Washington State’s athletics department is heading out of the 2026 fiscal year with a projected surplus, and the numbers show a budget that has climbed well past where it sat a year ago.
Final audits are still being completed, but the department is forecasting revenue of $86 million and expenses of $85.9 million for the fiscal year that ended June 30. That would leave WSU about $100,000 in the black. Compared with FY 2025, when the department finished at $74.4 million on both the revenue and expense sides, that’s an increase of roughly 15 percent.
The top-line figure also puts the budget back above the level it reached before the old Pac-12 Conference collapsed.
One of the clearest shifts in the spending picture is the arrival of revenue sharing with student-athletes. The NCAA opened the door for that at the start of FY 2026 in July 2025, and WSU budgeted $5.4 million for it in its FY26 Budget Forecast dated Aug. 17, which was released Friday in a documents package ahead of the next Board of Regents meeting. The NCAA’s annual cap is $21.5 million per school.
On the revenue side, WSU’s biggest sources in FY26 were game day revenue at $29.8 million and conference distribution at $27.8 million.
That game-day total did not come from ticket sales, which fell 30 percent from $7 million in FY25 to $5.4 million in FY26. The real boost came from the “other revenue” category, which jumped from $3.5 million in FY25 to $10.3 million in FY26. WSU has not yet clarified what is included in that figure.
Donor contributions also moved up, rising 18 percent from FY25 to $9.2 million in FY26.
Institutional support was split into two categories, and both grew sharply. Direct institutional support, used for GE waivers, rose to $4.5 million from $3.4 million in FY25. Indirect institutional support climbed to $10 million from $500,000 the year before.
Expenses were led by compensation at $27 million. Scholarships came next at $9 million, followed by other expenses at $7.9 million, team travel at $5.5 million, student-athlete payments at $5.4 million, and debt service on facilities at $10.3 million.
In Other News...
WSUs Defense Delivered A Huge Spark But The Offense Didnt Follow
Washington State got the kind of first-half jolt every team hopes for when its defense starts dictating the game. Safety Jaylen Thomas picked off two passes against Kansas State, one of them turning into a 47-yard touchdown return, and the Cougars used that swing to stay in the fight while weather delays kept the rhythm choppy.
The problem was that the offense never matched the energy. Washington State managed only 84 yards before halftime and came away empty on a 37-yard field-goal try, leaving all that defensive work without much support. In a game shaped by the conditions, the Cougars showed they could create momentum on one side of the ball, but they still had to find a way to turn it into points. [Read more 🡒]
Jaylen Thomas Gave Washington State Life In A Brutal First Half
Washington State spent much of a brutal first half chasing the game against Kansas State, with the offense stuck on third down and the defense repeatedly giving up conversions of its own. The Cougars did not generate much rhythm through the air or on the ground, and special teams added to the frustration with a missed field goal and a long punt return that put them back on their heels.
Amid all of that, Jaylen Thomas was the one player providing real life. He intercepted two passes, one of them going the distance for a pick-six, giving Washington State something to hang onto while Caden Pinnick and the offense searched for answers. It was a rare stretch of momentum in a half that otherwise leaned heavily toward Kansas State, and it kept the Cougars from sinking even deeper before the break. [Read more 🡒]
Washington State Has A Bigger Problem Than This Loss
Washington State spent much of the game stuck in neutral while Kansas States defense dictated the terms, and the Cougars never found a rhythm on either side of the ball. The Wildcats got steady pressure up front from Wendell Gregory, who was around the play all night and helped make the pocket uncomfortable whenever Washington State tried to settle in.
The lone bright spot came from the secondary, where Jaylen Thomas turned in a disruptive performance with two interceptions, including a pick-six that accounted for the Cougars only points. Even with that kind of individual effort, the larger issue for Washington State was hard to ignore, because one defensive playmaking burst was never going to cover for everything else that went missing. [Read more 🡒]