The No. 1-ranked Oklahoma softball program reported $4.1 million in revenue for 2024, a 37% jump from 2023.
The surge helped softball surpass women's basketball as the top revenue-generating women's sport at Oklahoma, trailing only men's basketball and football as the biggest money-making program at the school.
The revenue growth was driven largely by a jump in ticket sales, as the school opened a new softball-specific stadium and practice facility, Love's Field, at the start of the 2024 season.
According to documents obtained by ESPN, ticket sales for 2024 were $2.7 million -- 80% higher than $1.5 million the year before. Ticket sales were less than $1 million in 2022. Investing in facilities can generate significant returns, according to some former players.
"This is just going to propel softball into the future, because now you see Georgia's trying to do their new softball facility. A lot of people are wanting to get these big softball facilities going," said former Sooner star slugger Jocelyn Alo, citing the University of Georgia's new $38.5 million softball training facility.
The increase in fan and financial support coincide with an unprecedented run of success for the Sooners, who became the first softball team to win four straight national championships.
Oklahoma currently holds eight national titles in softball, tied with Arizona for the second most of any program. The Women's College World Series finals between Texas and Oklahoma drew 2 million viewers, making it the most watched finals ever, according to ESPN.
"It just shows me that people genuinely like to watch softball, it's not just, 'Oh, we're only going to watch it during the World Series,'" Alo said. "People are tuned in as soon as the season starts. I say right after Super Bowl season, it's freakin' softball season, you know?"
While OU softball is a hot ticket, drawing more than men's and women's basketball combined, expenses continue to outpace revenues, which is the norm in most sports that are not football or men's basketball. The program operated at a $2.9 million loss -- narrower than the $3.8 million loss reported in 2023 -- indicating that revenue growth may be helping to close the financial gap.
The top-ranked Sooners are off to a 14-0 start this season and next play Friday against Marshall.
ESPN's Paula Lavigne contributed to this report.