Football and Men’s basketball will account for close to 90% of revenue sharing payments at most Power Conference schools. The remaining 10% results in an average payout of around $ 4,306 per athlete in all other sports including softball:
Revenue Sharing Estimates
Power 4 Schools: 2026-27 *Revenue
Share %
Allocation
to Team ($)
# of eligible
Athletes *Average per
Athlete ($)
Football 75% 15,600,000 105 148,570
Men's Basketball 15% 3,120,000 15 208,000
All Other Sports 10% 2,080,000 483
4,306
2025-26 Average 100% 20,800,000 603
These are averages, a few athletes will receive much more, while most will receive less. These estimates are for revenue sharing payments only (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.
* In almost all cases, the maximum $ 21.3 million revenue sharing distribution for 2026-27 will be reduced by a $ 500,000 offset for additional scholarships. Eligible athletes are based on the new roster limits effective July 1, 2025.
Athletic scholarship limits removed for NCAA I Softball teams:
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 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 awardsAverage Player
Award 2025 ($)
Potential Player
Award 2026 ($)Roster
Limit **
Akron MAC 25 25 14,588 35,268 25
Alabama SEC 21 20 33,982 66,125 25
Albany Coastal 20 20 23,339 40,639 25
Appalachian State Sun Belt 25 21 13,549 32,108 25
Arizona Big 12 22 21 32,762 62,723 25
Arizona State Big 12 20 20 25,719 67,576 25
Arkansas SEC 22 22 36,030 50,376 25
Ball State MAC 25 25 17,219 39,029 25
Binghamton America East 18 17 20,004 41,763 25
Boise State Pac-12 24 22 27,436 44,202 25
Bowling Green MAC 25 22 13,504 36,359 25
Buffalo MAC 23 20 24,830 51,624 25
Cal Poly Big West 23 17 19,597 39,057 25
Cal State Bakersfield Big West 28 20 12,242 37,576 25
Cal State Northridge Big West 28 23 12,814 41,276 25
California ACC 23 21 30,248 69,819 25
Central Connecticut Northeast 29 23 13,209 33,720 25
Central Florida Big 12 22 34 15,284 43,593 25
Central Michigan MAC 24 18 16,436 31,628 25
Charlotte American 21 19 19,964 31,532 25
Clemson ACC 23 22 39,664 82,226 25
Cleveland State Horizon 18 10 8,141 36,462 25
Colorado State Pac-12 25 21 26,272 51,748 25
Connecticut Indep 19 18 30,433 48,203 25
Coppin State MEAC 14 14 12,556 25,700 25
Eastern Illinois OVC 22 20 13,039 31,882 25
Florida SEC 25 25 25,150 70,448 25
Florida Gulf Coast ASUN 23 20 14,501 41,040 25
Florida State ACC 21 20 20,668 39,706 25
Fresno State Pac-12 29 26 14,429 31,120 25
Georgia SEC 21 21 24,086 52,351 25
Georgia Southern Sun Belt 20 20 16,867 44,971 25
Georgia State Sun Belt 24 24 15,684 43,044 25
Grambling State SWAC 29 28 7,963 23,271 25
Hawaii MW 28 24 18,031 46,404 25
Houston Big 12 22 19 17,632 40,842 25
Illinois Big Ten 31 26 19,645 48,881 25
Illinois - Chicago MVC 22 21 24,564 47,031 25
Illinois State MVC 20 20 18,609 32,307 25
Indiana Big Ten 19 18 32,300 58,399 25
Iowa Big Ten 25 26 21,291 48,734 25
Iowa State Big 12 24 24 20,421 42,054 25
James Madison Sun Belt 25 24 21,427 45,615 25
Kansas Big 12 23 23 21,842 50,420 25
Kennesaw State CUSA 25 25 16,180 34,470 25
Kent State MAC 17 17 23,436 38,335 25
Lamar Southland 25 24 16,019 34,889 25
Long Beach State Big West 26 28 11,716 35,386 25
Louisiana Lafayette Sun Belt 25 24 22,815 40,072 25
Louisiana Monroe Sun Belt 23 23 13,876 29,145 25
LSU SEC 26 23 23,351 45,797 25
Marshall Sun Belt 23 23 16,041 30,332 25
Maryland Big Ten 20 20 34,893 65,294 25
Maryland Eastern Shore MEAC 20 19 10,539 31,685 25
Massachusetts MAC 18 17 31,706 59,521 25
McNeese State Southland 25 26 11,355 23,606 25
Miami of Ohio MAC 19 16 41,900 50,811 25
Michigan Big Ten 25 22 44,807 86,131 25
Michigan State Big Ten 24 23 30,336 64,830 25
Minnesota Big Ten 20 18 36,745 51,913 25
Mississippi SEC 26 26 24,088 55,220 25
Mississippi State SEC 22 23 29,359 53,993 25
Mississippi Valley State SWAC 19 18 4,972 17,663 25
Missouri SEC 24 26 21,258 53,321 25
Missouri - Kansas City Summit League 27 26 14,935 55,421 25
Missouri State CUSA 20 21 16,966 32,353 25
Montana Big Sky 21 19 16,753 44,116 25
Nebraska Big Ten 27 25 26,543 44,411 25
Nebraska - Omaha Summit League 23 23 15,558 35,794 25
Nevada MW 20 26 17,426 49,244 25
New Mexico MW 28 25 22,874 50,539 25
New Mexico State CUSA 23 22 15,878 39,619 25
Nicholls State Southland 24 23 8,874 23,829 25
Norfolk State MEAC 25 21 9,285 36,985 25
North Carolina ACC 26 22 30,106 45,931 25
North Carolina A&T Coastal 22 17 10,966 17,178 25
North Carolina State ACC 24 22 26,707 44,314 25
North Dakota Summit 32 28 14,409 32,145 25
North Dakota State MW 21 21 16,386 29,892 25
North Florida ASUN 23 22 9,738 33,951 25
North Texas American 22 20 19,569 29,869 25
Northern Illinois MW 24 24 13,834 33,988 25
Northern Iowa MVC 22 20 14,579 27,479 25
Northwestern State Southland 19 10 28,123 33,403 25
Oakland Horizon 22 18 20,640 38,281 25
Ohio MAC 21 19 20,814 41,249 25
Ohio State Big Ten 24 19 35,967 60,509 25
Oklahoma SEC 22 26 39,921 60,504 25
Oklahoma State Big 12 25 26 15,621 39,353 25
Oregon Big Ten 23 23 32,379 65,586 25
Oregon State Pac-12 22 21 29,432 46,740 25
Penn State Big Ten 21 16 42,434 63,133 25
Portland State Big Sky 24 22 17,787 37,085 25
Purdue Big Ten 24 22 28,765 50,795 25
Purdue Fort Wayne Horizon 18 18 9,013 30,857 25
Rhode Island Coastal 23 23 26,094 56,870 25
Rutgers Big Ten 20 19 43,717 71,187 25
Sacramento State MAC 26 24 14,986 32,240 25
Sam Houston State CUSA 23 23 14,345 31,587 25
San Diego State Pac-12 24 23 20,716 44,937 25
San Jose State MW 21 18 18,924 39,541 25
South Carolina SEC 27 21 41,892 66,856 25
South Dakota State Summit 33 25 12,441 22,911 25
South Florida American 27 26 16,509 38,375 25
Southeast Missouri State OVC 22 22 10,133 24,777 25
Southeastern Louisiana Southland 28 24 14,169 29,912 25
Southern SWAC 19 23 8,827 19,482 25
Southern Illinois MVC 22 25 12,704 31,341 25
Southern Miss Sun Belt 30 30 10,844 31,345 25
Southern Utah WAC 22 18 16,857 30,048 25
Stephen F. Austin Southland 26 26 11,261 36,588 25
Stony Brook Coastal 20 17 29,308 46,632 25
Tarleton State WAC 30 28 11,898 30,778 25
Tennessee SEC 29 24 55,305 92,131 25
Texas SEC 20 19 22,078 49,964 25
Texas A&M SEC 31 32 22,170 50,075 25
Texas A&M Corpus Christi Southland 27 27 10,460 29,695 25
Texas at Arlington WAC 25 25 14,705 38,061 25
Texas State Pac-12 26 24 17,973 37,058 25
Texas Tech Big 12 23 22 21,678 33,528 25
Toledo MAC 24 13 38,460 44,058 25
Towson Coastal 24 22 21,213 44,027 25
UC Davis Big West 22 18 21,496 45,210 25
UC San Diego Big West 25 25 15,517 47,033 25
UCLA Big Ten 25 16 45,514 62,537 25
UMBC America East 22 22 17,121 43,763 25
UNC Greensboro Southern 21 21 13,428 25,388 25
UNC Wilmington Coastal 28 24 8,645 27,869 25
UNLV MW 21 18 27,887 42,072 25
Utah Big 12 21 21 35,358 60,192 25
Utah State Pac-12 26 24 13,917 33,560 25
Utah Tech Big Sky 23 23 8,024 23,895 25
Utah Valley WAC 21 22 14,336 33,679 25
UTEP MW 23 25 19,407 40,479 25
UTSA American 23 23 16,619 34,328 25
Virginia ACC 23 22 34,383 75,988 25
Virginia Tech ACC 22 22 27,773 65,734 25
Washington Big Ten 20 17 43,505 69,130 25
Weber State Big Sky 25 25 14,829 30,328 25
Western Carolina Southern 21 19 11,279 20,932 25
Western Illinois OVC 24 21 13,415 27,154 25
Western Kentucky CUSA 15 17 15,353 33,683 25
Western Michigan MAC 24 25 17,080 33,199 25
Wichita State American 21 21 24,547 45,178 25
Winthrop Big South 23 17 7,820 46,367 25
Wisconsin Big Ten 27 24 29,916 63,378 25
Wisconsin - Green Bay Horizon 27 23 11,483 22,974 25
Youngstown State Horizon 21 21 12,284 26,045 25
Average - 148 Schools 23 22 $ 20,797 $ 42,638 25
These are potential increases as athletic scholarship awards are optional. Schools can fully fund a sport, or award less than the maximum allowed. While Football and Men’s basketball will receive close to 90% of revenue sharing payments at most FBS schools, conversely, about 90% of additional scholarship awards will go to athletes in Women’s and Men’s sports other than football and basketball.
* 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.
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 
