NCAA Revenue Sharing & NIL Estimates 2025

Is the NIL era doomed in its present form? 2025 Financial results for FBS Conference Schools:

Based on NCAA financial reporting, Power 4 conference schools collectively averaged almost $ 63 million in net operating losses in 2025. These losses were funded by booster contributions averaging $ 44 million per school, student fees and school support averaging $ 15 million per school, and endowment / investment income averaging $ 4 million per school:

2025 Operating Results ($) FBS Conference Averages		Operating Revenue	Operating Expenses	Net Loss from Operations ($)	Booster Contributions	School Support & Student Fees	Endowment & Investments	Net Surplus (Deficit) **	% of expenses paid by School & Student Fees
SEC		146,844,302	224,947,226	- 78,102,924	65,842,515	8,037,633	4,566,251	343,475	4%
Big Ten		146,041,873	194,248,880	- 48,207,007	36,045,471	9,185,690	3,623,092	647,246	5%
ACC		97,639,846	169,270,445	- 71,630,599	38,091,667	23,751,097	6,425,340	- 3,362,495	14%
Big 12		74,250,529	131,669,516	- 57,418,987	34,806,296	22,875,734	1,440,402	1,703,445	17%
Pac-12		35,840,369	76,619,213	- 40,778,844	14,711,934	29,869,377	458,928	4,261,395	39%
American		19,781,528	63,666,350	- 43,884,822	7,774,888	37,616,118	282,386	1,788,570	59%
Mountain West		19,662,027	51,090,956	- 31,428,929	5,527,785	25,297,462	923,492	319,810	50%
Sun Belt		10,850,443	46,169,525	- 35,319,082	5,240,123	27,637,516	91,275	- 2,350,168	60%
Mid-American		9,645,542	41,970,787	- 32,325,245	2,335,113	28,375,273	202,893	- 1,411,966	68%
Conference USA		9,817,522	41,283,623	- 31,466,101	2,503,917	29,473,075	429,878	940,769	71%
P4 Average ($)		120,011,476	182,947,702	- 62,936,226	44,405,481	14,773,288	3,929,692	172,235	8%
G6 Average ($)		16,770,435	52,689,175	- 35,918,740	6,125,056	29,642,173	400,042	248,531	56%

And these losses are before Revenue Sharing and additional scholarships (see tables below) add another $ 30 million in additional costs this year to many, if not most P4 athletic budgets. Consequently, many Power conference schools will be looking at eye-popping net operating losses of over $ 100 million this year. 

The bottom line is schools have to come up with money from somewhere to pay for all this red ink. Historically, deficits have been funded by a combination of athletic department contributions, student fees and direct school support. However, these traditional sources of support are unlikely to keep pace with skyrocketing operating costs, including a free-for-all dumpster fire in third party NIL. Despite the hard sell by many athletic departments, there are indications that booster fatigue may be increasing. And it’s not a good look for schools to ratchet up student fees paid by middle-income families in order to pay teen-age football and basketball players millions of dollars. This is the reason why many schools and conferences are looking at alternate sources of funding including private equity arrangements and a so-caller super league. It’s why the current NIL era is most likely not sustainable in its present structure.

A primer on NIL:

NIL refers to “Name, Image & Likeness”.  For nearly 100 years, NCAA regulations on amateur sports barred its athletes from receiving compensation in any form other than athletic scholarships. However a series of recent court cases held that college athletes are allowed to receive compensation for use of their name, image and likeness, such as for advertising, product endorsements and social media posts.

There are two distinct types of NIL: Third-Party NIL & Institution NIL (aka Revenue Sharing)

Third-party NIL is paid to athletes by businesses and organizations independent of the schools. While there is no limit to the amount of compensation an athlete may receive, all third-party NIL deals over $ 600 must be submitted to the College Sports Commission (CSC) for approval to confirm that it represents true NIL and not “pay to play” compensation which remains prohibited.

Institutional NIL (Revenue Sharing) is paid directly to athletes by NCAA member schools. The maximum revenue sharing payment allowed per school is $ 21.3 million (up from $ 20.5 million) for the current 6/30/26 fiscal year. Participation in revenue sharing is optional, currently 327 of the total 364 NCAA I schools have elected to participate. 

Additionally, the settlement in House v NCAA removed prior scholarship limits for NCAA I sports and substituted roster limits instead. Consequently, participating schools can now effectively offer every athlete a full scholarship.

While these recent developments are great for most NCAA I athletes, it has also resulted in a massive hit to many school athletic department budgets. Revenue sharing and increased scholarship awards will add around $ 25 million in new costs this year at most Power conference schools … and this doesn’t factor in the effect of third-party NIL.

Estimated Revenue Sharing 2025-26:

Football and Men’s basketball account for close to 90% of team specific revenues at most Power Conference schools, and athletes on these two teams will be the major beneficiaries of revenue sharing:

Estimated Revenue Sharing Power Conference Schools	Revenue Sharing %	Allocation to Team ($)	# of eligible Athletes *	Average per Athlete ($)
Football	75%	$ 15,375,000	105	$ 146,428
Men's Basketball	15%	3,075,000	15	205,000
All Other Sports	10%	2,050,000	456	4,495
Totals 2025-26	100%	$ 20,500,000	576

* Eligible athletes are based on the new NCAA I roster limits. These are averages per athlete … a few players per team will receive substantially higher than the average, while many will receive much less. In addition to school revenue sharing payments, student athletes may also continue to receive third-party NIL compensation. 

Annual athletic scholarship awards could increase by over $ 20 million at some schools:

As part of the House v NCAA settlement, scholarship limits have been removed, and roster caps have been established for each sport. As a result, participating schools can effectively offer full scholarships to all athletes up to the specific sport’s roster limit. Consequently, the dollar value of scholarship awards could double at many schools.  We crunched the numbers for 88 FBS public universities, and found that the annual value of athletic scholarships awarded could increase by an average of $ 10 million per school, and over $ 20 million for a few:

Athletic Scholarships FBS Schools 2025-26	Conference	Total Value ($) 2025 Awards	Available 2026 ($)	Potential ($) Increase 2026	% Increase	# of Potential Awards 2026	Potential ($) Award 2026	Average ($) Award 2025
Michigan	Big Ten	31,832,324	67,182,241	35,349,917	111%	780	86,131	49,276
Ohio State	Big Ten	24,930,964	52,158,854	27,227,890	109%	862	60,509	31,242
Virginia	ACC	25,375,469	50,853,722	25,478,253	100%	666	76,357	43,751
California	ACC	23,146,379	50,258,141	27,111,762	117%	704	71,389	35,284
Tennessee	SEC	25,357,260	48,737,385	23,380,125	92%	529	92,131	53,384
Penn State	Big Ten	24,365,001	48,233,775	23,868,774	98%	764	63,133	39,489
Rutgers	Big Ten	23,150,831	46,841,262	23,690,431	102%	658	71,187	38,779
Clemson	ACC	21,964,110	41,606,168	19,642,058	89%	506	82,226	48,486
Michigan State	Big Ten	19,670,805	38,379,529	18,708,724	95%	592	64,830	40,309
UCLA	Big Ten	18,912,401	37,584,660	18,672,259	99%	601	62,537	34,512
Arizona State	Big 12	20,012,528	36,963,879	16,951,351	85%	547	67,576	31,417
UMass	MAC	13,752,216	35,890,873	22,138,657	161%	603	59,521	34,209
Wisconsin	Big Ten	19,449,379	35,745,079	16,295,700	84%	564	63,378	40,185
Florida	SEC	19,280,971	35,153,658	15,872,687	82%	499	70,448	37,880
Indiana	Big Ten	18,375,869	34,747,480	16,371,611	89%	595	58,399	37,655
Washington	Big Ten	19,113,740	33,861,469	14,747,729	77%	475	71,287	42,287
Maryland	Big Ten	19,021,511	33,626,521	14,605,010	77%	515	65,294	41,441
North Carolina	ACC	16,208,662	33,300,122	17,091,460	105%	725	45,931	25,647
Arizona	Big 12	16,564,008	31,675,341	15,111,333	91%	505	62,723	34,294
Minnesota	Big Ten	16,825,663	30,317,445	13,491,782	80%	584	51,913	33,451
Oklahoma	SEC	17,242,310	30,251,790	13,009,480	75%	500	60,504	35,698
Iowa	Big Ten	14,867,866	28,168,436	13,300,570	89%	578	48,734	30,655
Utah	Big 12	16,830,258	28,109,619	11,279,361	67%	467	60,192	35,284
Oregon	Big Ten	16,332,827	27,873,957	11,541,130	71%	425	65,586	38,250
UConn	Indep	14,665,170	27,041,679	12,376,509	84%	561	48,203	29,929
Texas	SEC	13,922,893	25,531,466	11,608,573	83%	511	49,964	27,958
Georgia	SEC	15,241,994	25,180,832	9,938,838	65%	481	52,351	32,361
West Virginia	Big 12	12,934,746	25,108,410	12,173,664	94%	481	52,200	29,464
Kansas	Big 12	12,922,225	24,403,437	11,481,212	89%	484	50,420	31,518
Colorado	Big 12	13,773,434	24,252,949	10,479,515	76%	368	65,905	46,065
Miami of Ohio	MAC	12,820,129	23,677,936	10,857,807	85%	466	50,811	30,379
Purdue	Big Ten	12,926,780	23,365,629	10,438,849	81%	460	50,795	28,854
Illinois	Big Ten	13,337,620	22,876,223	9,538,603	72%	468	48,881	32,851
North Carolina State	ACC	12,284,169	22,865,810	10,581,641	86%	516	44,314	27,730
Nebraska	Big Ten	12,695,377	22,072,351	9,376,974	74%	497	44,411	26,897
Washington State	Pac-12	12,360,402	21,918,347	9,557,945	77%	397	55,210	36,897
Arkansas	SEC	12,660,461	21,409,740	8,749,279	69%	425	50,376	30,144
New Mexico	MW	10,765,330	21,276,954	10,511,624	98%	421	50,539	29,987
LSU	SEC	14,355,669	21,158,422	6,802,753	47%	462	45,797	37,580
Mississippi	SEC	12,870,142	20,597,087	7,726,945	60%	373	55,220	32,748
Cincinnati	Big 12	11,157,398	20,325,742	9,168,344	82%	411	49,454	30,568
JMU	Sun Belt	11,321,170	20,161,800	8,840,630	78%	442	45,615	28,232
Hawaii	MW	11,291,965	19,860,940	8,568,975	76%	428	46,404	29,330
Oregon State	Pac-12	11,327,974	19,724,398	8,396,424	74%	422	46,740	28,534
Buffalo	MAC	10,533,910	19,513,933	8,980,023	85%	378	51,624	33,547
Eastern Michigan	MAC	11,086,717	19,417,666	8,330,949	75%	479	40,538	23,146
Mississippi State	SEC	11,809,282	19,329,384	7,520,102	64%	358	53,993	32,622
San Diego State	Pac-12	11,111,128	19,143,171	8,032,043	72%	426	44,937	27,167
Colorado State	Pac-12	10,931,302	19,043,359	8,112,057	74%	368	51,748	35,149
Nevada	MW	10,379,063	18,909,523	8,530,460	82%	384	49,244	24,830
Kent State	MAC	8,724,704	17,979,200	9,254,496	106%	469	38,335	21,332
Central Florida	Big 12	10,774,516	17,306,534	6,532,018	61%	397	43,593	26,215
Ball State	MAC	8,615,610	17,055,590	8,439,980	98%	437	39,029	18,215
Ohio	MAC	9,660,436	16,994,448	7,334,012	76%	412	41,249	25,761
Georgia Southern	Sun Belt	9,508,314	16,954,237	7,445,923	78%	377	44,971	27,802
Florida State	ACC	10,861,181	16,835,347	5,974,166	55%	424	39,706	26,298
Iowa State	Big 12	10,068,149	16,779,547	6,711,398	67%	399	42,054	27,967
Oklahoma State	Big 12	9,129,477	16,685,625	7,556,148	83%	424	39,353	20,153
South Florida	American	9,764,938	16,616,435	6,851,497	70%	433	38,375	22,869
Houston	Big 12	9,660,666	16,581,679	6,921,013	72%	406	40,842	23,620
Wyoming	MW	9,298,825	16,384,289	7,085,464	76%	387	42,337	23,541
Toledo	MAC	10,372,238	16,345,681	5,973,443	58%	371	44,058	39,893
Boise State	Pac-12	11,128,675	15,691,622	4,562,947	41%	355	44,202	34,886
Akron	MAC	7,057,404	15,517,754	8,460,350	120%	440	35,268	17,867
Kansas State	Big 12	8,791,998	15,389,494	6,597,496	75%	385	39,973	23,445
Louisiana Lafayette	Sun Belt	8,826,220	15,227,293	6,401,073	73%	380	40,072	23,663
Bowling Green	MAC	8,285,137	15,089,006	6,803,869	82%	415	36,359	22,094
Georgia State	Sun Belt	9,253,239	14,936,382	5,683,143	61%	347	43,044	25,992
Kennesaw State	CUSA	7,766,471	14,477,466	6,710,995	86%	420	34,470	19,762
New Mexico State	CUSA	8,816,374	14,342,010	5,525,636	63%	362	39,619	25,779
UNC Charlotte	American	7,861,644	14,158,022	6,296,378	80%	449	31,532	20,367
Texas State	Pac-12	8,120,202	14,045,074	5,924,872	73%	379	37,058	25,861
UTEP	MW	8,275,057	14,005,624	5,730,567	69%	346	40,479	32,324
Central Michigan	MAC	6,801,312	13,694,978	6,893,666	101%	433	31,628	17,712
Missouri State	CUSA	7,249,622	13,555,835	6,306,213	87%	419	32,353	16,628
Texas Tech	Big 12	7,823,759	13,344,144	5,520,385	71%	398	33,528	21,376
Appalachian State	Sun Belt	6,933,297	13,131,974	6,198,677	89%	409	32,108	19,866
Fresno State	Pac-12	8,053,470	13,039,159	4,985,689	62%	419	31,120	21,305
Marshall	Sun Belt	7,859,315	13,012,412	5,153,097	66%	429	30,332	20,574
Utah State	Pac-12	7,568,352	12,551,275	4,982,923	66%	374	33,560	22,796
Northern Illinois	MW	8,106,428	12,473,519	4,367,091	54%	367	33,988	22,707
Western Michigan	MAC	8,614,548	12,217,333	3,602,785	42%	368	33,199	23,732
North Dakota State	MW	5,304,948	12,136,186	6,831,238	129%	406	29,892	15,512
UTSA	American	7,603,749	11,911,968	4,308,219	57%	347	34,328	24,768
North Texas	American	6,511,401	11,380,017	4,868,616	75%	381	29,869	19,437
Western Kentucky	CUSA	5,585,245	11,216,298	5,631,053	101%	333	33,683	20,236
Sam Houston State	CUSA	6,278,201	11,213,329	4,935,128	79%	355	31,587	19,437
Southern Miss	Sun Belt	6,615,615	10,907,960	4,292,345	65%	348	31,345	23,132
Average - 88 FBS Schools *		12,632,839	23,172,052	10,539,213	83%	462	50,147	30,003

* 2026 potential awards are based on 2025 team roster sizes. Operating under the new roster limits is not mandatory. However, schools opting not to be subject to roster limits must adhere to the prior (lower) scholarship limits. Participating schools must submit certified rosters to the College Sports Commission.

Here is how the new scholarship and roster limits apply to each NCAA I Sport:

Scholarship Limits per NCAA I Sport	Team	Prior limit	New limit	Increase Per team
Men's NCAA I Sports
Baseball	M	11.7	34	22.3
Basketball	M	13	15	2
Fencing	M	4.5	24	19.5
Football (FBS)	M	85	105	20
Golf	M	4.5	9	4.5
Gymnastics	M	6.3	20	13.7
Hockey	M	18	26	8
Lacrosse	M	12.6	48	35.4
Skiing	M	6.3	16	9.7
Soccer	M	9.9	28	18.1
Swimming	M	9.9	30	20.1
Tennis	M	4.5	10	5.5
Track / X-C	M	12.6	62	49.4
Volleyball	M	4.5	18	13.5
Water polo	M	4.5	24	19.5
Wrestling	M	9.9	30	20.1
Women's NCAA I Sports
Basketball	W	15	15	-
Beach volleyball	W	6	19	13
Bowling	W	5	11	6
Equestrian	W	15	50	35
Fencing	W	5	24	19
Field hockey	W	12	27	15
Golf	W	6	9	3
Gymnastics	W	12	20	8
Hockey	W	18	26	8
Lacrosse	W	12	38	26
Rowing	W	20	68	48
Rugby	W	12	36	24
Skiing	W	7	16	9
Soccer	W	14	28	14
Softball	W	12	25	13
Swimming	W	14	30	16
Tennis	W	8	10	2
Track / X-C	W	18	62	44
Triathlon	W	6.5	14	7.5
Acrobatics	W	14	55	41
Volleyball	W	12	18	6
Water polo	W	8	24	16
Wrestling	W	10	30	20
Mixed / Coed Sports
Rifle	Mix	3.6	12	8.4
Stunt	Mix	14	65	51

Participation in the new scholarship and roster limits is optional. Schools not electing to adopt roster limits must also adhere to the prior (lower) scholarship limits. Additionally, all athletic scholarship awards are optional. Schools can fully fund a sport or award less than the maximum allowed. However, schools will be pressured to fully fund their sports for both competitive and equity considerations. Scholarships remain one of the primary recruiting tools, and programs offering less than the maximum awards allowed will likely be at a recruiting disadvantage to competitors who are fully funding their teams. 

The NCAA recognizes that revenue sharing will primarily benefit athletes in only a few sports. One of the primary objectives of the new scholarship model is to provide additional monetary awards for student-athletes participating in limited revenue sports as well. While Football and Men’s basketball will receive close to 90% of revenue sharing payments at most FBS schools, conversely, about 90% of the additional scholarship awards will go to athletes in Women’s and Men’s sports other than football and basketball.

Note: If a school awards additional athletic scholarships beyond the NCAA team limits in effect prior to House v NCAA, than the increased awards are counted as part of their revenue sharing pool up to $ 2.5 million per year.

Significant non-compliance with NIL reporting requirements?

I don’t want to say something is rotten in Denmark, but the numbers aren’t currently adding up on NIL compliance. As outlined in the House v NCAA settlement, every third-party NIL deal over $ 600 is required to be submitted to the College Sports Commission for approval. However, the total value of deals submitted via the NIL Go portal appears to be only a fraction of what is reportedly being paid for NIL. This raises the issue of potentially significant non-compliance with NIL reporting requirements. Additionally, there is some opposition from at least a few schools to the CSC participation agreement as currently drafted.

The latest update from the College Sports Commission reports only $ 242 million of cleared deals as of May 1, 2026 – this is a fraction of the estimated $ 500 million third-party NIL market just for basketball alone … and football third-party NIL is likely at least double this. Some of the difference can be attributable to the NIL Collective “money dump” prior to the July 1, 2025 start of CSC enforcement, but this still leaves a boatload of missing money.  This is unfortunate, as the CSC is a vital tool in having all schools playing by the same rules. The CSC is living up to its responsibilities, but a fair number of schools are apparently not. 

While third-party NIL is technically independent of the schools (and not recorded on their books), a significant portion of these payments are funded by school boosters and sponsors, i.e. money that otherwise would likely have gone directly to the schools. Consequently, the total negative financial impact to school athletic departments is even greater than what will actually be reported. And given the currently uncontrolled “Wild West” landscape in third-party NIL, many NCAA I schools are facing an era in college sports that is not financially sustainable. 

NIL Collectives:

With the advent of Revenue Sharing, the influence of collectives at most schools has greatly diminished with many schools bringing activities previously conducted by collectives in-house.  NIL collectives are typically considered third-party entities and contracts exceeding $ 600 must be submitted to the College Sports Commission for approval.  

 

Questions on our data? Contact us at: NIL-NCAA.com

Statistics compiled & edited by Patrick O’Rourke, CPA Washington, DC