Ohio State Adjusts Athletic Department’s Pandemic Loan Repayment Plan

Columbus, Ohio – Ohio State University’s athletic department has quietly re-engineered the way it services the $48 million internal loan it accepted in late 2022 to offset pandemic-driven revenue shortfalls, a move that is freeing roughly $2 million in annual operating cash at a moment when college sports budgets are under unprecedented strain.

Under the revised structure, which took effect this calendar year, the department no longer taps its day-to-day operating accounts for the twice-yearly installments. Instead, investment income generated by the university’s endowment—into which the original debt was placed—now covers each payment. The change preserves scarce operating dollars for new, fast-growing expenses such as athlete revenue sharing and additional scholarships triggered by last year’s NCAA antitrust settlement.

According to ledgers obtained by The Columbus Dispatch through a public-records request, the athletic program had paid just over $4.78 million against the loan since fiscal 2023, with installments of about $1.9 million per year. The last operating-fund transfer, $956,461, occurred in July; every subsequent payment has been drawn from endowment returns.

Athletic director Ross Bjork, who succeeded Gene Smith in 2024, said conversations about the switch began more than a year ago with former president Ted Carter, chief financial officer Michael Papadakis and trustees. “Two million dollars is a lot of money to be able to free up for other things in the department,” Bjork noted, citing the need for flexibility as player-compensation costs escalate.

The loan, issued at 2.5% interest with a 30-year amortization, was never delivered as liquid cash to athletics; it was booked inside the university’s endowment and repayments recycle back into that same fund. Bjork said the endowment’s growth trajectory should eventually cover the full $48 million obligation without further burdening the department’s budget.

The financial repositioning arrives as Ohio State spends the NCAA maximum—$20.5 million this academic year—on direct payments to athletes in football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball and women’s volleyball, while also funding 91 new scholarships across multiple sports. The revenue-sharing cap will rise to $21.3 million in 2026-27.

Covid-19 devastated Ohio State’s balance sheet in 2020 and 2021. A shortened football season, reduced Big Ten media payouts and a conference-wide ban on fans slashed ticket revenue to zero after generating $56.6 million the previous year. The department posted a $63.6 million operating deficit for fiscal 2021. Recovery arrived via packed stands at Ohio Stadium, the Big Ten’s billion-dollar media rights deal that kicked off in 2023 and the expanded College Football Playoff, pushing Ohio State past $300 million in operating revenue for the first time in fiscal 2024.

By redirecting loan service into the endowment, Buckeye administrators believe they have bought breathing room amid the industry’s new economic reality—one where player compensation is no longer theoretical but a budget line that must be met every semester.