Ducks Digest

Oregon Baseball Top Spender in New Big Ten Conference

Already one of the top spenders in the Pac-12 Conference, Oregon baseball will become the league leader when it joins the Big Ten.

Kaleb Henry

May 31, 2024; Santa Barbara, CA, USA; Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski (44, R) talks to third baseman Carter Garate (3, C) and outfielder Bryce Boettcher (28, L) in the sixth inning of an NCAA Baseball Santa Barbara Regional against San Diego at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.
May 31, 2024; Santa Barbara, CA, USA; Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski (44, R) talks to third baseman Carter Garate (3, C) and outfielder Bryce Boettcher (28, L) in the sixth inning of an NCAA Baseball Santa Barbara Regional against San Diego at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. / Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports

Oregon baseball is still representing the Pac-12 Conference for at least two more games, but looking to the Big Ten, the Ducks have shown they will be one of the best funded programs in the league.

In fiscal year 2023, Oregon's baseball expenses reached $4.63 million (M). In the Pac-12, that trails just Arizona ($7.14M), In the Big Ten, that trails no one.

May 31, 2024; Santa Barbara, CA, USA; Oregon pitcher Logan Mercado (20) celebrates with catcher Bennett Thompson (16) after defeating San Diego 5-4 in extra innings of an NCAA Baseball Santa Barbara Regional game at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.
May 31, 2024; Santa Barbara, CA, USA; Oregon pitcher Logan Mercado (20) celebrates with catcher Bennett Thompson (16) after defeating San Diego 5-4 in extra innings of an NCAA Baseball Santa Barbara Regional game at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. / Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports

Iowa is the closest current Big Ten team at $4.45M. The Hawkeyes have used that spending to make just one regional in the last six seasons—excluding the pandemic shortened 2020 season.

Strategy and analytics consultant Tony Altimore put together the graphic below, looking at the top 64 budgets with information from the U.S. Department of Education.

The next three highest spending programs in the expanded Big Ten are USC ($4.19M), Washington ($3.99M), and UCLA ($3.77M). Those guys look familiar? The new additions are set to be four of the top five spenders for baseball.

Only six other Big Ten programs show up in the top 64.

That leaves six programs outside of the top 64 for expenditures in college baseball: Illinois, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Penn State, and Purdue. Wisconsin does not have a baseball team.

Coming off of a third place finish in the Pac-12 regular season, Oregon is looking to remain at the top of the league standings with a different group of teams in 2025. First up, though, is making the 2024 season last as long as possible.

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Kaleb Henry
KALEB HENRY

Kaleb Henry is an award-winning sports reporter, covering collegiate athletics since 2014 via radio, podcasting, and digital journalism. His experience with Big Ten Conference teams goes back more than a decade, including time covering programs such as the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Oregon Ducks, and USC Trojans.He has contributed to Sports Illustrated since 2021. Kaleb has won multiple awards for his sports coverage from the Nebraska Broadcasters Association and Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association. Prior to working in sports journalism, Kaleb was a Division I athlete on the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Track and Field team.

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