NIL & Revenue Sharing – NCAA Baseball

Estimated 2026 Revenue Sharing – NCAA I Baseball teams:

Football and Men’s basketball will account for close to 90% of revenue sharing payments at most FBS schools, leaving only around 10% for all other sports. We crunched numbers for 79 FBS schools and the result was that baseball on average accounted for 2.8% of reported team specific revenues. This results in an average revenue sharing allocation of $ 265,593 per team and $ 7,812 per player: 

Revenue Sharing Estimates
NCAA I teams: 2025-26 *
Operating
Revenue %
Allocation
to Team ($)
# of eligible
Athletes *
Average per
Athlete ($)
Football71.1%6,844,88710565,189
Men's Basketball16.0%1,547,01215103,134
Baseball2.8%265,593347,812
All Other Sports10.1%972,6513083,158
2025-26 Average 100%9,630,143462

* These estimates are for 79 FBS public schools sponsoring NCAA I baseball programs for which we have compiled 2025 operating revenues (see table below). These schools include a mix of Power 4 schools likely paying the maximum $ 20.5 million revenue sharing allocation allowed, as well as other FBS schools paying much less. Total Revenue Sharing allocations are reduced by the $ 2.5 million dollar for dollar offset for new scholarships. Eligible athletes are based on the new roster limits effective July 1, 2025.

The only FBS school that has officially reported its 2026 revenue sharing allocations is Penn State which allocated $ 300,000 to its baseball team. Consequently, we believe our estimated average allocation of $ 265,593 per team for the 79 schools in our data base is within the ballpark (pun intended). These are averages, a few players may receive much more, while most will likely receive less. These estimates are for revenue sharing payments only (Institutional NIL), they do not include third-party NIL compensation.

Big potential increase in athletic scholarships for Baseball:

While baseball players will not receive substantial revenue sharing payments, most will be eligible for significantly higher athletic scholarship awards. As part of the House v NCAA settlement, scholarship limits have been removed, and roster caps have been established for each sport.  For baseball, the athletic scholarship limit has been increased from 11.7 to 34, effectively tripling the available scholarship money at most schools:

2025 Scholarship Awards
NCAA I Baseball Teams *
Conference2025
Roster
# of Players
with awards
Total Team ($)
Awards 2025
Average Player
Award 2025 ($)
Maximum Player
Award 2026 ($)
Player Awards
Limit 2026 **
AkronMAC3828288,47910,30329,25834
Appalachian StateSun Belt3927498,68118,47039,86334
ArizonaBig 124041610,73314,89645,64534
Arizona StateBig 124138630,40716,59053,88134
ArkansasSEC4333670,49320,31849,44634
Ball StateMAC3837407,58711,01635,94234
Bowling GreenMAC3632351,50010,98427,74334
CaliforniaACC4332573,95317,93644,52734
Central FloridaBig 124035403,11411,51831,15334
Central MichiganMAC4131287,9509,28927,19134
CharlotteAmerican4224422,46917,60334,51534
CincinnatiBig 124032540,67016,89646,37034
ClemsonACC4730930,52931,01879,53234
ConnecticutBig East4230520,44917,34842,62534
Eastern MichiganMAC4831489,62415,79438,22234
FloridaSEC3830425,06014,16931,25434
Florida InternationalCUSA4027132,6064,91111,33434
Florida StateACC4032409,29112,79027,78634
Fresno StatePac-123730302,78210,09322,32934
GeorgiaSEC5527557,12520,63440,96534
Georgia SouthernSun Belt4930391,70113,05733,79634
Georgia StateSun Belt4029570,53019,67349,09934
HawaiiMW5828451,07616,11038,58634
HoustonBig 124734502,00514,76536,45634
IllinoisBig Ten3930574,97419,16645,20234
IndianaBig Ten4133622,95218,87748,40334
IowaBig Ten4632482,89015,09036,39034
James MadisonSun Belt4130492,40316,41342,52234
KansasBig 123932591,04918,47045,46534
Kansas StateBig 124533465,32814,10142,34134
Kennesaw StateCUSA4730350,18811,67323,95334
Kent StateMAC4031409,83813,22135,02934
Louisiana LafayetteSun Belt3934502,14314,76936,25634
Louisiana StateSEC4127604,66522,39551,81434
MarshallSun Belt4028381,86713,63830,89534
MarylandBig Ten3829739,72225,50854,03434
MassachusettsMAC43211,0235,51261,23934
Miami of OhioMAC4829650,01922,41455,55734
MichiganBig Ten4230858,63128,62169,69434
Michigan StateBig Ten4032552,67417,27147,85134
MinnesotaBig Ten3833520,90615,78541,34234
MississippiSEC4032623,59119,48747,17034
Mississippi StateSEC4130717,46323,91561,32234
Missouri StateCUSA3128452,87316,17438,70734
NebraskaBig Ten4234584,40917,18945,94434
NevadaMW3913504,22538,78740,30634
New MexicoMW4030550,60818,35445,69434
New Mexico StateCUSA4331403,85713,02840,30534
North CarolinaACC5223750,81332,64455,98934
North Carolina StateACC3930622,41720,74748,62634
North Dakota StateSummit4032342,13310,69229,34234
Northern IllinoisMAC4031373,91912,06231,95934
OhioMAC3730436,11414,53737,75934
Ohio StateBig Ten4434586,22317,24250,32034
OklahomaSEC4032783,30624,47867,12134
Oklahoma StateBig 124134345,07510,14929,49434
OregonBig Ten4429730,24125,18156,82834
Oregon StatePac-124433587,62917,80750,22534
Penn StateBig Ten4128842,18330,07866,36634
PurdueBig Ten4532535,12516,72347,73634
RutgersBig Ten4030745,31424,84463,70234
Sam Houston StateCUSA3629282,9069,75524,28434
San Diego StatePac-124027479,95617,77643,91234
South FloridaAmerican6034398,09511,70928,29434
Southern MissSun Belt3932314,0109,81327,52134
TennesseeSEC55291,230,20042,42191,73834
TexasSEC4128680,39024,30052,05734
Texas StatePac-124031471,65315,21540,31234
Texas TechBig 124025383,74415,35028,76634
ToledoMAC4032478,29814,94736,45634
UCLABig Ten4025590,12023,60546,10334
UtahBig 123933754,16922,85453,86934
UTSAAmerican3829351,88212,13427,77334
VirginiaACC4125825,41633,01765,77034
WashingtonBig Ten4427615,42922,79454,94934
Washington StatePac-123633561,91017,02849,03234
West VirginiaBig 124230619,83620,66148,50034
Western KentuckyCUSA4032376,11111,75332,31234
Western MichiganMAC3328360,24512,86632,28034
Average - 79 Schools4230524,96217,73743,34634

These are potential increases as 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 if your program is offering less than the 34 awards allowed, you’ll likely be at a recruiting disadvantage to competitors’ who are fully funding their baseball teams.

Additionally, one of the objectives of the new NCAA model is to provide enhanced monetary awards for those student-athletes in limited revenue sports. While Football and Men’s basketball will receive close to 90% of revenue sharing payments at most FBS schools, conversely, about 90% of the new potential scholarship awards will go to athletes in Women’s and Men’s sports other than football and basketball.

* 2026 potential awards are based on 2025 team roster sizes.

 

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

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