The Ohio State athletic department expects to report an operating deficit for the fiscal year ending this month.

Ross Bjork, who replaces longtime athletic director Gene Smith on July 1, told The Dispatch that the estimated budget shortfall will be more than $10 million.

It puts one of the nation’s wealthiest athletic departments in an unusual situation, though it has anticipated finishing in the red for at least several months. Administrators briefed Bjork on the outlook in January when he was hired to succeed Smith.

“Gene has been fully transparent about the challenges,” Bjork said.

The deficit is seen as largely the result of last fall’s reduced slate of home football games. The Buckeyes played only six times at Ohio Stadium, their fewest in a full season since 2004.

Excluding the coronavirus-shortened season in 2020, Ohio State has held either seven or eight home games each year over the last two decades, providing a major source of revenue for the department between the sale of tickets, parking, concessions and merchandise to the fans who pack the venerable Horseshoe.

When Ohio State held eight homes in 2022, a period that covered the previous fiscal year, it ended with a budget surplus of nearly $5 million.

As part of an annual financial report submitted to the NCAA, Ohio State reported revenues of just over $279.55 million with expenses totaling $274.95 million for the fiscal year 2023.

Audited figures for the fiscal year 2024 are not due to be submitted to the association until the middle of January.

To compensate for the losses, the department is looking for a growth in revenue in the next fiscal year, a potential increase that would effectively balance the budget over a stretch of three years.

“That’s really how we're attacking it,” Bjork said.

A few factors tilt in Ohio State’s favor in the months ahead. Its football schedule features eight home games, and though it does not include a marquee nonconference opponent, archrival Michigan visits Columbus on Nov. 30.

Revenue distributions stemming from the Big Ten’s media rights deal and College Football Playoff, which expands from four teams to 12, are due to increase, as well. Bjork said he is expecting an “uptick” in those annual payments. Michigan said Thursday that conference distributions are set to increase by $12.9 million in the 2025 fiscal year as a result of the TV contract. Four teams from the West Coast — Oregon, Southern California, UCLA and Washington — are joining the league later this summer.

Ohio State's athletic department will also look for additional sources of revenue, Bjork said.

Along with the unbalanced football scheduling, the firing of men’s basketball coach Chris Holtmann added to this year’s expenses. Ohio State owed Holtmann a buyout worth $12.8 million when it dismissed him February, though the figure is subject to be offset by his salary as DePaul’s coach. Holtmann was hired by the Blue Demons a month later.

“Any deficit is significant,” Bjork said, “because our job is to balance the budget. It’s sizable, but we know we can offset that with this three-year window that the university is working with us on. There’s a plan. We've just got to get to the finish line on June 30, get into next year’s budget and then we’re able to balance it out over a three-year period.”

The Buckeyes last reported an athletics deficit in the fiscal year 2021, a period that included the football season impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The Big Ten did not allow fans to attend games, wiping away ticket and other gameday-related revenues. TV payouts were lower due to reduced schedules.

The shortfall for Ohio State’s athletic department amounted to $63.6 million for that year, as it reported to the NCAA.

It took out a loan from the university to help cover those pandemic-related losses, and payments were expected to begin last summer.

Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch and can be reached at jkaufman@dispatch.com.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State expecting athletic budget deficit from 2024 fiscal year