Indiana University Athletics Reports Record Revenue of $10.4 Million Surplus for 2025 Fiscal Year Momentum in Bloomington isn’t just showing up on the field — it’s showing up on the balance sheet. Indiana University Bloomington Athletics reported record revenue for the 2025 fiscal year, finishing with a $10.4 million surplus, according to a recent report from the Indianapolis Business Journal. The department also confirmed that the football program alone generated $80.9 million in revenue — notably without receiving direct institutional financial support from the university. Indianapolis Business Journal reported that the surplus positions IU among a growing number of Big Ten programs operating in the black during a transformative era of college athletics.
The financial performance signals more than a strong year — it underscores where IU Athletics is headed. In the evolving NIL and revenue-sharing landscape, financial stability and growth are competitive advantages. A self-sustaining football program generating nearly $81 million demonstrates increased ticket demand, media value, donor engagement, and overall brand momentum. For recruiting — especially within the Hoosier State — that momentum matters. High school prospects and their families are paying attention to infrastructure, investment, and trajectory. A financially healthy department can reinvest into facilities, staffing, player development resources, and NIL opportunities — all key factors in modern recruiting battles. With Big Ten competition intensifying and roster retention becoming as important as signing day wins, IU’s upward trend strengthens its pitch to in-state talent.
Indiana football has long battled perception hurdles against national powers recruiting within state borders. But sustained financial growth, combined with competitive improvement, shifts the conversation. Stability breeds confidence — and confidence resonates with recruits. If FY2025 is any indication, IU Athletics is not simply managing the new era of college sports — it’s positioning itself to compete in it.
Curt Cignetti Speaks to the Indiana University Students at the IU Auditorium Curt Cignetti has made a habit of leading Indiana football fans through chants, whether it be his patented “Go IU!” or the famous “Hoo, Hoo, Hoo, Hoosiers.” The Indiana football head coach, who completed his second season at the helm in glorious fashion just under a month ago, led a crowd of a few hundred Indiana students through such chants during the Indiana Memorial Union Board’s “A Conversation with Coach Cignetti” on Tuesday night inside the IU Auditorium in Bloomington. Cignetti spoke for nearly an hour about his tenure so far, next season and more.
Before Cignetti arrived at Indiana, sellouts were a rarity — just eight in the 21st century — and only occurred against high-profile opponents like Michigan or Ohio State. However, the Hoosier faithful sold out Memorial Stadium in Bloomington eight times across 15 total home games in the last two seasons. Cignetti said the student turnout and on-campus support has been “incredible.” “I mean, the student section is sold out every game, and the energy that you bring to the stadium and the momentum that you create, our players feed off that,” he said. Throughout the Hoosiers’ postseason run — including the Big Ten Championship game against Ohio State in Indianapolis — the fans provided a significant edge. “I just can’t say enough about how great that fan support was and what that meant to our football team, and how it elevated our play,” Cignetti said. “I don’t think there’s any question about it.”
Ahead of the Hoosiers’ 2025 campaign, many media pundits deemed Illinois the “year’s Indiana.” The Fighting Illini returned much of their core from their 10-3 season in 2024, and national media projected Illinois to make its first College Football Playoff berth. Conveniently for the Hoosiers, their conference opener Sept. 20 was slated against the Fighting Illini. The Cream and Crimson were “lurking in the weeds” throughout the offseason, Cignetti said, with their eyes on the matchup. Indiana pummeled Illinois 63-10, improving to 4-0 and showing the rest of the college football world what it was capable of against a high-level opponent. “I think we sent a message to the country that night with a lot more games to be played,” he said.
Indiana was in a precarious position against Penn State on Nov. 8, with its unblemished record on the line. Although the Hoosiers allowed the Nittany Lions to score 17 unanswered points in front of 105,231 fans inside Beaver Stadium, redshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza orchestrated one of the greatest drives in Indiana history to improve to 10-0. Mendoza connected with four pass-catchers throughout the possession, ultimately firing a pass to redshirt junior receiver Omar Cooper Jr., who made a miraculous touchdown catch. Cignetti said Cooper’s score will be remembered as an “iconic” play not only for Indiana, but also in the college football history books. “It was just the most incredible comeback,” Cignetti said. “I’ve never been a part of anything like that before. After we got that done, in my mind, I was thinking to myself — you win games, and you develop confidence, people start believing in you — but this game, this team might be a team of destiny.”
History wasn’t on Indiana’s side ahead of its CFP quarterfinal matchup against the No. 9 University of Alabama in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1. The Hoosiers sought to become the first team with a first-round bye to advance to the quarterfinals in the two-year history of the 12-team CFP format. Throughout Indiana’s 19-day gap between Alabama’s first-round game and the Rose Bowl, Cignetti said he faced his “biggest coaching job all year long.” As a result, he said he “wasn’t a very nice person to anybody 24/7.” “I just felt like that’s what it was going to take to snap this team back into the right mindset and get ready for this game,” he said. A 38-3 beatdown of the Crimson Tide followed in “The Granddaddy of Them All.”
Although Cignetti has been at the helm of the Hoosiers for just two seasons, he’s signed three contracts — his latest coming in mid-October 2025. With blue-blood programs seeking to poach Cignetti away from Bloomington, IU officials — specifically President Pamela Whitten and athletic director Scott Dolson — sought to be proactive and lock in their head coach. The duo has upped the university’s commitment to success in football, whether it be in-stadium amenities or financial commitments to retain key assistant coaches. Should either Whitten or Dolson leave Indiana, Cignetti’s contract buyout is cut in half. “It takes a commitment from the top to make this happen,” Cignetti said. “I am tied to those two, Pam Whitten and Scott Dolson, all the way 100%.”
Indiana set all sorts of records in 2025. Whether it was being the first college football team to go 16-0 since Yale University in 1894 or winning the program’s first outright Big Ten title since 1945, Cignetti’s second season yielded what many thought were impossible results. But the Hoosiers’ storybook season in the past. Cignetti and his staff brought in 17 players via the transfer portal, including presumed starting quarterback Josh Hoover and premier wide receiver Nick Marsh. The Cream and Crimson have begun their offseason training program in the weight room with new strength and conditioning coach Tyson Brown, who Cignetti hired Jan. 23 after Derek Owings left for the University of Tennessee. Indiana’s attention is on improving every day ahead of the 2026 season, which is slated to begin against the University of North Texas on Sept. 5. “Now,” Cignetti said, “we got to start it all over again and dig that hole for the house and then the foundation.”
Indiana University Baseball Wins the Home Opener Over Bradley The Indiana Baseball team (1-3, 0-0 B1G) improved to 11-3 all-time in-home openers at Bart Kaufman Field with a 15-3 (F/7) victory over Bradley on Tuesday afternoon. Behind a massive fourth inning and fantastic pitching, the Hoosiers picked up their first win of the young season. Six different players provided multi-efforts in the victory. Sophomore catcher Hogan Denny did some early damage with a pair of two-run home runs in the first and third innings to give IU a lead it would never relinquish.
The offensive onslaught started in the fourth inning when 13 batters came to the plate, allowing IU to score eight runs on six hits. Sophomore Cooper Malamazian had one of his game-high three base knocks in the frame to put the game out of reach. Graduate student right-handed Reagan Rivera earned his first start for the Hoosiers and hung a zero in the opening frame after working around a pair of bloop hits. Graduate student southpaw Conner Linn (W, 1-0) was the only pitcher to throw multiple innings, earning the first win of his IU career.
Freshmen right-handed pitchers Ivan Mastalski and Kellen English each made their collegiate debuts. Freshman second baseman Landen Fry provided a big spark off the bench for head coach Jeff Mercer. He had a pair of hits and two RBIs in his first two career at-bats. On top of that, he helped turn a double play on the final sequence of the game to wrap up the win. His classmate, freshman outfielder Davian Carrera, made his collegiate debut as a defensive sub. IU is back in action this weekend against a trio of talented teams in Florida. The Hoosiers will play in the Live Like Lou Jacksonville Baseball Classic. Action begins on Friday against the defending national champions, No. 2 LSU (2 p.m. ET). UCF and Notre Dame are also on the docket down south.
Indiana University Women’s Water Polo’s Audrina Kang Named MPSF Newcomer Of the Week Freshman attacker Audrina Kang was named the MPSF Newcomer of the Week, announced by the league on Tuesday. The Ornida, Calif. native led No. 10 Indiana to four wins at the Midwest Invitational hosted by Michigan. She contributed seven goals, four assists and three drawn exclusions during the weekend. She started off action against Mercyhurst with two assists followed by a goal and drawn exclusion against Mount St. Mary’s. Kang recorded her second career hat trick in a ranked win over No. 17 UC Davis and wrapped up play against McKendree with a goal, an assist and two drawn exclusions. No.10 Indiana (12-1) resumes action next weekend when it opens MPSF play at No. 2 UCLA and No. 3 USC on Feb. 27-28.
Lawrenceburg Native Nick Goepper and Notre Dame Graduate Jadin O’Brien ready to Compete in the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics Nick Goepper will be representing Indiana for Team USA in the 2026 Winter Olympics! Goepper is from Lawrenceburg, Indiana, and is competing in Freestyle Skiing. He’s a three-time Olympic medalist in slopestyle, winning a gold medal at Sochi 2014 and silver medals at PyeongChang 2018 and Beijing 2022. After the Beijing games in 2022, Goepper retired for about a year and a half and then returned — switching events from slopestyle to halfpipe. And Goepper has found success as one of the best in the world. Goepper claimed his second career World Cup Halfpipe victory in Calgary, Canada, on Jan. 3, and he set a record as the oldest men’s pipe World Cup winner of all time. Goepper’s starts his competition this morning at 4:30 AM on Peacock and 8:45 AM on USA Network and Friday at 1:30 PM on NBC.
Also representing Indiana is Jadin O’Brien, who was running track for Notre Dame a year ago. She’s now an Olympic bobsledder. O’Brien, who got in a sled for the first time only about three months ago, was one of the six women’s bobsledders selected to be part of the U.S. Olympic team that will compete at the Milan Cortina Games. O’Brien will push the sled driven by five-time Olympic medalist Elana Meyers Taylor, who made the U.S. team for the fifth time — and has medaled in all four of her previous Olympic appearances. Her competition will start Friday at Noon on NBC and Saturday at 1 and 3:15 PM on NBC.
Team USA’s roster includes 98 returning Olympians – including seven four-time Olympians, 10 three-time Olympians and 22 two-time Olympians. The Americans competing at the 2026 Winter Olympics include 18 Olympic champions who have won a combined 22 gold medals. With 232 athletes, and dependent on the number who actually compete, this will be the largest ever winter U.S. Olympic Team, surpassing the 228 athletes who competed for Team USA at PyeongChang 2018, and the 222 who competed at Sochi 2014. The athletes were selected by organizations called National Governing Bodies, which are responsible for training, competition and development for their respective sports.
The organizations choose the Olympic athletes based on previously set competition criteria, according to Team USA. The athlete selections are then reviewed by the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee to make sure the athletes meet all eligibility and procedural requirements. “Most winter sports use their respective world circuit standings as a barometer for choosing the top athletes,” Team USA said in a press release on Monday. “So, while the Olympic and Paralympic Games are on every athlete’s mind, they must also focus on their regular winter season performance. ” Some athletes who didn’t make the cut for Team USA are also submitted as alternates in case another athlete becomes injured or loses eligibility due to other circumstances, Team USA said. “Whether you’re cheering from the edge of the halfpipe, watching the puck drop in a packed arena, or waiting at the finish line of a slope in Cortina, this is winter sport at its absolute peak,” Team USA said. The Olympics Started on February 6th and end this Sunday the 22nd and features events across northern Italy, with Milan hosting the opening ceremony and Cortina serving as a key venue for alpine sports.
Taylor University Cheer Ranked Eighth in Latest NAIA Rankings Days after posting its best score of the season, the Taylor competitive cheer team dipped four spots to No. 8 in the updated NAIA scoring averages. Taylor boosted its scoring average to 87.46 with a score of 88.78 at the Saint Francis Invite, logging the fifth-best score in program history and giving TU four new scores in its all-time top-10 this season. No. 8 Taylor will compete three more times on February 20 and 21 in Saint Louis. The Trojans are set to perform twice on Friday at the Arch City Cup, before competing in a single round at the Columbia Cougar Classic on Saturday.
Taylor University Men’s Lacrosse Player Ben Harrell Named WHAC Defensive Player of the Week The Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference announced its athletes of the week on Monday, with TU’s Ben Harrell being selected as the WHAC Men’s Lacrosse Defensive Player of the Week. Harrell turned in a career day in the net for No. 10 Taylor during its 14-10 win over previously unbeaten Mount Vernon Nazarene. The junior goalie piled up 18 saves, matching his career-high and turning in the third-highest, single-game total in TU’s program history. Harrell currently leads the NAIA with 59 saves, posting a 21-save gap over the next closest total in the nation. The weekly honor is the second in Harrell’s three-year career with the Purple and Gray and is the first for Taylor men’s lacrosse during the 2026 season. Taylor Athletics now boasts 45 weekly honors from the 2025-2026 year. Harrell and No. 10 Taylor (3-1) will return to action on Saturday, February 21, with a 1:00 pm start at RV Saint Ambrose (1-1).