Estimated 2025-26 Revenue Sharing – Wrestling
As part of the House v. NCAA proposed settlement, Division I schools will be allowed to share athletic department revenues with their varsity athletes beginning in the 2025-26 academic year. The initial revenue sharing cap per school has been tentatively set at $ 20.5 million per year. We analyzed the most recent NCAA financial reporting from several NCAA I public universities and arrived at some estimates for wrestling team revenue sharing scheduled to begin in the 2025-26 season:
| Estimated Revenue Sharing - Wrestling | Conference | Wrestling Team Revenue Share | # of Wrestlers | Average per Wrestler | Total Revenue Sharing 2025* | Revenue % Wrestling | AD Annual Revenue** |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penn State | Big Ten | 310,241 | 30 | 10,341 | 20,500,000 | 1.5% | 152,551,993 |
| Missouri | SEC | 253,837 | 30 | 8,461 | 19,418,455 | 1.3% | 88,265,705 |
| Iowa State | Big-12 | 85,716 | 30 | 2,857 | 18,365,450 | 0.5% | 83,479,317 |
| Ohio State | Big Ten | 81,329 | 30 | 2,711 | 20,500,000 | 0.4% | 215,167,642 |
| Illinois | Big Ten | 53,380 | 30 | 1,779 | 20,500,000 | 0.3% | 99,358,957 |
| Minnesota | Big Ten | 39,854 | 30 | 1,328 | 20,500,000 | 0.2% | 113,102,807 |
| Wisconsin | Big Ten | 28,978 | 29 | 999 | 20,500,000 | 0.1% | 137,164,382 |
| Appalachian State | SBC | 28,112 | 30 | 937 | 3,626,477 | 0.8% | 16,483,988 |
| Power 5 Average | 7 Schools | 121,905 | 30 | 4,068 | 20,040,558 | 0.6% | 127,012,972 |
* These estimates assume each school limits revenue sharing to 22% of its annual athletic department revenues. However, a school can elect to share any percentage of its athletic revenues as long as the annual total payout does not exceed the $ 20.5 million tentative cap. Since participation in revenue sharing is optional, an NCAA I school can also elect not to share revenue with its athletes. However, doing so would likely put that school at a competitive disadvantage in athletic recruiting.
Estimated revenue sharing is allocated per team based on the percentage of that team’s revenues to revenue from all sports as reported in the school’s most recent (2023) NCAA financial reporting. A significant variable here is athletic department revenue not allocated to a specific team. Based on the NCAA reports this can be anywhere from 6% to 37% of school athletic department revenue. Our estimates assume this non-specific revenue will be allocated in the same proportion as the team’s revenue percentage to all sports.
These are averages per athlete. In actuality, a few athletes per team will receive substantially higher than the average, while many will get much less.
Football and Men’s basketball account for close to 95% of all specific team allocated revenues at Power Conference schools, and athletes in these two sports will be the major beneficiaries of revenue sharing. Consequently, revenue sharing available to athletes in virtually all other sports will be minimal to modest at most schools. The NCAA and its member schools are well aware of this disparity and have consequently proposed to significantly increase the number of potential scholarships available to NCAA athletes.
For wrestling, the proposal is to increase the maximum number of athletic scholarships from 9.9 to 30 per team – this will also represent the limit of wrestlers on an NCAA I roster. So in theory, all 30 wrestlers could receive a full scholarship. However, scholarships awards are optional – a school can fully fund a sport, or make awards less than the maximum allowed.
** Computed Athletic Department revenue includes event tickets and admission fees, game guarantees, TV, media, licensing, advertising, sponsorships and royalty rights, bowl game, NCAA and conference distributions and all related revenues. Revenue does not include direct or indirect school support, student fees or unrecompensed (i.e. charitable) contributions to the athletic department from alumni and boosters.
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Statistics compiled & edited by Patrick O’Rourke, CPA Washington, DC 