The LSU Athletics Department has agreed to give $36 million over five years to the flagship campus, to help bolster academic programs that have been hit with continued budget cuts.
The university's governing board, the Board of Supervisors, approved the unique, profit-sharing arrangement Friday.
Athletics Director Joe Alleva says he knows of no similar arrangement at other colleges around the country.
The athletics program will transfer $7.2 million to other campus programs each year for five years, and if the athletics department generates a surplus beyond $3 million a year, the academic side of campus will get a portion of that surplus money as well.
Alleva says the agreement will "put LSU in a position of envy" of other schools around the country.