
