College FootballNFL · later
Home › Money trail
Money trail

Money trail

Follow college football's money from the people who pay (fans, advertisers, networks, donors, universities) to the people who get paid (conferences, schools, coaches, athletes), and see who decides where it goes. Every figure is dated and links to its source; calculated figures are marked calc and estimates est.

Who pays

Revenue by source, FY2005 vs FY2025, for 53 public P4 schools: sortable table and aggregate bars.

Flow chart

Networks to conferences to the CFP, revenue sources to athletic departments, advertisers to networks. Every band cited.

Who pays salaries

Coaches' pay, NIL money and the foundations behind buyouts.

Decision makers

19 people and organizations, grouped by role: what they control and the money they direct.

Key numbers

21% → 33%
FY2005 → FY2025
Media/conference/NCAA/bowl share of public P4 athletic revenue (calc, 52 schools) [M-S48]
29% → 17%
FY2005 → FY2025
Ticket share of the same revenue (calc) [M-S48]
$1.87B
FY2025
Coaches' compensation, 53 public P4 schools (calc) [M-S48]
$1.3B
per yr 2026-31
ESPN to the College Football Playoff, per year [SP1] [M-S54]
$859.9M
Sept 1-Nov 18, 2025
National TV college football ad revenue, top 7 networks (EDO) [SP89]
$582.49M
through Aug 31, 2026
NIL deals cleared by NIL Go [M-S6]

TV money at a glance

Annual averages of current contracts; CFP-to-conference amounts are calc. Hover a band for its year and source. Full flow chart and tables

Networks (ESPN/Fox/CBS/NBC) → Big Ten: $1.15B (per yr 2023-30 (avg)); $8.05B/7 yrs avg; CONFLICT $7B. Source: SP1 (click to open)ESPN/ABC → SEC: $710M (per yr 2024-34 (avg)); SBJ $7.1B/10 yrs. Source: SP1 (click to open)College Football Playoff → Big Ten: $377M (2026+ (calc 29% of $1.3B)); calc. Source: M-S54 (click to open)College Football Playoff → SEC: $377M (2026+ (calc 29% of $1.3B)); calc. Source: M-S54 (click to open)College Football Playoff → ACC: $221M (2026+ (calc 17%)); calc. Source: M-S54 (click to open)College Football Playoff → Big 12: $195M (2026+ (calc ~15%)); calc. Source: M-S54 (click to open)College Football Playoff → Notre Dame: $12M (2026+). Source: M-S54 (click to open)College Football Playoff → Group of 5: $117M (2026+ (calc 9%)); calc. Source: M-S54 (click to open)ESPN → College Football Playoff: $1.3B (per yr 2026-31). Source: SP1, M-S54 (click to open)ESPN → ACC: $240M (per yr (avg)). Source: SP1 (click to open)ESPN/Fox → Big 12: $380M (per yr 2025-31 (avg)). Source: SP1 (click to open)NBC → Notre Dame: $50M (per yr (reported)); reported, not disclosed. Source: SP3 (click to open)Networks (ESPN/Fox/CBS/NBC): $1.15BNetworks (ESPN/Fox/CBS/NBC)$1.15BESPN/ABC: $710MESPN/ABC$710MESPN: $1.54BESPN$1.54BESPN/Fox: $380MESPN/Fox$380MNBC: $50MNBC$50MCollege Football Playoff: $1.3BCollege Football Playoff $1.3BBig Ten: $1.53BBig Ten$1.53BSEC: $1.09BSEC$1.09BACC: $461MACC$461MBig 12: $575MBig 12$575MNotre Dame: $62MNotre Dame$62MGroup of 5: $117MGroup of 5$117M

Left out: Texas FY2025 revenue categories are left out: Knight-Newhouse shows Texas at a 10% media share and 49% donor share, far out of line with peers, and the research flags the category coding as likely wrong (for example SEC-entry money or foundation transfers). Texas FY2005 and FY2015 are shown. Private schools and Pitt report no revenue categories.