Who We Are

Impact Value

Due to the COVID pandemic we could not hold our department's all-staff meeting in person this year. Instead, we created a short video with the same elements as our normal in-person meeting.

Please enjoy viewing this 20-minute video as it provides great insight to the culture of our department and the impact your giving has on our ability to succeed.

Play Video

Cyclone Club members raise their hands and stand proud as the Heart of the Nation. It's their loyalty that drives our legacy. They are the ones who go above and beyond to help our student-athletes become their best. And it's their ongoing support that helps Cyclone Nation share with the world what makes Iowa State University so special.

Who We Are

Message From The Ad

Dear Cyclone Fans,

Before we begin preparing for the new year, it is important to reflect on 2024 and remind ourselves how fortunate we have been to experience the excitement and success of Cyclone Athletics.

From our football team’s most successful season ever, capped by a thrilling 42-41 victory in the Pop-Tarts Bowl, to both our basketball programs being nationally ranked, our wrestling team’s return to national prominence, our men’s cross country team finishing as national runner-up for the second time in three years, and two of our student-athletes earning national individual championships, as well as our student-athletes continuing to excel in the classroom and the community, it is a wonderful time to be a Cyclone.

The investment from more than 6,000 Cyclone Club donors has allowed Iowa State’s student-athletes to thrive academically and athletically. Cyclone Club gifts and season ticket purchases remain our program’s lifeblood and represent our second-largest revenue source behind Big 12/NCAA distributions. In addition, our athletics program does not receive any State funding, thereby making it one of the nation’s only financially self-sufficient programs.

As we look ahead to 2025, we are in the midst of the most transformational period in intercollegiate athletics history. From the impact of conference realignment, changes to the college football playoff system, the transfer portal, and revenue sharing with student-athletes, the financial realities facing athletics departments have never been more daunting. The financial pressure facing our athletics program is no different. The annual cost to fund our athletics department will increase by over 20% in 2025 (approximately $20M) due to sharing revenues with our student-athletes, securing Coach Campbell and Otzelberger to long term contracts, and changes to Big 12 Conference and College Football Playoff revenue distributions.

The good news is we have spent the past several months working closely with Dr. Wintersteen and her leadership team to develop strategies, all focused on creating a financial pathway forward for our athletics program. She believes it is critically important to Iowa State University for the athletics program to continue to compete at the highest level. However, in order do that, we must be willing to make difficult, and in some cases unpopular, decisions.

We could not have picked a better time for our athletics program to be faced with these financial challenges. Attendance at our athletic events is at an all-time high, we have secured our most prominent coaches to long-term contracts, and the Big 12 Conference remains committed to identifying and pursuing new revenue opportunities for the membership.

We are also excited about the progress being made on CyTown and look forward to ground being broken on the first buildings this spring. Although CyTown’s direct revenues are earmarked for enhancements in and around the Iowa State Center, the indirect revenues associated with having additional conferences, concerts, and other events in CyTown will help our athletics program.

In closing, thank you again for supporting our talented student-athletes. Your Cyclone Club donation will provide our student-athletes the opportunity to compete in their sport at the highest level while also preparing them to utilize their Iowa State degree long after their athletic careers have ended.

Together, I am confident that the best is yet to come for Iowa State Athletics!

Go Cyclones,

Jamie Pollard

Director of Athletics
Iowa State University

Message From The Ad

Dear Cyclone Fans,

Thank you for your loyalty and unwavering Cyclone Club support. Your generosity has helped fuel arguably the greatest run of athletics success in Iowa State history. In order to maintain that level of success, we need your support so we can continue to provide an outstanding academic and athletic experience for all 450 Iowa State student-athletes who proudly don Cardinal & Gold.

Intercollegiate athletics continues to undergo an unprecedented transformation, and we do not anticipate that changing anytime in the near future. To overcome the challenges we are facing, we must continue generating additional financial resources in order to provide our student-athletes with state-of-the-art facilities, enhanced support services, access to financial opportunities provided by peer institutions, and retain our most-successful coaches and staff. Unfortunately, our need to grow revenues also comes at a time where our television revenues will most likely decline because of conference realignment.

In addition, our athletics program does not receive any State or University funding to operate, thereby making it one of the nation’s only financially self-sufficient athletic programs. In fact, Cyclone Athletics is responsible for paying the full tuition costs, along with expenses for room, board, books and other fees for our student-athletes.

Annual Cyclone Club gifts and season ticket purchases are the lifeblood of our program and represent Iowa State Athletics’ second-largest revenue source behind Big 12/NCAA distributions. While it was not a decision that was made lightly, re-indexing the Cyclone Club’s annual giving levels, as outlined in this publication for the 2022-23 academic year, will help us increase revenues to fund our programs.

Iowa State Athletics is riding a wave of momentum as we head into 2022. However, it is critical that we continue to grow our Cyclone Club membership to ensure our future success. That is why we need your assistance to help make that a reality. Your Cyclone Club donation will provide our student-athletes the opportunity to compete in their sport at the highest level, while preparing them to utilize their Iowa State degree once their athletic careers have concluded.

Thank you for your continued support of our student-athletes. Go Cyclones!

Sincerely,

Jamie Pollard

Director of Athletics