NIL & revenue sharing

Summary. NIL began on July 1, 2021, after the Supreme Court's unanimous Alston ruling and the NCAA's interim policy [S75]. For its first four years it was mostly booster-funded "collectives," which were effectively pay-for-play. The House v. NCAA settlement (final approval June 6, 2025) changed that [S1]. Schools can now pay athletes directly up to a cap: about $20.5M per school in 2025-26, rising 4% a year, which puts 2026-27 at about $21.3M [S2][S20]. Deals from third parties connected to a school ("associated entities") must now be cleared by the College Sports Commission (CSC) through its NIL Go system.

The cap has not held down spending. Top football rosters now cost $40-50M because schools stack revenue-share money on top of "commercial" NIL [S22][S23][S20]. The $2.8B in back damages is frozen by Ninth Circuit appeals [S4][S5]. Federal legislation passed the Senate on Sept. 28, 2026, but its path in the House is uncertain [S11][S12].

Market size

These are Opendorse's own extrapolations from its platform data. They are not an audited market total, and no independent total is available.

House v. NCAA settlement terms

College Sports Commission / NIL Go (how deals are reviewed)

Deals over $600 are submitted to NIL Go, which Deloitte runs [S76]. For deals with "associated entities" (collectives, boosters, school partners), the CSC checks two things: a "valid business purpose" and whether pay falls within a "reasonable range of compensation." Starting July 2026, deals of $600-$15,000 skip the range review until an athlete's associated-entity deals reach $50K in a year [S9]. Disputes go to binding arbitration. In the first test, the arbitrator upheld the CSC's rejection of Nebraska players' deals with Playfly (worth >$1M combined), [S10].

Top reported player pay (2026)

Figures are from On3's deal-based model (since July 1, 2026) or reported by CBS and USA Today from anonymous industry sources. None are verified contracts.

Collectives

Collectives were the main pay channel from 2021 to 2025. Opendorse estimates collective spending of ~$1.3B in 2024-25, projected to fall to ~$227M in 2025-26 as schools take over paying players [S19]. Nonprofit collectives were hit by a May 2023 IRS memo and have closed or dissolved [S68].

Federal, legal and state developments (2025-2026)

• Protect College Sports Act (Cruz-Cantwell) passed the Senate 77-22 on Sept. 28, 2026 [S11][S15]. It includes one penalty-free transfer, a five-year eligibility limit, a limited antitrust exemption, and a larger rev-share pool including up to $5M for women's and Olympic sports. The Congressional Black Caucus and NAACP oppose it, and House Republicans want an explicit ban on employee status [S15][S13]. The House isn't back until Nov. 9. The bill dies if not law by Jan. 3, and CNBC reports House action is unlikely before the lame-duck session [S12][S15]. CBS News described the vote as happening on "Thursday"; the official Senate release is dated Monday, Sept. 28 [S11].
• SCORE Act (House): pulled in Dec 2025 after a 210-209 procedural vote, and pulled again in May 2026 after Congressional Black Caucus opposition [S12][S14].
• Johnson v. NCAA (athletes as employees): the Third Circuit (July 11, 2024) held athletes may be employees under the FLSA [S16]. The case is back in E.D. Pa., a renewed class-certification bid was filed Oct 2025, and the NCAA refuses to settle [S17][S18].
• Executive order "Saving College Sports" (July 24, 2025): bars third-party pay-for-play and says rev-share should protect women's and non-revenue sports. The White House fact sheet claims some programs spend ">$50 million per year" on rosters [S74].
• States: Tennessee SB 536 (effective July 1, 2025) lets schools bypass House rules and bars NCAA penalties [S77]. Seven state AGs attacked the CSC's participation agreement (Dec 2025), which needs all 68 P4 schools to sign [S76]. Tennessee v. NCAA (Feb 2024 injunction) lifted the ban on NIL recruiting inducements [S78].

Summary. Most public schools refuse to release their payrolls, citing FERPA or trade secrets [S26]. What has come out shows two things. P4 schools spend up to the cap, and football takes most of the money. North Carolina and UCLA are examples [S24][S25]. Small D-I schools spend a small fraction of that; Louisiana schools spent between $454K and $1.98M [S26].

Actual football payrolls come from both school rev-share and outside NIL. Anonymous-source reporting now puts them at $40-50M at the top of P4 and about $10-11M at the top of G6 [S22][S23]. Title IX limits on how rev-share is divided are unsettled. The Education Department rescinded proportionality guidance in Feb 2025 [S27], but appeals and expected lawsuits challenge the male-heavy splits [S5].

School allocations (reported)

Football roster payrolls (all sources combined; anonymous estimates)

Title IX. The Biden-era guidance (Dec 2024) treated rev-share as athletic aid that must be proportional. It was rescinded on Feb. 12, 2025 [S27]. ESPN reported many schools planned to give women's sports less than 5% [S27]. The Title IX appeals of the damages allocation are pending [S5]. Separate gender-equity suits over rev-share are widely expected, but I found no ruling.