Louisiana athletics saw its operational deficient increase during the 2023 fiscal year, according to documents obtained by The Daily Advertiser.

Per its annual revenue and expense report filed to the NCAA each January, UL generated $33.2 million in revenue, almost identical to the mark it hit in 2022, but the athletic department saw its operating cost and expenses ramp up more than $3 million to $41.4 million, creating an $8.16 million deficit for 2023.

The fiscal year for the university runs from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023.

Here are some takeaways from the school's athletics financial audit:

Louisiana football sees substantial drop in ticket sales

Across the department, ticket sales dipped by more than $500,000 for fiscal year 2023.

Nearly all of that decrease came from Ragin' Cajuns football tickets sales, which dropped $542,870 from 2022 to 2023. to a total of $963,174. UL football ticket sales did not surpass $1 million for the 2022 season, the debut campaign for head coach Michael Desormeaux and his team.

Former Louisiana football coach Billy Napier's final season in 2021 drove sales of more than $1.5 million.

Louisiana athletics' biggest expenses jump: team travel

Louisiana athletics' saw team travel expenses increase by nearly $1.2 million from 2022 to 2023.

Men's and women's basketball both increased its spending on travel by more than double what it spent in 2022 at $588,563 and $284,161, respectively.

In total, UL shelled out $3.865 million in travel expenses for its teams, which included air and ground travel cost, along with lodging, meals and incidentals for preseason, regular season and non-football postseason.

Ragin' Cajuns lose money playing in Independence Bowl game

For the second straight season, UL played a bowl game inside the friendly borders of Louisiana and for the second straight year, it was not a profitable venture for the team.

Between a small amount of coaching bonuses and travel, the trip to Shreveport to play in the Independence Bowl in December 2022 cost the Cajuns $393,903. The payout for the team's appearance came out to be $43,229 for a loss of $348,674, per the report.

Louisiana athletic department benefits from revamped Sun Belt Conference TV deal, distributions

Before the 2022 season, the first season with all 14 football members after expanding in the offseason, the Sun Belt Conference revamped its media deal with ESPN that saw more of its athletic competitions on the ESPN family of networks as well as streamed online on ESPN+.

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UL ATHLETICS 2022 FISCAL YEAR FINANCES University of Louisiana athletics lost $5.3 million in 2022 fiscal year

UL benefitted from the new deal, receiving $1.76 million in media rights money, more than $500,000 more than it got during the 2022 fiscal year.

And with seven teams playing in bowl games that year, conference distributions to schools increased as well. Louisiana earned $2.07 million in distributions from the Sun Belt, an increase of $350,000.

Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers and Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU/UL athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Louisiana athletics operated at $8 million deficit during 2023 fiscal year