More with less? See how Boise State football’s spending compares to other programs

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — The Boise State football program is often lauded for doing “more with less” in terms of money spent compared to on-field success.

For the better part of the past two decades, the Broncos have found themselves in big games, winning conference titles and staying nationally relevant, even as contemporaries moved on to bigger, more established conferences or fell off the radar.

That sentiment perhaps reached its highest point in 2024, when Boise State finished the regular season 11-1, won the Mountain West championship and became the first Group of Five team to compete in the College Football Playoff. Now, thanks to the required annual financial submissions from each Division I member program to the NCAA, fans can see how much each school spent on football for Fiscal Year 2025, which ran from Oct. 1, 2024, to Sept. 30, 2025.

Below, you can find how much Boise State spent on its football program in that time frame and how that compared to its contemporaries.

Where did this data come from?

NCAA member institutions are required to submit an annual Membership Financial Reporting System (MFRS) report that details how much an athletic department spends on each of its programs.

The MFRS does not include monetary totals for student-athlete payrolls, house settlement payments, or other Name, Image and Likeness expenses. Instead, it focuses on coaching and staff salaries; any coach buyouts and severance packages; recruitment expenses; team travel and food; and any other expenses that go into the day-to-day running of a football program.

Extra Points Newsletter publisher Matt Brown compiled the data via public record requests to each NCAA Division I school. Private schools, such as BYU or Notre Dame, are not required to respond to requests through the Freedom of Information Act, meaning not all Division I schools are included in the report.

How much did Boise State spend on football?

According to Extra Points’ FOIA requests, Boise State spent $30,738,142 in FY24 — or $30.7 million, roughly.

That sounds like a big chunk of change, of course, and certainly lands among the top Group of Five schools. But it’s nothing compared to what some of the other teams that made the 2024 playoffs spent.

For example, the 2024 national champions, Ohio State, spent $92.4 million on football expenses — and that’s before the projected $20 million spent on NIL.

Penn State, which defeated Boise State 31-14 in the Fiesta Bowl, spent $89.2 million on its program.

Other high-spending programs featured in the 2024 CFP were Clemson ($83 million), Tennessee ($74 million) and Texas ($73.9 million).

How does Boise State compare to contemporaries?

The Broncos are big spenders, of course, among the non-power conference schools — the Group of Six that now includes the new Pac-12, which will feature Boise State, as well as members of the American Athletic, Sun Belt, Conference USA, Mid-American and Mountain West conferences.

Outlet HERO Sports pulled from Extra Points’ 2024 data to highlight teams that will play in the above conferences in 2026. Among those teams, Boise State was the third-highest spender. But they were not, perhaps surprisingly, the No. 1 spender in the Mountain West.

That honor belonged to Colorado State, which spent $37.8 million on its football program in 2024. The Rams were 8-5 overall and finished tied for second in the Mountain West with a 6-1 record.

Boise State also fell behind South Florida, which spent $33.4 million in 2024 to go 7-6 and 4-4 in the AAC. The Bulls improved in 2025 to 9-4, including a season-opening 34-7 win over the Broncos.

Here’s where Boise State ranked among the highest-spending Group of Six schools for FY25 spending (upcoming conference in parentheses):

-Colorado State (Pac-12): $37.8 million
-South Florida (AAC): $33.4 million
-Boise State (Pac-12): $30.7 million
-Memphis (AAC): $24.8 million
-Oregon State (Pac-12): $23.8 million
-Texas State (Pac-12) $23.1 million
-Washington State (Pac-12): $22.9 million
-San Diego State (Pac-12): $22.3 million
-Utah State (Pac-12): $22.1 million
-UNLV (Mountain West): $21.8 million
-UTSA (AAC): $19.3 million
-Florida Atlantic (AAC): $18.8 million
-East Carolina (AAC): $18.7 million
-Coastal Carolina (Sun Belt): $18.4 million
-Fresno State (Pac-12): $18 million