The LSU women's basketball team, despite clinching its first ever NCAA title in 2023, is struggling with significant financial challenges, as revealed in a recent audit. The LSU athletic department reported a nearly $4 million deficit for the last fiscal year, according to the Louisiana Legislative Auditor's office, while the women's basketball team had a nearly $8 million program deficit.

The audit showed that various sectors of the LSU athletic department, particularly women’s basketball, experienced substantial deficits. The championship-winning women’s basketball team faced a nearly $7.8 million deficit. The program's revenue stood just under $2.5 million, while expenses soared to about $10.3 million, as reported by Holly Duchmann of the Greater Baton Rouge Business Report. The significant expenditure for the program was attributed to coaches' salaries and bonuses, totaling $4.4 million — nearly double the revenue generated by the program.

The audit showed the athletic department's revenues at approximately $200.4 million against expenses totaling around $204.4 million for the fiscal year 2023, resulting in a deficit of roughly $3.9 million. This financial strain comes despite the school's football program generating a substantial portion of the department's revenue, amassing nearly $105.7 million last year — a $18.4 million increase from the previous year and netting a $54 million profit – a nearly 50% increase from the prior year.

Additionally, the LSU athletic department incurred nearly $5 million in severance payments, primarily for “non-program specific” staff. These financial challenges are not new to the department, which reported a $10 million deficit in 2021. Furthermore, the 2022 audit disclosed misclassification of nearly $6.7 million in severance payments and an overpayment of nearly $1 million to head football coach Brian Kelly.