Estimated 2026 Revenue Sharing – NCAA I Softball teams:
Football and Men’s basketball will account for close to 90% of revenue sharing payments at most Power 4 schools. The remaining 10% results in an average payout of around $ 5,187 per athlete in all other sports including softball:
Revenue Sharing Estimates
Power 4 Schools: 2025-26 *Operating
Revenue %
Allocation
to Team ($)
# of eligible
Athletes *Average per
Athlete ($)
Football 72.7% 14,910,614 105 142,006
Men's Basketball 15.1% 3,084,215 15 205,614
All Other Sports 12.2% 2,505,171 483
5,187
2025-26 Average 100% 20,500,000 603
* These estimates are based on 2025 team specific operating revenues as reported to the NCAA. In almost all cases, the maximum $ 20.5 million revenue sharing allocation will ultimately be 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.
These are averages, a few players may receive much more, while most will likely receive less. These estimates are for revenue sharing payments only (i.e. Institutional NIL), they do not include third-party NIL compensation. Most sports will likely receive no revenue sharing allocation, but will be eligible for greater scholarship awards.
Big potential increase in athletic scholarships for Softball:
While softball 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 participating schools this would result in every player effectively being eligible for a full scholarship. For softball, the athletic scholarship limit has been increased from 12 to 25, effectively doubling the available scholarship money for softball players at most schools:
2025 Scholarship Awards
NCAA I Softball Teams *Conference 2025
Roster # of Players
with awardsTotal Team ($)
Awards 2025 Average Player
Award 2025 ($)
Maximum Player
Award 2026 ($)Roster
Limit **Out-of-State
Average Cost of
Attendance ($)
Akron MAC 25 25 364,700 14,588 35,268 25 38,126
Appalachian State Sun Belt 25 21 284,532 13,549 32,108 25 43,766
Arizona Big 12 22 21 688,003 32,762 62,723 25 64,681
Arizona State Big 12 20 20 514,389 25,719 67,576 25 54,724
Arkansas SEC 22 22 792,662 36,030 50,376 25 51,292
Ball State MAC 25 25 430,477 17,219 39,029 25 44,228
Boise State Pac-12 24 22 603,591 27,436 44,202 25 21,650
Bowling Green MAC 25 22 297,087 13,504 36,359 25 39,657
Buffalo MAC 23 20 496,604 24,830 51,624 25 55,216
California ACC 23 21 635,209 30,248 69,819 25 78,189
Central Florida Big 12 22 34 519,642 15,284 43,593 25 41,924
Central Michigan MAC 24 18 295,846 16,436 31,628 25 30,709
Charlotte American 21 19 379,320 19,964 31,532 25 41,522
Clemson ACC 23 22 872,618 39,664 82,226 25 61,126
Colorado State Pac-12 25 21 551,721 26,272 51,748 25 55,378
Connecticut Big East 19 18 547,795 30,433 48,203 25 64,478
Florida SEC 25 25 628,748 25,150 70,448 25 45,808
Florida State ACC 21 20 413,363 20,668 39,706 25 39,830
Fresno State Pac-12 29 26 375,163 14,429 31,120 25 43,274
Georgia SEC 21 21 505,800 24,086 52,351 25 50,050
Georgia Southern Sun Belt 20 20 337,349 16,867 44,971 25 42,668
Georgia State Sun Belt 24 24 376,405 15,684 43,044 25 53,360
Hawaii MW 28 24 432,742 18,031 46,404 25 56,622
Houston Big 12 22 19 335,014 17,632 40,842 25 52,907
Illinois Big Ten 31 26 510,763 19,645 48,881 25 38,128
Indiana Big Ten 19 18 581,407 32,300 58,399 25 60,348
Iowa Big Ten 25 26 553,575 21,291 48,734 25 51,329
Iowa State Big 12 24 24 490,104 20,421 42,054 25 43,219
JMU Sun Belt 25 24 514,256 21,427 45,615 25 50,630
Kansas Big 12 23 23 502,375 21,842 50,420 25 47,882
Kennesaw State CUSA 25 25 404,507 16,180 34,470 25 43,648
Kent State MAC 17 17 398,406 23,436 38,335 25 41,126
Louisiana Lafayette Sun Belt 25 24 547,568 22,815 40,072 25 45,751
LSU SEC 26 23 537,066 23,351 45,797 25 54,118
Marshall Sun Belt 23 23 368,932 16,041 30,332 25 38,934
Maryland Big Ten 20 20 697,858 34,893 65,294 25 66,762
Massachusetts MAC 18 17 538,994 31,706 59,521 25 59,759
Miami of Ohio MAC 19 16 670,405 41,900 50,811 25 64,426
Michigan Big Ten 25 22 985,746 44,807 86,131 25 82,277
Michigan State Big Ten 24 23 697,737 30,336 64,830 25 65,563
Minnesota Big Ten 20 18 661,405 36,745 51,913 25 57,074
Mississippi SEC 26 26 626,299 24,088 55,220 25 47,267
Mississippi State SEC 22 23 675,265 29,359 53,993 25 47,748
Missouri State CUSA 20 21 356,293 16,966 32,353 25 36,642
Nebraska Big Ten 27 25 663,570 26,543 44,411 25 47,968
Nevada MW 20 26 453,085 17,426 49,244 25 48,512
New Mexico MW 28 25 571,859 22,874 50,539 25 50,843
New Mexico State CUSA 23 22 349,316 15,878 39,619 25 44,898
North Carolina ACC 26 22 662,325 30,106 45,931 25 60,040
North Carolina State ACC 24 22 587,563 26,707 44,314 25 51,635
North Dakota State Summit League 21 21 344,115 16,386 29,892 25 29,416
North Texas American 22 20 391,384 19,569 29,869 25 41,452
Northern Illinois Horizon League 24 24 332,018 13,834 33,988 25 41,057
Ohio MAC 21 19 395,473 20,814 41,249 25 42,884
Ohio State Big Ten 24 19 683,376 35,967 60,509 25 59,528
Oklahoma SEC 22 26 1,037,942 39,921 60,504 25 61,770
Oklahoma State Big 12 25 26 406,147 15,621 39,353 25 47,320
Oregon Big Ten 23 23 744,706 32,379 65,586 25 66,531
Oregon State Pac-12 22 21 618,077 29,432 46,740 25 59,135
Penn State Big Ten 21 16 678,944 42,434 63,133 25 62,884
Purdue Big Ten 24 22 632,819 28,765 50,795 25 47,044
Rutgers Big Ten 20 19 830,616 43,717 71,187 25 59,000
Sam Houston State CUSA 23 23 329,943 14,345 31,587 25 40,576
San Diego State Pac-12 24 23 476,458 20,716 44,937 25 47,704
South Florida American 27 26 429,241 16,509 38,375 25 37,460
Southern Miss Sun Belt 30 30 325,334 10,844 31,345 25 27,180
Tennessee SEC 29 24 1,327,322 55,305 92,131 25 55,920
Texas SEC 20 19 419,483 22,078 49,964 25 66,681
Texas State Pac-12 26 24 431,345 17,973 37,058 25 42,200
Texas Tech Big 12 23 22 476,916 21,678 33,528 25 41,865
Toledo MAC 24 13 499,976 38,460 44,058 25 41,747
UCLA Big Ten 25 16 728,218 45,514 62,537 25 81,851
Utah Big 12 21 21 742,521 35,358 60,192 25 61,640
Utah State Pac-12 26 24 334,009 13,917 33,560 25 40,210
UTEP MW 23 25 485,186 19,407 40,479 25 37,226
UTSA American 23 23 382,241 16,619 34,328 25 45,598
Virginia ACC 23 22 756,431 34,383 75,988 25 84,446
Washington Big Ten 20 17 739,587 43,505 69,130 25 63,806
Western Kentucky CUSA 15 17 260,997 15,353 33,683 25 44,015
Western Michigan MAC 24 25 427,004 17,080 33,199 25 35,765
Wisconsin Big Ten 27 24 717,984 29,916 63,378 25 63,268
Average - 81 Schools 23 22 539,152 25,103 48,474 25 50,554
* These averages are for NCAA I public Universities for which we have compiled data from available reporting.
** Roster limits are 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.
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 programs offering less than the maximum awards allowed will likely be at a recruiting disadvantage to competitors who are fully funding their 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.
Number of US College Softball teams:
NCAA I teams represent about 19% of all US College softball teams. There are also many opportunities to play college softball at schools in other divisions and athletic associations:
Intercollegiate Softball
Programs 2025-26Total
MembersTotal
Teams
NCAA I 365 308
NCAA II 299 275
NCAA III 429 397
NAIA 226 190
NJCAA 433 346
CCCAA 104 72
Other Associations 136 57
Totals 1,992 1,645
Questions on our data? Contact us at: NIL-NCAA.com
Statistics compiled & edited by Patrick O’Rourke, CPA Washington, DC 
