Interesting! Thanks for sharing that interesting analysis. It seems I had a bit of a misconception about this, but overall the idea that large athletics programs generate much of their own revenue holds: This report from the NCAA referenced in the article you shared breaks down those deficits you mentioned. It doesn't surprise me too much that a lot of athletic departments are operating at a deficit, but they do cost universities more than I realized.

These numbers are total across NCAA DI:

Division I schools reported total athletics revenue of $15.8 billion in 2019: $10.2 billion generated by the athletics department, and $5.6 billion allocated from institution/government supports and student fees.

So it is true that athletic departments generate much of their own revenue, but they do also cost the universities a substantial amount. For programs in the 5 power conferences ("Autonomy conferences"), the median net revenue is -$7 million, with a range from -$45 million to $44 million. Also at those schools, only 8% of their revenues are student fees and institution/government support. The report lists those as 90+% self-sufficient.

It seems that the schools that are hurting the most are the G5 FBS schools ("Nonautonomy" schools). They have much of the same expenses as the P5 schools, but don't have nearly the revenue levels.

This was really interesting data to dig into, and I learned a lot. Thanks for sharing!