Gophers Hockey is the Biggest 'Non-Revenue' Money Maker in the Country

Don’t worry, Gopher fans. You can sleep easy knowing that the U of M athletic department comes out of Dochtorman’s report looking very financially stable. But you can look into that yourself. This isn’t about PJ Fleck’s football program. This is about the non-revenue money maker that is Minnesota Gophers hockey.

Gophers hockey making money for the University of Minnesota

According to Dochterman, the Golden Gophers hockey program is the only non football or basketball program in the entire country that finished 2024 with a net surplus ($1.82 million). They did so, thanks to a total revenue generated of $7.84 million, which also led all “non-revenue” sports nationwide.

Only two other sports beyond football and men’s basketball recorded profits in fiscal year 2024: Minnesota men’s ice hockey and Nebraska women’s volleyball. The Gophers generated $7.84 million and featured a $1.82 million surplus. The Huskers earned $7.25 million in revenue and were $1.34 million in the black.

Scott Dochterman – The Athletic

How did the Gopher hockey program do it? Well, they’re popular and it shows in their ticket sales, where in 2024, they cashed in on $3.98 million worth of revenue via ticket sales, again the highest of any non-revenue sport in the country, including Iowa women’s basketball with Caitlyn Clark.

But it’s not just that. A deeper dive into the U of M’s financial reporting for 2024 shows that Gophers hockey brought in $1.5M in sponsorship and advertising revenue last season, only $500K behind Gopher men’s basketball’s $2M and $1.5M behind Gopher football’s $3M in the same category.

No other U of M sport brought in more than $40K in advertising/sponsorship revenue last year. Mariucci Arena also made $883K in concession and parking revenue in 2024, second only to football’s $2.8 million. The men’s basketball program, which is struggling to get fans into The Barn, made just $451K in concession/parking revenue last year.

Men’s hockey doing what other non-revenue Gophers sports can’t

As mentioned in Scott’s reporting, men’s ice hockey at the University of Minnesota brought in $7.8 million in total operating revenue in 2024. that’s third of all Gopher sports behind just football ($90 million) and men’s basketball ($14.9 million). No other sport posted over $513K.

Yes, Minnesota’s exodus from the WCHA came with serious negative consequences, some of which were felt immediately. When they left, other top programs (SCSU, UND, UMD, MSU, NEB-Omaha, DEN, CC) followed. By 2022, the WCHA conference crumbled and now only exists on the women’s side.

But as years go by and the college sports landscape continues to change more and more rapidly, we are seeing the longterm “why” in the University of Minnesota and Wisconsin’s decision to bail on the familiarity, history and rivalries created within their conference home of 47 years, in exchange for the financial security being offered by the Big Ten.

Unlike other non-revenue sports, Minnesota Gophers hockey is turning into an additional money-maker for the University. No, it is never going to bring in cash like football does and collegiate hockey is never going to be as nationally popular as basketball. But to be crowned as the only revenue generating “non-revenue” sport in the country means Gopher hockey is doing something right.