UConn is the only FBS school in the country that spends more money on its basketball programs than on its football team, and it’s not close. Last year, UConn spent more than $34 million on its men’s and women’s basketball teams compared to $20.5 million on its football team.
In a college sports world where money is increasingly the reason teams win championships, the return on investment for the Huskies has already been positive. This weekend as the men’s and women’s Final Fours tip off, the UConn women in Phoenix are in the hunt for their 13th national title in program history while the men are in Indianapolis going for their third in four years.
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So, where exactly did that $34 million go? And beyond all the winning, how much is coming back into the athletic department because of these two elite programs? The Athletic examined UConn’s 2025 fiscal year documents, as well as contracts for coaches Geno Auriemma and Dan Hurley, to get a better idea.
Investment in the men’s and women’s basketball teams at UConn is a priority, highlighted by the fact that both Auriemma and Hurley are two of the highest paid coaches in their respective sports. But unlike many other college basketball programs across the country, the UConn women trail the men by far less of a margin, and in some respects, their success is valued even more on campus than the men.
Revenue
The men’s team generated $11.9 million in revenue while the women’s team generated $8.5 million. This gap is far closer than most other programs nationally. For example, the gap between the South Carolina women, largely considered the other pre-eminent program in women’s college basketball, and its men is much larger, as the South Carolina men brought in $15.4 million versus $6.9 million for the women (a difference of about $8.5 million).
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On the women’s side, this $8.5 million revenue leads the way among Final Four teams and, per Sports Business Journal, it’s nearly double the Huskies’ revenue from 2023.
However, on the men’s side, the Huskies trail their Final Four foes in revenue generation by a significant margin. This has to do with a combination of factors including that UConn doesn’t have a lucrative conference media rights deal like the Big Ten schools have, and other programs brought in significantly more in either contributions or ticket sales.
Women’s Final Four revenue
|
Team |
Revenue |
|---|---|
|
UConn |
$8.5 M |
|
South Carolina |
$6.9 M |
|
Texas |
$3.4 M |
|
UCLA |
$2.0 M |
Men’s Final Four revenue
|
Team |
Revenue |
|---|---|
|
Illinois |
$35.3 M |
|
Arizona |
$29.8 M |
|
Michigan |
$21.2 M |
|
UConn |
$11.9 M |
Ticket sales
During the 2023-24 season, the UConn women’s team became the first women’s basketball program in history to cross the $3 million threshold in ticket sales, which put the UConn women’s basketball’s ticket revenue ahead of 75 men’s teams at public schools. Last year, the program one-upped itself, bringing in $4.2 million in ticket sales as the program sold out season tickets for the first time in two decades.
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With 12,375 fans per game, the UConn women finished third last season in attendance behind South Carolina and Iowa. Even so, the Huskies still earned more in ticket sales than both of those programs. Per 2025 fiscal year documents, South Carolina made just more than $2 million, and Iowa drew nearly $2.4 million in ticket sale revenue.
On the men’s side, UConn brought in $8.9 million in ticket sales last year and finished 26th in attendance nationally with 12,992 fans per game.
Coaches’ salaries
The markets for men’s and women’s college basketball are significantly different. According to USA Today’s men’s basketball coaches’ salary database, 12 men’s basketball coaches made at least $5 million in 2025. No coach in women’s college basketball made more than $5 million this year. That includes UConn women’s coach Geno Auriemma, who holds records for men’s or women’s basketball with 12 national championships and the most wins.
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At $3.54 million annually, Auriemma is the second highest paid coach in women’s college basketball behind South Carolina’s Dawn Staley ($4.25 million). Beyond them, only two other coaches in women’s college hoops earn more than $2 million a year before bonuses: LSU’s Kim Mulkey ($3.35 million) and Texas’ Vic Schaefer ($2.3 million).
UConn men’s coach Dan Hurley signed an extension in 2024 worth $50 million over six years ($8.3 million a year) after leading the Huskies to its second consecutive (and sixth overall) national title. He had turned down an offer with the Lakers last year that was a reported $70 million, six-year deal.
While that total makes him the highest-paid state employee in Connecticut, he’s still not the highest-paid men’s basketball coach in the country. That honor falls to Kansas coach Bill Self, whose “lifetime” rolling contract is valued at $8.8 million annually.
The UConn men’s team also has a significantly larger pool for assistant coaches’ salaries. UConn spent $2,852,484 on three men’s team assistants last year, while it spent $1,744,179 on four women’s team assistants.
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Though this is less than the men, it’s comped well with other top programs. For example, South Carolina’s assistants pool in 2025 was $1.8 million, while Texas and UCLA’s pools for assistants was both $1.1 million.
Coaches’ bonuses
UConn might be the only program in the country that pays out more for a national title in women’s basketball than in men’s.
For getting to the Final Four, Hurley has already earned a guaranteed $250,000 and if the Huskies win the national title, he’ll earn an additional $250,000. Auriemma has also earned $250,000 for leading his team to the Final Four, but if the women end up cutting down the nets, he’ll earn $675,000 total.
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Auriemma also took home $50,000 for winning the Big East regular season and tournament championships ($25,000 apiece). The men didn’t win either, but Hurley would’ve earned $50,000 for each championship.
In total, Hurley’s maximum potential postseason results bonus is $600,000 while Auriemma’s is $725,000.
Recruiting expenses
The lifeblood of any program is a healthy recruiting pipeline.
On the women’s side, even as NIL has changed the landscape, UConn is a premier destination for top recruits out of high school and the transfer portal. Since 2020, the Huskies have signed 12 top-15 recruits (per ESPN.com’s rankings), including three No. 1 recruits — Sarah Strong (2024), Azzi Fudd (2021) and Paige Bueckers (2020).
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Out of the portal, Auriemma has added key pieces like Kaitlyn Chen, who started 36 games at point guard during the national title season, and ahead of this season, Serah Williams and Kayleigh Heckel.
On the men’s side, Hurley has had three consecutive classes headlined by top-15 recruits, per 247 sports — Braylon Mullins (No. 12 in 2025), Liam McNeely (No. 10 in 2024) and Stephon Castle (No. 9 in 2023). In the NIL era, where stacking top-10 recruits has become increasingly rare, even a single top-15 high school recruit can run programs seven figures. And given this is the oldest era of college basketball ever, many programs — like UConn — have prioritized high-impact transfers over expansive freshman classes.
To that end, the Huskies have spent a lot on recruiting for both programs compared to their competitors, though the men spent about a quarter of a million more to restock their team. Part of that is likely because Hurley has needed to sign larger classes regularly because of pro eligibility differences. To leave for the WNBA, players must be 22 or have graduated from college. So, Auriemma’s classes are usually about three players. The men, in addition to 1-2 high-level high-school recruits, are also regularly signing multiple starting-caliber transfers; those additions typically cost less in overall recruiting costs (for multiple visits and other affiliated expenses), but more in revenue-sharing commitments, which aren’t reflected in these numbers because they’re not public.
When it comes to the recruiting expenses UConn reports to the NCAA, it’s only for “transportation, lodging and meals for prospective student-athletes and institutional personnel on official and unofficial visits, telephone call charges, postage and such,” not NIL money or rev-share earmarked for these players.
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On the women’s side, UConn spent nearly $640,000 in recruiting expenses in 2025. That total was more than any other Final Four team spent on recruiting last year. Texas spent nearly $390,000, South Carolina spent almost $290,000, and UCLA spent just less than $250,000.
On this recruiting expense, the men spent just less than $906,000. In comparison to other Final Four teams, that’s on par with Illinois, which spent about $903,000 and significantly outpacing Michigan ($656,000) and Arizona ($468,000).
— The Athletic’s Brendan Marks contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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