Awash in Cash. It’s Time to Share the Wealth.
OPENING STATEMENTS
OPENING STATEMENTS
As college sports continues and truly begins to realize this seismic shift, two things have really captured my thinking.
First, what is the purpose of college athletics? At its core, it’s supposed to be about opportunity, an extension of education that allows student-athletes to compete, develop, and grow in ways that shape their futures. It was never meant to be a zero-sum game, or where teams almost completely mimic their professional counterparts.
Second, schools sure seemed to find ways to raise money quickly when they needed it. New partnerships, new structures, new revenue models. The cap dictated by the courts now seems to be something of a floor, as schools use partnerships for above-cap compensation. We’ve seen an unprecedented flood of cash pour into athletic departments - and it’s just beginning. The Washington Post reporter Jesse Dougherty illuminated that in his story Thursday titled “The great college sports revenue hunt,” in which it seems that everything is for sale. That tells me one thing: the claim that some schools “can’t afford” to support all sports at reasonable levels is a myth.
What matters now is being intentional. Without real guardrails, we risk falling into the familiar cycle, highlighted this week by Scott Dochterman and Sam Khan Jr., of competitive spending, inflated salaries, facility upgrades, and other expenses that don’t center on the athlete.
If the new financial model is here to stay, then we shouldn’t just maintain opportunities for all student-athletes, we should expand them. We need to take this new money and reinvest it in ways that create opportunity. Here are nine ideas that would help make that happen:
Share the Wealth. Further embrace the rampant professional model with revenue distribution. Power conference schools and their new nonprofit collective arms should earmark 10-15% of all new revenue, from TV deals, NIL, sponsorships, etc., for the NCAA to distribute broadly, ensuring opportunities at all schools.
Create an Equity Fund for Non-Revenue Sports. Allocate about 10% of new revenue streams into a dedicated pool supporting non-revenue and women's sports, aligning resources with broad-based opportunities and Title IX requirements.
Guarantee No Sport Gets Cut. Commit to no program elimination, especially for women’s and Olympic sports. Conferences could write this into revenue-sharing agreements. This protects sports that deliver opportunity at a fraction of the cost of a football facility upgrade.
Set a Participation Growth Target. Aim to increase roster spots in non-revenue and women’s sports by, say 10%, over five years to nurture talent and maintain diverse pipelines. This is about preserving the pipeline for sports like wrestling, rowing, and gymnastics that still produce Olympians and life-changing experiences. Title IX’s “substantial proportionality” test should guide how schools expand, ensuring female participation grows in step with male participation.
Build Permanent Endowments. With tens of millions flowing in, allocate a portion to permanent endowments for non-revenue and women’s programs, and require full funding for every existing program. One-time windfalls can guarantee stability for decades.
Match NIL with a Baseline Commitment. Collectives are writing seven-figure deals for football stars. Fine. But require that every collective contribute a baseline amount, say $1 million per year, to support NIL opportunities for non-revenue sports athletes. This should be monitored for compliance with Title IX’s “equal treatment” standard, which covers benefits beyond scholarships, such as publicity, equipment, and promotion. Furthermore, encourage cross-sport partnerships for brands that can be good for equity, great for storytelling.
Invest in Coaches and Support Staff Across All Sports. Quality coaching is foundational to opportunity. While we don’t need parity with football salaries, schools should ensure competitive pay and resources for coaches in every sport, so athletes in tennis or gymnastics have access to high-quality coaching and development.
Equalize Marketing Budgets and Resources. Provide women’s and non-revenue teams the same level of marketing budgets, media exposure, and promotional support as football and basketball. Title IX covers publicity and promotion as part of “equal treatment,” yet this area often reveals stark inequities that new funding can correct.
Expand Access Through Community Programs. Use new funds to support youth and community development initiatives in underrepresented sports and areas, creating opportunities well before college.
This is a moment of choice. New money can harden existing inequities, or it can be used to build something closer to the mission college athletics claims to serve. Schools have proven they can raise money quickly when the stakes are high. The stakes have never been higher for the future of opportunity in college sports. Let’s make sure this new era doesn’t just enrich a few; it should elevate the many.
EXHIBIT A
We’re starting to get a clearer picture of how some schools plan to divvy up their $20.5 million, and it was encouraging this week to hear Northwestern athletic director Mark Jackson highlight women’s volleyball as a priority.
“The one that’s out there that’s right in front of us is volleyball. Volleyball stands out as the fastest-growing sport in America,” Jackson said. He also noted goals to invest in and compete for championships across other women’s sports like lacrosse, field hockey, and golf—all of which have claimed national titles in recent years.
This speaks directly to the idea I’ve raised before: schools strategically investing in specific sports to prioritize and dominate. It’s an exciting opportunity, particularly for women athletes who historically have received less investment. At the same time, it can be a flashpoint. Concentrating resources in just a few programs risks creating a hierarchy where only certain athletes benefit from the new revenue-sharing era. Investment in women’s sports like volleyball is promising, but it must be paired with a commitment to equity and sustainability, ensuring every athlete has the resources and protections they deserve.
EXHIBIT B
I enjoyed The Athletic story this week about how student-athletes are using their NIL money. As you can imagine, there are a lot of cars, clothes, hobbies, and investments. But my favorite story probably came earlier this year about Iowa State’s Rocco Becht donating video game consoles to every pediatric room at Mary Greeley Medical Center in Ames, Iowa.
ON THE DOCKET
Utah football coach Kyle Whittingham spoke succinctly this week during his Monday press conference, suggesting that college football needs the same structure as the NFL. “Multi-year contracts. I think there’s some merit to that, but I think somehow you’ve got to get to the point where, again, I say a minor league NFL model, not technically, but theoretically just the same type of setup, same structure, salary cap. With it will probably come a union, players’ union, all that. What we do right now is not sustainable, I don’t believe it is, personally, so they’ve got to figure out a way to get some sanity to the whole thing.”
It may be making its way there. Two bills were introduced last month in the Michigan legislature, one recognizing student-athletes as employees and the other eliminating third-party interference that limits their earning potential.
FOOTNOTES
$1.9 billion.
The amount college football players are collectively projected to earn this year, according to NIL data platform Opendorse, nearly doubles the figure from 2024.
