The Nevada athletics department saw an increase in ticket sales in fiscal year 2025, although the total revenue from those sales still remain shy of pre-COVID numbers.

The Wolf Pack sold $8,728,513 worth of tickets in the most recent fiscal year — the 2024-25 athletic season — which was a 6.7 percent year-over-year increase.

Men’s basketball remained the largest ticket-revenue driver for Wolf Pack athletics, selling $4,853,497 in tickets last fiscal year, which was a slight decline from the previous season (down 0.5 percent). Meanwhile, Nevada football saw an increase in ticket revenue, selling $3,576,627 in tickets during Jeff Choate’s first season (the 2024 campaign), which was a 14.5 percent increase.

Over the last seven years, not including the COVID-19 season where attendance was prohibited, Nevada men’s basketball has averaged $4,931,305 in ticket sales per season. Nevada football has averaged $3,305,920 in ticket sales during those same seasons.

Here are the annual ticket-revenue numbers for Nevada football and men’s basketball during those seasons.

Football

2024: $3,576,627

2023: $3,123,302

2022: $2,945,747

2021: $3,044,546

2020: COVID-19 (limited/no attendance)

2019: $3,410,408

2018: $3,734,887

Men’s basketball

2024-25: $4,853,497

2023-24: $4,879,223

2022-23: $4,484,016

2021-22: $4,122,928

2020-21: COVID-19 (limited/no attendance)

2019-20: $5,683,571

2018-19: $5,564,596

Nevada men’s basketball hit its high-water mark in ticket revenue near the end of Eric Musselman’s tenure, which included a 2018 Sweet 16 berth before season tickets were sold out in 2018-19. Steve Alford’s first year as Nevada’s head coach maintained that high revenue standard with the Wolf Pack hitting $5.683 million in ticket revenue in his first campaign. While Nevada men’s basketball has remained the Wolf Pack’s financial bread-winner, its ticket sales have not returned to the $5.5 million annual ticket-sales mark experienced in the late 2010s.

Nevada football, meanwhile, has struggled to generate high ticket-revenue numbers. Even during the 2021 season when the Wolf Pack started the year 5-1 and played a number of thrilling Mountain West games, the team generated a little more than $3 million in ticket revenue. That came despite Nevada averaging 21,575 fans per home game that season, its most since 2015. Wolf Pack football’s $3.576 million in ticket sales last fiscal year was its most since 2018. Nevada has given fans little reason to attend games in recent years with the program 9-39 overall and 4-27 in MW play since 2022.

Here is how the Wolf Pack’s so-called “non-revenue” sports fared in ticket sales in FY25.

‘Non-revenue’ sports ticket sales

Baseball: $80,901

Women’s basketball: $51,955

Volleyball: $23,934

Softball: $23,225

Soccer: $12,039

Total: $192,054

And here is how much ticket revenue the Wolf Pack has generated in each of the last seven fiscal years.

Overall ticket sales

FY25: $8,728,513

FY24: $8,181,002

FY23: $7,502,201

FY22: $7,325,678

FY21: COVID-19

FY20: $9,147,000

FY19: $9,683,291

Nevada’s 2024-25 ticket sales total was the school’s highest since fiscal year 2020 (the 2019-20 athletic season). Still, this is the area Nevada can improve to boost its self-supported revenue, which would require improvement in Wolf Pack football, which has lagged in attendance for several years, and men’s basketball, which has fallen from its peak attendance marks from the Musselman era.

One difficulty Nevada has faced in generating more ticket revenue is the lack of premium-seating options at Mackay Stadium and Lawlor Events Center. The Wolf Pack is planning on adding premium seating to Mackay Stadium’s north end zone, although that construction has been pushed from this offseason to next offseason. Wolf Pack men’s basketball’s move from Lawlor Events Center to GSR Arena for the 2027-28 season should massively increase Nevada’s ticket revenue, although that will at least be partially offset by having to lease the arena. The Wolf Pack made it clear when supporting the GSR Arena push it couldn’t afford to go backward in net-ticket revenue with the arena change, which will happen in two seasons.

Columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. Contact him at crmurray@sbgtv.com or follow him on Twitter @ByChrisMurray.