NCAA Revenue Sharing & NIL – Big Ten Schools – NCAA Revenue Sharing & NIL Estimates 2025

Conference Members	2026-27	2025-26
Illinois	Big Ten	Big Ten
Indiana	Big Ten	Big Ten
Iowa	Big Ten	Big Ten
Maryland	Big Ten	Big Ten
Michigan	Big Ten	Big Ten
Michigan State	Big Ten	Big Ten
Minnesota	Big Ten	Big Ten
Nebraska	Big Ten	Big Ten
Northwestern	Big Ten	Big Ten
Ohio State	Big Ten	Big Ten
Oregon	Big Ten	Big Ten
Penn State	Big Ten	Big Ten
Purdue	Big Ten	Big Ten
Rutgers	Big Ten	Big Ten
Southern Cal	Big Ten	Big Ten
UCLA	Big Ten	Big Ten
Washington	Big Ten	Big Ten
Wisconsin	Big Ten	Big Ten

Total Members	18	18

Estimated Roster Costs – Big Ten Schools 2026-27

Per estimates in the 2026 Opendorse Annual NIL Report, Big Ten Athletes will receive an average of $ 48.2 million per school via revenue sharing and third-party NIL. Here is our estimate of how these payments would likely breakdown per team:

Estimated Roster Costs Big Ten Schools 2026-27	Total Payments to Athletes ($)	Paid by Schools via Revenue Sharing ($)	Paid via Third-Party Commercial NIL ($)

Football	35,612,000	15,975,000	19,637,000
Men's Basketball	8,306,000	3,195,000	5,111,000
All Other Sports	4,282,000	2,130,000	2,152,000

Average per School ($)	48,200,000	21,300,000	26,900,000

The $ 35 million average for Big Ten football teams initially seems high. Indiana’s Football Coach recently stated that his team’s payroll was closer to $ 15 million than $ 40 million (which might indicate that it’s around $ 27 million). However, Alabama’s GM has stated that some schools with high aspirations are spending over $ 40 million to assemble championship contending teams, and there are estimates from some GM’s of a few $ 60 million rosters. So maybe the $ 35 million estimated average for Big Ten football rosters isn’t that far off. The $ 8.3 million estimate for Basketball rosters is very close to the NCAA I survey results published by the Athletic last year.

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 currently uncontrolled third-party NIL market almost certainly results in an added strain on college athletic department finances.

2025 Financial Results: Big Ten Schools

Big Ten schools averaged over $ 48 million in net operating losses last year. These losses were funded by booster contributions averaging $ 36 million per school, combined school support and student fees averaging $ 9 million per school and endowment/investment income averaging $ 3 million per school:

2025 Results ($) Big Ten Schools *	Operating Revenue	Operating Expenses	Loss from Operations	Contributions	Student Fees & School Support	Endowment & Investment	Surplus (Deficit)

Illinois	129,511,596	189,859,538	-60,347,942	50,720,205	11,490,052	3,039,325	4,901,640
Indiana	129,055,001	173,020,646	-43,965,645	26,431,033	27,946,488	-	10,411,876
Iowa	137,331,725	173,379,699	-36,047,974	35,071,275	2,848,923	4,726,168	6,598,392
Maryland	92,608,681	128,662,116	-36,053,435	11,311,080	18,659,414	1,418,743	-4,664,198
Michigan	214,138,899	261,556,268	-47,417,369	50,362,101	196,545	11,146,570	14,287,847
Michigan State	131,075,123	178,288,091	-47,212,968	36,980,159	7,693,718	4,142,651	1,603,560
Minnesota	127,741,577	161,202,217	-33,460,640	22,376,553	11,657,831	1,829,185	2,402,929
Nebraska	165,504,684	207,743,888	-42,239,204	48,407,981	-	1,176,342	7,345,119
Ohio State	259,634,646	320,394,965	-60,760,319	68,955,032	-	7,488,209	15,682,922
Oregon	151,180,370	182,702,378	-31,522,008	33,164,614	589,167	486,753	2,718,526
Penn State **	186,599,369	236,275,528	-49,676,159	64,557,754	-	3,710,475	18,592,070
Purdue	119,659,133	149,650,825	-29,991,692	27,693,151	-	3,184,036	885,495
Rutgers	105,321,274	193,831,838	-88,510,564	8,122,577	30,870,544	2,323,671	-47,193,772
UCLA	114,487,557	173,429,394	-58,941,837	13,478,195	21,060,000	2,771,489	-21,632,153
Washington	110,425,099	184,354,672	-73,929,573	52,876,796	10,781,975	4,389,247	-5,881,555
Wisconsin	162,395,226	193,630,009	-31,234,783	26,219,033	3,176,379	6,136,608	4,297,237

Average per School ($)	146,041,873	194,248,880	-48,207,007	36,045,471	9,185,690	3,623,092	647,246

These losses are before Revenue Sharing and additional scholarships add another $ 25 million – or more – in additional costs this year. Consequently, schools such as Rutgers and Washington (which receives only a half-share of the current media contract) could be looking at eye popping net operating losses of around $ 100 million this year. Rutgers’ financial position in the NIL era looks particularly bleak … an $ 88 million operating loss with only $ 8 million in support from booster contributions. Similarly, both Maryland and UCLA report booster contributions significantly below their conference competitors as well. Conversely, several Big Ten schools including Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State had enough booster support to entirely cover their operating deficits.

* Data available for Big Ten public schools only, results for Northwestern & Southern Cal are not included.
** Operating expenses for Penn State do not include revenue sharing payments reported on 2025 NCAA filing.

2025 Operating Revenues: Big Ten Schools

Operating Revenues are sources of income received from exchange transactions. This is distinct from athletic department support such as booster contributions, student fees and school funding. This distinction is important when evaluating an organization’s ongoing ability to meet expenses.

Operating Revenues ($) Big Ten Schools 2025 *	Total Revenue	Ticket Sales	Media Rights	Post Season Distributions	NCAA Payments	Bowl Game Revenues	Licenses & Sponsorships	Game Day & Concessions	Game Guarantees	Other Revenue

Illinois	129,511,596	29,973,328	66,801,333	12,756,572	3,585,360	588,415	8,725,169	3,141,447	421,944	3,518,028
Indiana	129,055,001	29,573,521	62,890,811	10,666,688	4,068,864	3,000,000	11,283,870	5,093,288	98,000	2,379,959
Iowa	137,331,725	33,104,198	64,500,009	10,665,018	4,179,459	1,765,759	13,142,787	4,476,365	862,963	4,635,167
Maryland **	92,608,681	12,806,716	48,326,058	10,665,018	3,917,822	-	7,906,346	1,968,554	-	7,018,167
Michigan	214,138,899	75,862,287	62,790,811	10,665,018	5,047,954	2,118,900	35,556,501	10,663,667	572,005	10,861,756
Michigan State	131,075,123	30,640,116	63,000,009	10,665,018	4,668,907	-	14,240,446	2,127,756	1,178,377	4,554,494
Minnesota	127,741,577	19,598,839	63,000,043	11,588,717	3,880,887	2,091,030	13,006,804	6,892,048	109,000	7,574,209
Nebraska	165,504,684	40,677,611	75,871,641	10,665,018	4,327,693	2,486,548	17,941,341	9,598,199	43,828	3,892,805
Ohio State	259,634,646	81,650,892	64,917,009	10,665,018	4,804,969	17,452,406	42,770,263	12,385,572	556,466	24,432,051
Oregon **	151,180,370	34,920,016	49,117,548	12,704,289	3,468,669	3,920,830	26,607,027	12,868,680	516,000	7,057,311
Penn State	186,599,369	50,362,976	64,500,009	14,818,587	4,915,069	5,349,583	25,114,673	10,221,823	-	11,316,649
Purdue	119,659,133	23,576,258	62,890,811	10,665,018	4,160,077	-	9,176,973	4,624,125	200,000	4,365,871
Rutgers	105,321,274	15,846,777	61,258,372	10,665,018	4,060,773	2,483,080	2,679,994	3,256,182	226,845	4,844,233
UCLA	114,487,557	18,313,824	61,258,372	10,665,018	5,339,900	-	10,589,277	1,305,901	1,688,568	5,326,697
Washington **	110,425,099	31,138,233	30,000,000	12,254,289	3,663,271	1,944,090	21,732,337	3,977,750	1,874,713	3,840,416
Wisconsin	162,395,226	38,384,715	62,890,811	10,665,018	4,365,118	-	24,757,630	7,359,777	205,000	13,767,157

Average per School ($)	146,041,873	35,401,894	60,250,853	11,339,958	4,278,425	2,700,040	17,826,965	6,247,571	534,607	7,461,561

* Data available for Big Ten public schools only, results for Northwestern & Southern Cal are not included.
** Maryland, Oregon & Washington currently do not receive a full share of the Big Ten Media Contract

2025 Operating Expenses: Big Ten Schools

Operating Expenses ($) Big Ten Schools 2025 *	Total Expenses	Coaching Salaries	Admin Salaries	Athletic Scholarships	Game Guarantees	Severance Payments	Recruiting	Team Travel	Uniforms & Equipment	Game Day Expenses	Marketing & Fundraising	Athletic facility debt service, rents & leases	Athletic facility operating costs	Athlete Medical	Athlete Meals	Post-season Expenses	Alston & other Educ benefits	Overhead & Administration	Other Oper Expenses

Illinois	189,859,538	35,517,131	31,963,461	13,337,620	2,767,250	546,909	3,563,849	8,863,220	2,585,157	4,488,756	21,888,016	17,770,740	7,954,285	2,258,590	4,459,569	5,809,330	2,567,061	15,533,515	7,985,079
Indiana	173,020,646	35,989,378	21,574,653	18,375,869	4,504,134	8,520,811	2,598,898	11,760,441	5,420,808	9,336,603	1,403,112	12,352,199	4,824,632	766,083	3,675,564	3,832,648	1,725,191	21,698,371	4,661,251
Iowa	173,379,699	36,967,412	25,842,710	14,867,866	3,207,449	492,563	2,304,738	10,067,427	3,535,892	6,594,812	5,316,435	22,499,593	7,838,209	2,266,973	5,193,750	5,124,731	2,815,335	7,375,820	11,067,984
Maryland	128,662,116	30,951,059	26,422,341	19,021,511	1,834,013	661,024	2,722,746	10,372,043	4,728,958	5,124,679	1,295,094	183,522	5,965,803	2,508,220	3,885,597	1,787,271	1,787,332	3,405,423	6,005,480
Michigan	261,556,268	39,552,637	47,636,208	31,832,324	5,343,227	586,081	6,105,020	13,741,922	6,384,157	7,279,518	1,015,661	17,467,360	35,326,446	1,968,898	7,115,908	6,667,176	3,871,169	11,872,403	17,790,153
Michigan State	178,288,091	36,683,526	31,338,032	19,670,805	3,434,938	1,421,891	2,908,033	11,971,848	5,563,045	8,050,068	3,303,471	16,356,742	3,330,459	1,914,304	3,983,538	2,622,237	2,574,235	12,562,445	10,598,474
Minnesota	161,202,217	33,705,036	28,250,650	16,825,663	3,255,046	911,372	3,287,687	8,597,875	3,486,264	5,742,602	3,476,207	7,939,461	12,234,371	2,018,036	4,519,917	3,854,104	2,196,250	15,194,107	5,707,569
Nebraska	207,743,888	34,960,374	35,930,464	12,695,377	3,602,682	2,952,083	3,172,140	11,526,960	6,803,461	7,032,550	2,402,307	1,339,752	9,912,834	1,284,496	11,649,457	6,254,828	3,136,510	40,238,244	12,849,369
Ohio State	320,394,965	54,207,127	51,849,996	24,930,964	4,615,680	11,732	4,110,006	14,565,602	5,945,294	10,883,177	28,369,123	29,710,677	14,176,024	4,438,795	6,807,488	21,126,426	5,066,460	26,210,919	13,369,475
Oregon	182,702,378	41,714,009	31,649,728	16,332,827	2,905,313	53,333	3,482,608	10,908,552	4,458,353	7,030,018	1,063,989	18,303,978	6,335,766	2,611,921	3,280,256	7,815,165	2,848,473	14,097,979	7,810,110
Penn State **	236,275,528	43,458,097	41,149,516	24,365,001	3,950,500	1,746,632	4,565,666	10,135,193	961,004	16,387,967	1,408,929	24,204,901	9,641,756	2,572,690	2,472,665	16,762,478	4,911,440	6,727,527	20,853,566
Purdue	149,650,825	27,522,548	27,196,199	12,926,780	1,818,855	2,253,799	2,924,097	8,085,561	4,368,713	5,141,692	3,067,002	14,510,428	10,470,731	2,120,600	5,197,575	1,514,146	2,089,410	3,680,000	14,762,689
Rutgers	193,831,838	47,079,309	31,427,918	23,150,831	2,070,019	110,566	3,544,574	13,482,718	5,025,227	8,649,579	1,637,460	14,440,012	-	2,500,888	8,420,349	5,785,943	2,721,088	18,662,013	5,123,344
UCLA	173,429,394	32,584,545	31,815,001	18,912,401	2,238,000	4,281,307	3,500,797	14,519,436	4,894,771	15,630,785	1,337,553	438,512	9,248,503	2,311,707	8,531,843	3,335,663	1,870,425	3,296,809	14,681,336
Washington	184,354,672	35,493,321	35,053,163	19,113,740	3,386,000	-	3,516,170	13,123,915	10,322,331	10,878,505	2,037,998	9,922,009	10,522,914	1,883,600	9,389,075	3,531,841	1,982,663	4,127,393	10,070,034
Wisconsin	193,630,009	33,193,725	43,094,721	19,449,379	3,474,439	1,590,446	2,366,445	11,209,939	3,627,287	2,444,572	4,560,774	10,470,659	2,435,897	3,878,669	5,927,900	2,752,064	8,229,418	26,588,253	8,335,422

Average per School ($)	194,248,880	37,473,702	33,887,173	19,113,060	3,275,472	1,633,784	3,417,092	11,433,291	4,881,920	8,168,493	5,223,946	13,619,409	9,388,664	2,331,529	5,906,903	6,161,003	3,149,529	14,454,451	10,729,458

Average Operating Loss: 2025 v 2024

Big Ten Conference Schools * Average Net Operating Loss	FYE 2025 ($)	FYE 2024 ($)

Operating Revenue	146,041,873	131,829,564
Operating Expenses	194,248,880	187,554,432
Net Operating Loss	-48,207,007	-55,724,868

Booster Contributions	36,045,471	37,531,855
School Support & Student Fees	9,185,690	8,454,966
Endowment & Investment	3,623,092	3,754,586

Surplus (Deficit)	647,246	-5,983,461

Average Operating Revenue: 2025 v 2024

Big Ten Conference Schools * Average Operating Revenue	FYE 2025 ($)	FYE 2024 ($)

Ticket Sales	35,401,894	32,300,554
Media Rights	60,917,417	53,720,101
Conference Distr - post	10,673,394	7,869,398
NCAA & other	4,278,425	4,822,750
Football Bowl Revenues	2,700,040	1,830,914
Licenses & Sponsorships	17,826,965	16,396,060
Games Day & Concessions	6,247,571	5,877,649
Game Guarantees	534,607	677,846
Other Operating Revenues	7,461,561	8,334,292

Average Per School ($)	146,041,873	131,829,564

Average Operating Expenses: 2025 v 2024

Big Ten Conference Schools * Average Operating Expenses	FYE 2025 ($)	FYE 2024 ($)

Coaching Salaries	37,473,702	35,732,229
Administrative Salaries	33,887,173	32,692,666
Athletic Scholarships	19,113,060	19,771,621
Game Guarantees	3,275,472	4,689,821
Severance Payments	1,633,784	4,092,079
Recruiting	3,417,092	3,432,306
Team Travel	11,433,291	11,888,246
Uniforms, Equip & Supplies	4,881,920	4,783,477
Game Day Expenses	8,168,493	6,877,078
Fundraising & Marketing	5,223,946	2,648,426
Facilities debt service & leases	13,619,409	16,276,103
Facility Maint & operations	9,388,664	**
Athlete Medical & Insurance	2,331,529	2,312,955
Student Athlete Meals	5,906,903	5,036,140
Post-Season Expenses	6,161,003	2,824,463
Alston & Other Educ benefits	3,149,529	**
Overhead & Administration	14,454,451	21,739,445
Other Operating Expenses	10,729,458	12,757,377
Revenue Sharing	-	-

Average per School ($)	194,248,880	187,554,432

Penn State is the first school to lift the veil on Revenue Sharing:

While Revenue Sharing did not begin until July 1, 2025, Penn State reported its commitment on its 2024-25 NCAA membership report filed earlier this year. To our knowledge, this is the first official report on how a school will specifically allocate revenue sharing payments to its sports teams. Penn State reported a total revenue sharing commitment of over $ 18 million, and the allocations are interesting:

Penn State Revenue Sharing allocation by team: 2025-26	# of Teams	Total ($)	%

Football	1	13,338,959	72.6%
Basketball (M)	1	3,004,666	16.4%
Wrestling	1	1,449,766	7.9%
Baseball	1	300,000	1.6%
Hockey (M)	1	95,000	0.5%
Lacrosse (M)	1	50,000	0.3%
Tennis (M)	1	10,000	0.1%
Other Men's teams	9	-	-

Totals- Men's Teams	16	$ 18,248,391	99.3%

Basketball (W)	1	110,000	0.6%
Volleyball (W)	1	10,000	0.1%
Other Women's teams	13	-	-

Totals - Women's Teams	15	$ 120,000	0.7%

Totals - All Teams	31	$ 18,368,391	100%

Not surprisingly, football and men’s basketball get the bulk (89%) of the revenue sharing payments. But there are a few head scratchers … wrestling receives 15 times more of a revenue share than men’s hockey, even though each team’s operating revenues are roughly the same. One likely explanation here (besides the fact that wrestling is a wildly competitive sport in Pennsylvania) is that the school is also factoring third-party NIL compensation into how they ultimately allocate institutional revenue sharing among its teams.

But one item that stands out is that women’s sports receive less than 1% of revenue sharing payments, and only 2 of the 15 women’s teams receive any allocation at all (9 men’s teams also received no allocation). Since Women’s teams account for almost 5% of team specific revenues at Penn State, it appears initially these teams are being shorted. However, this is likely not anywhere as disproportionate as it may initially appear:

Without getting too deep into the accounting weeds, schools that award additional scholarship money based on the new roster limits, must reduce their maximum revenue sharing payments dollar for dollar up to $ 2.5 million. In Penn State’s situation, it appears they issued new scholarships of around $ 2.1 million, reducing their maximum revenue sharing allocation from $ 20.5 million to just under $ 18.4 million. New scholarship money is part of revenue sharing, however these amounts are / will be reported as scholarship awards rather than as revenue sharing payments (see scholarships table above). So for Penn State, if a little less than half (42%) of the new scholarship money went to female athletes, the percentage of total benefits to female athletes from revenue sharing would match the percentage of revenue (5%) generated by women’s teams. Consequently, it appears female athletes at Penn State are likely receiving benefits from revenue sharing in proportion to what their teams generate in revenue.

Unfortunately this isn’t readily apparent from the current reporting format, as NCAA instructions for reporting revenue sharing payments specifically state to not include additional scholarships or enhanced educational benefits. It would be helpful if the NCAA added a section so schools could specifically disclose these additional benefits, and provide a fuller picture of the total benefits athletes receive from the school’s revenue sharing program.

The Penn State disclosure provides a good indication as to how revenue sharing will actually operate at most Power Conference schools … and give the school credit for being proactively transparent in their reporting.

EADA Annual Operating Expenses – Big Ten schools 2022-25:

Per EADA (aka Title IX) reporting, average 2025 athletic department operating costs were $ 180 million for Big Ten schools, a 33% increase in expenses over a 3-year span:

Athletic Department Annual Expenses *	FY 2025 ($)	FY 2024 ($)	FY 2023 ($)	FY 2022 ($)	3-year % Increase

Ohio State	295,265,883	262,172,467	234,409,941	209,874,565	41%
Southern California	234,029,848	242,378,198	212,013,703	187,650,353	25%
Penn State	231,709,762	199,046,216	191,411,846	174,110,034	33%
Michigan	222,088,909	220,814,081	202,501,688	176,070,866	26%
Nebraska	198,462,402	175,438,100	160,904,566	124,061,227	60%
Wisconsin	180,525,755	172,873,023	173,758,101	132,104,285	37%
UCLA	173,429,394	170,897,220	141,964,728	131,106,913	32%
Washington	174,834,634	187,686,516	140,259,588	136,494,743	28%
Illinois	174,612,181	149,390,875	134,767,269	113,652,548	54%
Rutgers	171,679,918	155,852,426	130,221,793	130,891,215	31%
Oregon	164,742,082	148,961,287	128,532,281	121,162,341	36%
Michigan State	160,697,176	164,109,191	149,254,610	128,196,083	25%
Indiana	159,331,697	164,249,955	126,886,128	113,738,066	40%
Iowa	150,892,055	150,493,777	140,482,011	126,680,448	19%
Minnesota	146,804,169	138,599,675	128,573,351	113,686,733	29%
Purdue	135,140,397	116,766,603	105,239,251	89,722,572	51%
Northwestern	131,779,238	124,080,838	117,587,514	105,383,998	25%
Maryland	128,662,116	132,764,504	121,160,348	114,385,462	12%

Average per School ($)	179,704,868	170,920,831	152,218,262	134,942,914	33%

* Expenses per Equity in Athletics Act (EADA) annual reporting. EADA differs from NCAA reporting for a few reasons. First, conference averages will differ as EADA reporting includes all schools (public and private) while NCAA reporting is typically available only for public schools. Expense reporting also differs in some areas, with the primary difference being that EADA reporting does not require disclosure of payments made for athletic facilities debt service and leases. Consequently, EADA reporting typically results in lower annual expenses than NCAA reporting at most schools. See our methodology page for more detail and disclosures.

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

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