NCAA Financial Statement Shows $1.2B in Total Revenue for 2021 Fiscal Year

The NCAA rebounded financially in 2021 after a significant drop in revenue in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Steve Berkowitz of USA Today, the NCAA's audited financial statement shows it made $1.155 billion in revenue during the 2021 fiscal year.

That represented a return to "nearly normal conditions" after revenue dropped by $600 million in 2020 as a result of the cancellation of the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

Per Berkowitz, the $600 million dip in 2020 came despite a loss-of-revenue insurance policy that paid $270 million.

That same policy paid the NCAA $81 million in 2021 despite the fact that the NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments returned from their one-year hiatus.

The payout was "related to reduced ticket sales and additional costs for COVID-19 precautions," as the NCAA had to make some major adjustments to the tourneys due to the pandemic.

Most notably, every game in the men's basketball tournament was played in Indiana, while every game in the women's tournament was played in Texas.

That hurt ticket sales since tournament games typically take place in venues across the entire country.

Since the loss-of-revenue insurance policy has now expired, the NCAA doesn't have the same safety net for the 2022 men's and women's basketball tournaments.

The tourneys are scheduled to be played under relatively normal circumstances, but another spike in COVID-19 cases could necessitate changes or even another cancellation.

If that happens, the NCAA stands to experience a 2020-esque drop in revenue unless it is able to come up with a new insurance policy.

One thing working in the NCAA's favor is that attendance returned to fairly normal levels for college football last season after many schools had limited capacity in 2020.

Over 68,000 fans packed Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis to see Georgia defeat Alabama in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, which was a huge leap from the nearly 15,000 fans who attended the previous title game between Alabama and Ohio State.