Athletes on college football playoff teams are earning large amounts of NIL money

Original 12 college football rosters for playoff teams were worth more than most other teams across the country. Media and technology company On3 estimates that the 12 listings together accounted for about $150 million.

“What’s happened over the years is more and more money has come to those universities,” said Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.

Tuberville, who is also a former college football coach, has a law he wants to get rid of what some claim is an uneven playing field.

“The problem was that in 2021 the Supreme Court said, ‘OK, we see this lawsuit and we agree with the athletes. They have to be able to make money off the name, the image and the character,'” Tuberville said. “It went downhill from there. And there were no rules. It was just the wild, wild west.”

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Schools where football players make huge amounts of money seem to be NOTHING successful on the field. Most of the teams that qualified for the College Football Playoff also had some of the most highly regarded rosters.

“There’s a class within a class of schools across the country that have the best infrastructure, the best systems, the best fundraising, the best business deals involved,” said Rob Sine, CEO of Blueprint Sports, an agency that oversees several collegiate or donor groups around the country. “They’d build a collective, they’d get a bunch of really rich people together and build a budget and help support their coach for the sport they like best.”

Schools that took early advantage of the formation of collectives and those with an already large supplementary education system managed to progress.

“Football is really the only big-money sport in intercollegiate athletics. Next is basketball, maybe a little bit of baseball,” Auburn men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl said. “The vast majority of NIL money goes and will go to money-making sports. And as a result, our Olympic sports are absolutely at risk.”

The 2024 season had even bigger stakes with the first extended playoff season. The 13-member College Football Playoff Selection Committee ranks the top 25 teams. Twelve schools earned playoff spots, but not all of them were among the top 12 ranked teams. The pool automatically awarded spots to the five winners of the conference championship games, which had the highest ranking among the nine major conferences. It included Atlantic Coast ConferenceBig 10, Big 12 and Southeastern Conference from the Power Four. The Group of Five conferences were also acceptable. These include the American Athletic Conference, Conference USA, Mid-American Conference, Mountain West Conference and Sun Belt Conference.

Power Four conference schools traditionally have larger budgets and television viewership revenues than other college sports programs. A team from each of the Power Four conferences earned a spot in the playoffs. Boise State of the Mountain West was the only team to qualify among the 62 schools in the Group of Five conferences. The team also has the most valuable roster in NIL money of any of the other 62 schools.

“Different programs that have stepped up and made a big impact,” Sine said. “Right now, money is driving college athletics, and schools are looking at ‘Where can I have the best opportunity to grow.'”

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In the 2024 season, several teams switched conferences for access to more money and stronger competition. Southern Methodist University moved from the American to the ACC and ended up losing to Clemson in the conference championship game. Clemson has the most NIL money among ACC teams. Despite being ranked 16th, the team clinched a playoff spot by winning the ACC Championship game. The Tigers ended up losing in the first round of the playoffs to Texas. SMU also made the playoffs, but lost in the first round to Penn State.

“It’s about opportunity. You’re also starting to see a lot of talk about what could be a Super League or two. And you start to notice a lot of jockeying going on for, ‘Hey, I want to be there,'” Sine said.

Oklahoma and Texas moved to the SEC. Texas lost the championship game to Georgia, but will play Big 12 champion Arizona State in the second round of the playoffs. SEC teams have had some of the most respected rosters. Georgia was among the teams with the most NIL money overall. Texas has the most expensive roster and is also projected to have one of the best recruiting classes for the 2025-26 season.

“We were late to the party and compensated our student-athletes appropriately. We’re there now. We just have to somehow find a way to make it work for everyone,” Pearl said. “I think we need federal help so that every state isn’t doing their own thing and we’re not going to have a true NCAA champion.”

Oregon won the Big Ten Championship game and went undefeated all season. The Ducks were originally part of the Pac-12, which disbanded with teams joining the ACC, Big 10 and Big 12. Oregon will face another Big Ten member in the second round of the playoffs, the Ohio State Buckeyes. While Oregon has the better record, Ohio State tops the Big Ten in NIL money.

Arizona State is another former member of the Pac-12. It moved to the Big 12 for the 2024-2025 season. The Sun Devils won the Big 12 Championship game and received an automatic playoff bid. However, their roster was not the most expensive in the conference. Colorado players received the most money. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders is also rated as the highest paid NIL athlete in the country. He is the son of Colorado’s head coach and a former two-time NFL-MLB athlete Deion Sanders.

“There’s been an elite group of athletes from day one. They’ve always risen to the top and they’ve always made the most money because they bring a lot more star power than necessarily the rest of the team, or they’ve spent a long time building their brand,” Sine said.

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Blueprint Sports oversees the 5430 Alliance collective in Colorado. Although the team didn’t clinch a playoff spot, high-caliber players are on the roster, including Sanders, who is projected to be a first-round draft pick. Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter also earned recognition and millions in the NIL by playing nearly every snap for the team as a wide receiver on offense and cornerback on defense.

“There are star athletes that have agencies behind them that make big deals with them. There are up-and-coming athletes, and then there are athletes that are, you know, happy to do anything from a NOTHING standpoint,” Sine said.

Collectives have helped some playoff schools sign big contracts. Ohio’s 1870 Company has a partnership with the Giant Eagle supermarket chain. Nike co-founder Phil Knight launched Oregon’s Division Street Collective. Tennessee running back Nico Lamaleava signed an $8 million contract from Spyre Sports before he ever signed with the Volunteers.

“I think the red flag is that a lot of money is being paid to high school seniors going into varsity athletics who have never played a minute of a varsity sport before, and you have no idea what I’m going to get,” Sine said.

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The Texas One Fund combines five separate NIL entities and is considered the richest in the country. He provided quarterback Quinn Ewers with a private jet and each offensive lineman a $50,000-a-year scholarship.

“What we want to do is just try to make sure that everybody has that opportunity to get whatever they can get. But when you take the money, you have to sign a contract, and then you have to be committed to that contract,” said Tuberville. “I know for a fact that some universities bring in Lamborghinis and Corvettes and put them on [them] in front of their office building when they bring in those recruits. It has completely changed. That’s a lot of money. It’s minor league sports, what is it now.”