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Money trail

Decision makers: who directs the money

19 people and organizations who control where college football money goes, grouped by role: what each controls, the money they direct, and the source. Names link to their quote pages where the archive has them.

Conferences

Jim Phillips

Commissioner, ACC; Chair, NCAA Board of Governors (through Aug 2027)

Controls: ACC media/CFP distributions; NCAA top governing board
Money directed: ACC FY2025 revenue $826.5M; comp ~ $4.1M

Sources: [SP107] [SP114] [M-S52] · 2 quote entries

Greg Sankey

Commissioner, SEC

Controls: SEC distributions, ESPN contract, CFP Management Committee (29% CFP share); exploring PE with Goldman Sachs
Money directed: SEC FY2025 revenue $1.11B; $72.4M avg per school; comp $4.22M (FY24)

CONFLICT Sportico reported $4.27M for a period comparable to Yormark's FY23 vs SEC FY23 $3.55M (different reporting periods)

Sources: [SP112] [SP117] [M-S52] [M-S53] [SP14] [M-S54] · 9 quote entries

Tony Petitti

Commissioner, Big Ten

Controls: Big Ten media deal (Fox/CBS/NBC $8.05B), in-house sponsorships, UC Investments private-capital proposal (paused)
Money directed: Big Ten FY2025 revenue $1.47B; comp $2.6M

Sources: [SP113] [SP1] [SP15] [SP16] [M-S52] · 4 quote entries

Brett Yormark

Commissioner, Big 12

Controls: Big 12 media deal ($2.28B), RedBird/Weatherford partnership, PayPal sponsorship
Money directed: Big 12 FY2025 revenue $610.9M; comp ~ $4.4M

Sources: [SP114] [SP117] [SP11] [SP13] [M-S52] · 3 quote entries

College Football Playoff

Mark Keenum

Chair, CFP Board of Managers (President, Mississippi State)

Controls: Sets CFP policy and budgets; approves revenue distribution
Money directed: CFP ESPN deal ~ $1.3B/yr (2026-31)

Sources: [SP109] [M-S54]

Rich Clark

Executive Director, College Football Playoff

Controls: CFP operations, sponsorship program (with Disney Advertising)
Money directed: ~ $1.3B/yr media revenue

Sources: [SP109]

NCAA and the College Sports Commission

Charlie Baker

President, NCAA

Controls: Runs NCAA national office; NCAA rules/enforcement, championships; lobbies Congress for SCORE-type federal law
Money directed: Personal comp $3.39M (CY2024); NCAA budget not compiled in this track

Sources: [SP108] · 3 quote entries

Bryan Seeley

CEO, College Sports Commission

Controls: Clears NIL deals >$600 via NIL Go; enforces House cap (~$20.5M 2025-26)
Money directed: NIL Go cleared $582.49M through Aug 31, 2026; CSC pay not disclosed

Sources: [SP110] [SP111] [M-S6] [M-S10]

Schools

Pete Bevacqua

Athletic Director, Notre Dame

Controls: NBC contract, Under Armour, ND independence
Money directed: NBC ~ $50M/yr (reported); ND CFP ~ $12M

Sources: [SP2] [SP3] [SP41] [M-S54] · 2 quote entries

Ross Bjork

Athletic Director, Ohio State

Controls: Learfield revenue-share MMR through 2036; Nike deal; stadium alcohol
Money directed: OSU athletics ~ $250M+ budget (see money S51)

Sources: [SP27] [M-S51] · 2 quote entries

Courts and lawyers

Judge Claudia Wilken

U.S. District Judge (N.D. Cal.), House v. NCAA

Controls: Approved $2.8B settlement and revenue-sharing framework
Money directed: $2.8B back pay over 10 yrs; ~ $20.5M/school cap

Sources: [M-S1]

Steve Berman

Co-lead plaintiffs' counsel (Hagens Berman), House settlement

Controls: Represents athletes; challenges CSC rulings
Money directed: Settlement fees (see money track)

Sources: [M-S1] · 1 quote entries

Congress and the White House

Sen. Ted Cruz

Chair, Senate Commerce Committee

Controls: Federal college-sports legislation (PCSA passed Senate 77-22, Sept 28, 2026)
Money directed: Legislative (no direct budget)

Sources: [M-S11] · 2 quote entries

Sen. Maria Cantwell

Ranking member, Senate Commerce

Controls: Negotiated PCSA terms
Money directed: Legislative

Sources: [M-S11] [M-S47] · 1 quote entries

Rep. Gus Bilirakis

Sponsor, SCORE Act (H.R. 4312)

Controls: House federal NIL bill
Money directed: Legislative

Sources: [SP115]

President Donald Trump

President of the United States

Controls: Executive order "Saving College Sports" (July 24, 2025); White House roundtable Mar 6, 2026
Money directed: Executive

Sources: [M-S74] [SP116] · 1 quote entries

Private capital and rights holders

Gerry Cardinale

Founder, RedBird Capital Partners

Controls: Big 12 commercial partnership (Collegiate Athletic Solutions); disclosure: RedBird is FOS primary investor
Money directed: Up to $30M credit line per Big 12 school; $12.5M to conference

Sources: [SP11] [SP13]

Jagdeep Singh Bachher

Chief Investment Officer, UC Investments

Controls: Proposed $2.4B for 10% of Big Ten Enterprises (paused)
Money directed: $2.4B proposal; valued BTE at $24B

Sources: [SP15] [SP16] [SP17]

Learfield / Playfly leadership (individuals not sourced)

MMR rights holders

Controls: Sell school sponsorships; run NIL arms
Money directed: Texas A&M-Playfly $515M; Learfield-TPG $1.8B-$2B

Sources: [SP24] [SP18]

Left out (no source attached): Cody Campbell; Network executives (ESPN's Jimmy Pitaro, Fox Sports' Eric Shanks, etc.). Network executives' roles were not verified with citations, so none are listed. Disclosure: RedBird Capital is Front Office Sports' main investor, and FOS is cited for Big 12/RedBird facts [SP11] [SP12].