USF Athletics says every dollar the university invested in the department returned $2.52 to campus, putting the total value generated by athletics at $96 million during the 2025-26 academic year.
The figures come from USF Athletics’ first return-on-investment and impact report, which counts money flowing through campus alongside tourism, television exposure and other benefits the department attributes to athletics. The report includes more than $19 million in tuition paid by non-scholarship student-athletes, support groups and staff, more than $7 million athletics spent with the university and campus partners and $6.3 million generated by rentals of athletic facilities.
Staff and student-athletes also paid more than $150,000 for parking permits, another piece of the money USF says athletics sends back through campus. The university developed the report as college athletic departments face growing pressure to account for their institutional value, particularly as schools put more money into their programs.
“We are laser focused on always being the absolute best stewards of the investment that all stakeholders continue to make in our programs,” USF Athletics CEO Rob Higgins said. “In a time where some universities are having challenges quantifying how important their athletic programs are, we want to be really diligent in proactively measuring, calculating and growing our direct return on investment so every stakeholder knows how serious we are about maximizing our value.”
Nearly 300 home athletic events brought more than 400,000 people through USF events and venues during the 2025-26 academic year, according to the department. USF attributed $49 million in direct visitor spending to athletics, including nearly $10 million in hotel revenue and $3.4 million in sales tax generated by visitors.
The audience grew much larger beyond Tampa, with more than 21 million people watching USF Athletics on television during the year. The Bulls averaged between 1.5 million and 1.7 million viewers per game, which USF said put its average audience ahead of 13 Power Four schools.
USF’s athletics accounts generated nearly 8 million social-media engagements and 311.6 million impressions during the same period. Nine of the university’s 10 most-followed Instagram accounts belong to athletics, along with eight of its 10 most-followed accounts on X.
Donor commitments through the USF Foundation and Bulls Club rose from $9.2 million in fiscal 2025 to $14.3 million in fiscal 2026, an increase of more than $5 million in one year. USF also reported records for total donors, major gifts and Iron Bulls members, although the release did not provide figures for those three measures.
About 19,000 USF students attended a sporting event during the year, representing nearly 40% of the university’s student body. The Bulls won six American Conference championships, tying their highest total since joining the league, while more than 82% of student-athletes earned at least a 3.0 GPA during the spring semester and 116 graduated during the academic year.
USF said it will update the study annually, but the release does not provide the methodology behind the $96 million valuation or show how tuition, campus spending, facility revenue, media exposure and other benefits were weighted to produce the $2.52 return.