Iowa
University of Iowa Athletics expects to break revenue records in upcoming year • Iowa Capital Dispatch

The University of Iowa is expecting another record-breaking year for its athletics department while Iowa State University Athletics is working to handle changes to expected revenues as a result of collegiate athletic conferences shifting, university budget documents show.
With revenues slated to increase in football, women’s basketball, wrestling and volleyball, among other areas, the UI is projecting a total income of more than $150 million for fiscal year 2025, just over a 7% increase from last year.
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According to budgets submitted to the Iowa Board of Regents, which are set to be discussed at the board’s meeting next week, Hawkeye Football ticket revenue should increase this fall due to “a favorable home schedule and price adjustments,” and budgeted income for women’s basketball went from $1.3 million to $1.65 million in fiscal year 2025 because of “additional guarantees received for away contests.”
The university athletics department saw record-breaking revenue last fiscal year as well, prompted by soaring popularity in the women’s basketball team. Iowa women’s wrestling is projected to make $80,000 in fiscal year 2025.
Renegotiated television contracts from the Big Ten Conference will give athletic conference revenue at the UI a $13.4 million bump from the $61.8 million the university saw last year.
ISU Athletics is expecting to earn around $114.2 million in revenue for fiscal year 2025, $2.7 million more than the fiscal year 2024 budget. Cyclone Football is also expecting increased ticket sales due to an additional home game, and the athletic department is also planning to see increased ticket sales for women’s basketball and wrestling. The biggest bump is expected to come from women’s basketball, with the budget line increasing from $450,000 to $700,000.
However, with changes to collegiate athletics conferences and tournaments, ISU Athletics has put certain projects on hold and “is continuing to make operational and personnel changes as necessary,” according to the budget document.
With four universities added to the Big 12 Conference as of July 1, ISU and the other continuing conference members will receive $40 million less in Big 12 contributions through fiscal year 2031 than what was previously expected, according to the regents document.
Also impacting the ISU athletic department’s budget is the College Football Playoff expansion, which makes it so playoff revenues aren’t equally distributed among the different conferences, according to the document.
“With two athletic conferences essentially receiving the contractual increases in television revenue resulting from the new playoff format, the revenue allocations to members of the Big 12 conference will remain flat,” the document stated. “The financial impact of this change is approximately $5M per year (through FY 2031) when compared to earlier projections.”
The University of Northern Iowa, the only state university to provide support to its athletics department, is also the only university to expect a decrease in revenue for its athletics this upcoming fiscal year. According to the budget document, athletics revenue is projected to fall from around $14.8 million to just under $14.7 million.
As with previous years, UNI men’s basketball doesn’t have game guaranteed revenue to include in the budget yet.
“Sports income for football includes game guarantee revenue resulting in a budgeted revenue increase when compared to the FY 2024 budget,” the budget document stated. “Conversely, men’s basketball has no game guaranteed revenue on the schedule at this time.”
The university will also see a more than $1 million reduction in revenue from marketing due to its new contract with sports marketing company Learfield. The UI will only see a $150,000 decrease in its income from the contract it holds with Learfield, according to the document.
UNI will allocate $3.26 million in operational support, $1.28 million in scholarship funding and $485,000 for “one-time support,” according to the regent document.
The university included an almost $100,000 increase in income from UNI football, but decreases in other men’s and women’s sports.

Iowa
Plane makes emergency landing in Iowa after passenger tries to open door during flight, police say

A regional jet made an emergency landing in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Thursday evening after a passenger tried to open an emergency exit door and got into an altercation with a flight attendant.
Delta Connection flight 3612, operated by SkyWest Airlines, was flying from Omaha to Detroit when the disturbance happened around 7 p.m. local time, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
A passenger was “in a fight with our flight attendant right now, trying to open the emergency exit,” the pilot radioed the tower at Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids, according to a recording by the website LiveATC.net.
The passenger did not get the door open and the plane landed safely and taxied to the gate.
Video posted to social media by a passenger showed law enforcement escorting a man off the plane with his hands restrained behind his back.
Police charged 23-year-old Mario Nikprelaj, of Nebraska with five counts, including threatening and shoving a flight attendant, disorderly conduct as well as two drug charges related to 41 ofpills Alprazolam, commonly known as Xanax, which he had with him.
He appeared in court Friday where a judge set his bond at $10,000. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney.
“SkyWest has zero tolerance for unruly behavior as safety for our customers and crew is our top priority,” the airline said in a statement.
So far this year there have been more than 870 reports of unruly passengers on planes in the US, according to FAA data. Potential penalties include jail time, fines and travel restrictions.
CNN’s Carol Alvardo and Kara Devlin contributed to this report.
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Iowa
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin speaks in Iowa on education, 2021 election win
Iowa
Nigerian governor visits Iowa county fair to learn agriculture strategies

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (KCRG) – On Wednesday, the governor of the state of Benue in Nigeria visited the Buchanan County Fair to learn more about Iowa’s agriculture.
The state is working to improve their farming systems and is using Iowa as a model to strive for.
Benue is known as the Food Basket of Nigeria but Governor Hyacinth Alia said its agriculture industry isn’t producing up to its full potential and is a hundred years behind Iowa in farming.
“Agriculture, it’s not just meant for sustenance. It is a full-fledged business. So why are we not cashing in on that? We are we not taking advantage of what we have if we have the soil? If we have the water?” Alia said.
That’s why he and his delegates came to visit Iowa – to learn how to increase its output of crops and livestock.
“This is quite a very new learning curve,” Alia said.
Alia said he was surprised to learn just how big some cattle breeds grow in only a year.
He said the cows in Benue are dwarves, so introducing a larger breed could mean more harvestable meat.
“Having one that could be new. Something that would be more productive and something that the livestock farmers would also benefit from and get more from, even commercially,” Alia said.
The delegation also had the chance to visit with Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig to talk about strategies to improve crop seedlings to grow more produce and better animal feed.
Alia said he hopes to use Iowa as a model to make Benue’s agriculture even better for both its farmers and the rest of its six million population.
Copyright 2025 KCRG. All rights reserved.
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