As one of two FBS independents, UConn’s athletic program has missed out on a significant chunk of media rights and other revenue-sharing money due to its lack of football conference affiliation in recent years.
Still, on the heels of a 9-4 football season and Final Four runs in both men’s and women’s basketball, the Huskies have managed to close the financial gap, thanks in part to sponsorship and licensing revenue. This type of income comes from appearances in video games, chiefly EA Sports College Football, along with merchandise sales with team logos.
According to reporting from Matt Brown in his Extra Points newsletter, UConn earned just shy of $11 million from sponsorship and licensing in Fiscal Year 2025, a figure that ranks No. 34 nationally among public universities and outpaces several historic college sports powerhouses. Florida, LSU, Auburn and Kentucky are among the schools that fall short of UConn’s $11 million total.
UConn ranks a bit below the median royalty revenue for Power 4 schools, which is $13 million, but would rank inside the top half of the Big 12 and the Pac-12. Meanwhile, the median revenue for Group of Five schools sits at just $2 million, and among UConn’s former conference mates in the American Athletic Conference, only UCF and Navy posted higher figures.
Connecticut’s other public university in Division I athletic department, Central Connecticut State, landed much further down the rankings. The Blue Devils’ athletic department earned just $20,800 from royalties, the fifth-lowest figure nationally among schools that reported revenue in that category.
Brown’s reporting noted that royalty revenue is often depends on brand strength, fan engagement and market size, among other factors. UConn, like many of its peers, works with multimedia rights partner Learfield to sell advertising packages.