The magnitude and allocation of institutional athletic expenditures varies widely across NCAA divisions at the intercollegiate level. I illustrate the relationship between expenditures and institutional characteristics on overall athletic department success (i.e., Directors’ Cup scores) for NCAA Division I and Division III institutions. Specifically, using a fixed effects panel regression model I find that there is a small, positive relationship between total athletic expenditures and Directors’ Cup scores. I also show that time-varying institutional characteristics do not have a significant relationship with athletic performance. Further, my study supports the existence of a positive relationship between female athletic expenditures and Directors’ Cup scores, particularly for Division III institutions. These results provide valuable insights on the scale and distribution of resources associated with institutional achievement across genders and levels of competition in intercollegiate athletics.