Ohio State adjusts athletic department’s pandemic loan repayment plan

The Ohio State athletic department is no longer relying on operating funds to repay the tens of millions of dollars due on the loan it received from the university to help cover revenue losses related to the coronavirus pandemic. The change took effect this year and allows the department to use endowment returns for the remaining repayments, preserving almost $2 million annually in operating costs. While the original terms of the $48 million internal loan included the endowment as a source for repayments, the department had been leaning on operating dollars to service the debt in recent years.

According to a ledger obtained by The Dispatch through a public records request, the department had made just over $4. 78 million in total payments since 2023. The payments amounted to about $1.

9 million each fiscal year. The department last put operating funds toward a repayment of $956,461 in July before transitioning to using investment income from the university’s endowment this calendar year. The relief comes amid a rapidly evolving period in the business of college sports in which athletic departments are dealing with new expenses.

Since the settlement of three antitrust cases against the NCAA and major conferences was approved last year, schools have been permitted to pay players and award additional scholarships. During this academic year, Ohio State is spending the maximum allowable amount of $20. 5 million on direct payments to athletes in football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball and women’s volleyball and 91 new scholarships across a swath of sports.