What wins college football championships? A potent defense? An explosive offense? In the era of name, image and likeness, it is money.

Lots of it.

It can cost as much as $10.5 million for a title-contending starting offense and defense in the new Power Four conferences. The big-ticket item, of course, lines up behind the center.

A blue-chip quarterback in a Power Four conference — schools like Alabama, Michigan and Washington — can expect to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars annually through name, image and likeness, or N.I.L., deals. A quarterback in the Southeastern Conference can bring in more than $1 million, on average.

How much top-earning football players make in a year

Expected annual compensation for starting players in the Power Four conferences by position

Source: Opendorse. Data is based on N.I.L. transactions disclosed through or processed by Opendorse between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2024.

Note: To be included in the calculations players’ earnings must rank in the top 25 at their position. Specialist ($60,000) and Tight End ($140,000) positions are not labeled.

And that is merely an average. Ask the Texas Longhorns.

Quinn Ewers
$1.7 million

Texas

Their starter, Quinn Ewers, has N.I.L. deals worth nearly $2 million annually, according to the website On3, which tracks deals for college athletes.

Arch Manning
$3.1 million

Texas

Arch Manning, his backup who hails from one of football’s royal families, has deals worth more than $3 million.

Carson Beck
$1.4 million

Georgia

Georgia’s quarterback, Carson Beck, brings in enough that he recently bought a Lamborghini that retails for $270,000.

Between the cash pouring into athletic programs via collectives — a fancy name for boosters who funnel much of the N.I.L. money to players — and more lenient transfer rules, a sort of eBay to buy athletes has been created, transforming how powerhouse teams are built.

“It’s whoever wants to pay, the most money raised, the most money to buy the most players, is going to have the best opportunity to win,” Nick Saban, the recently retired football coach at the University of Alabama, told Congress in March.

But how do athletes, coaches and administrators determine the going rates? Many consult the Black Book, a kind of Zillow for college sports, which details an athlete’s expected annual earnings, and, in the case of sports like football and men’s and women’s basketball, even breaking them down by position and conference.

A series of three proportional area charts related to the N.I.L market. The first square shows the overall size of the N.I.L. market, the second shows that 80 percent of the market is made up by donor groups known as collectives and the third shows that only 30 percent of the market is publicly disclosed.

Opendorse, the company behind the Black Book, projects around $1.7 billion in transactions in the N.I.L. market this year.

Of that, 80 percent will come through collectives like Texas’ Team One Foundation and the Classic City Collective at the University of Georgia. But even that is an incomplete picture of a rapidly changing N.I.L. frontier awash with money.

There is no universal requirement for athletes to disclose how much they are being paid. Less than a third of the money that student athletes are making is publicly known, according to Opendorse.

Still, the Black Book is a must have for university collectives and collegiate athletic officials, as well as the lawyers involved in House v. N.C.A.A., an antitrust case in which the Black Book and all Opendorse data from 2016 through 2022 were subpoenaed. The sides recently agreed to a $2.8 billion settlement.

If a federal judge approves it, schools will be allowed to set aside around $20 million per year, beginning in the fall of 2025, to pay athletes. (The proposal also calls for a program by which athletes’ N.I.L. deals could be reviewed.)

The Black Book, copies of which were obtained by The New York Times, shows that, even as football remains the dominant sport financially, sports like women’s basketball have become increasingly lucrative. In her final season at the University of Iowa, Caitlin Clark sold out arenas, increased television ratings and had sponsorship deals valued at $3 million.

Clark may have been the sport’s unicorn, but title-contending programs are expected to spend more than $730,000 on their starting five, with guards being the most valued at $225,000.

The N.I.L. era has also created a new generation of entrepreneurs and given them a more concrete sense of their earning potential. For instance, Alex Glover, a star volleyball player who recently concluded her career at Southern Methodist University, made more than $100,000 from sponsors who wanted to be associated with her Instagram video series, called “Day-In-The-Life of a D1 Volleyballer.”

Livvy Dunne
$3.9 million

L.S.U.

Olivia Dunne, a gymnast at Louisiana State University, has become something of a celebrity in recent years. Dunne, who goes by Livvy, has leveraged a large social media following — she has over five million followers on Instagram — to notch deals with major brands like Nautica and Vuori.

Paige Bueckers
$1.4 million

Connecticut

Paige Bueckers, a standout basketball star at the University of Connecticut, similarly has millions of followers on social media and has signed N.I.L. deals with Nike, Gatorade and Verizon.

The top N.I.L. earners in women’s gymnastics usually make around $20,000 annually, about 10 times as much as their male counterparts, according to data from Opendorse. Besides the major men’s sports — football, basketball and baseball — collegiate female athletes typically earn more than male athletes in the same sport.

How men’s and women’s annual earnings compare in smaller sports

Expected annual compensation in select Olympic sports

Source: Opendorse. Data is based on N.I.L. transactions disclosed through or processed by Opendorse between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2024.

Note: To be included in the calculations, players’ expected annual earnings must rank in at least the top 50 at their position. The Track/Cross Country category includes athletes in track and field.

“By nature, athletes are disciplined and purpose-driven,” said Blake Lawrence, the co-founder of Opendorse. “What has been really cool to see is how many athletes on our platform, especially the women, lean into the opportunities to be creative and build a brand. They don’t want to get paid just for going to practice and games.”

Lawrence, a former starting linebacker at the University of Nebraska, began Opendorse in 2012 to help his former teammate Prince Amukamara monetize his brand after he entered the N.F.L. as a first-round draft pick with the New York Giants. Lawrence understood the commitment required of college athletes and anticipated that the pay-to-play model was coming sooner rather than later. More than a decade on, some 150,000 athletes have used his platform to grow their name, image and likeness revenues.

The company compiles its numbers based on previous N.I.L. marketing deals signed by a large cross section of football and basketball players and competitors in the so-called nonrevenue Olympic sports. Clients that pay for the information include university athletic departments, their collectives and athlete agencies.

“I know what it takes to be an athlete and wanted to create something like Expedia or Zillow that took the mystery out of getting good value and putting that power in the hands of athletes,” said Lawrence, who offers tutorials on topics like marketing and pay benchmarks on his Instagram feed. “This is all new to them. I see six contracts a second and want them armed with information to make what could be life-changing decisions.”

Like the American economy, college sports have a hierarchy, and its “1 percenters” are the so-called Power conferences like the SEC and the Big Ten.

How the Power Four conferences compare

Expected annual compensation for starting players in each conference by position

Source: Opendorse. Data is based on N.I.L. transactions disclosed through or processed by Opendorse between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2024.

Note: To be included in the calculations players’ earnings must rank in the top 10 at their position.

The expected annual N.I.L. compensation for a top-10-earning football player at any position is $216,000 for the Big Ten and $565,000 in the SEC, which is more than three times the annual earnings of $159,000 in the Big 12.

The SEC’s stature is even more pronounced this year. The former Big 12 powerhouses Texas and Oklahoma have joined the conference, which is made up of state universities that have long taken football seriously and invested heavily in athletics. The top-10-earning SEC players at every position — except for tight ends and specialists — earn more annually on average than players in any other Power Four conference. A running back in the SEC can now expect to make about half a million dollars, almost as much as a Big 12 quarterback. Offensive and defensive linemen in the SEC do even better, tallying upward of $700,000.

For the smaller, so-called Group of Five conferences, which include Conference USA and the Mountain West, the new N.I.L. environment puts football championships even further out of reach. The average value of top 25 players at any position at schools such as Liberty (part of Conference USA) or Boise State (in the Mountain West) is just under $50,000.

The money is lucrative in the top tier of men’s and women’s basketball, as well: A starting five of top-25-earning men’s basketball players costs about $3.3 million, with forwards on the top of the pay scale making around $750,000. And while women’s basketball earnings are comparatively much lower, top-level women’s players have had substantial growth since last year, with pay across all positions up by $30,000.

How much top-earning basketball players make

Expected annual compensation for players, on average, by position

Source: Opendorse. Data is based on N.I.L. transactions disclosed through or processed by Opendorse between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2024.

Note: To be included in the calculations players’ earnings must rank in the top 25 at their position.

Even better for basketball stars? With their faces and personalities in full view during games, it is easier for them to enhance revenues beyond collective money through sponsorship partnerships with national brands.

This new market allowed Armando Bacot, who played at the University of North Carolina, to remain in college last season and begin work on a master’s degree in business. His partnerships with the Opendorse clients Dunkin and Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes, as well as others with regional and local companies, have made him a multimillionaire.

Many star players like Bacot are now forgoing the ritual of leaving school after just a year or two to enter the N.B.A. Instead of jumping (ready or not) into the draft in search of riches, more players are choosing the ample N.I.L. pay and more time to work on their games and degrees. (Bacot went undrafted and signed with the Utah Jazz this summer.)

“With more and more veteran guys staying in school longer, it’s going to be harder and harder for freshmen to get big minutes, because coaches would rather have veterans,” said Daniel Hennes, the chief executive of Engage, which represents college basketball stars like Bacot in N.I.L. deals. “So, underclassmen will stay in school longer, and the draft will get older and older. In a lot of ways, that’s good for everyone.”

Mike Boynton is among the many college coaches who are not so sure. He brought the future N.B.A. star Cade Cunningham to Oklahoma State with four years of shoe leather. He outworked more accomplished rivals with national titles on their résumés with the promise of doing right by the young star.

“I can’t work that hard anymore,” said Boynton, now an assistant at the University of Michigan. “Not when you can say, ‘Hey, here’s $500,000 to come spend nine months over here.’”

Big sports still pay big money …

… but athletes in the so-called nonrevenue sports are finding increased earnings, too.

Source: Opendorse. Data is based on N.I.L. transactions disclosed through or processed by Opendorse between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2024.

Note: To be included in the calculations, players’ expected annual earnings must rank in the top 25 at their position. The Track/Cross Country category includes athletes in track and field.

For many athletes — those who aren’t top stars in the marquee sports — the N.I.L. era is different, though no less exciting. Zoe Ledet, a 19-year-old sprinter at West Virginia State University, joined TikTok in 2020, at the height of Covid-era teenage boredom. She said she quickly amassed a following for “funny skits, hair care, you know, relatable stuff” and now has 1.7 million followers on the platform and nearly 300,000 on Instagram. Still, Ledet never thought brands would be interested in working with her as an athlete.

“I knew that big track athletes like Sha’Carri could get deals with Nike, but I didn’t know there were smaller deals to be had,” said Ledet, referring to the Olympic sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson.

Zoe Ledet
$3,500

West Virginia State

Last year, during her freshman season, Ledet was approached by B.E. Collective+, an organization that supports student athletes from historically Black colleges and universities in the N.I.L. market. She signed with the group and had N.I.L. deals worth about $3,500 in her first year.

For Ledet, those earnings aren’t life-changing money, but she has been able to use platforms like the BE Collective+ and Opendorse to gain a better sense of her value in the new marketplace. Her followers now ask her to post more about track and to share videos from meets, content that she hopes will in turn lead to more N.I.L. deals.

“There are a lot of athletes bigger than me, of course, but N.I.L. has allowed athletes like me to widen our platform and get more recognition, too,” she said.

Look up expected annual N.I.L. earnings by sport

Sport Position Div. Expected annual earnings
Football Football Quarterback SEC $1,043,252
Football Football Quarterback Power 4 $819,020
Football Football Offensive line SEC $779,288
Football Football Defensive line SEC $756,497
M. Basketball Men’s basketball Forward NCAA DI $749,201
Football Football Wide receiver SEC $705,554
M. Basketball Men’s basketball Guard NCAA DI $636,472
M. Basketball Men’s basketball All NCAA DI $630,796
Football Football Wide receiver Power 4 $614,561
Football Football Linebacker SEC $584,629
Football Football All SEC $565,380
Football Football Offensive line Power 4 $554,294
Football Football Defensive back SEC $549,452
M. Basketball Men’s basketball Center NCAA DI $506,717
Football Football Defensive line Power 4 $465,381
Football Football Quarterback Big 12 $459,458
Football Football Running back SEC $436,617
Football Football Linebacker Power 4 $436,432
Football Football All Power 4 $418,487
Football Football Defensive back Power 4 $406,259
Football Football Quarterback A.C.C. $385,000
Football Football Quarterback Big Ten $377,109
Football Football Running back Power 4 $341,156
Football Football Wide receiver Big Ten $328,893
Football Football Offensive line Big Ten $322,002
Football Football Wide receiver A.C.C. $317,823
Football Football Offensive line A.C.C. $282,400
W. Basketball Women’s basketball Guard NCAA DI $225,940
Football Football Running back Big Ten $220,983
Football Football Defensive line A.C.C. $220,821
Football Football All Big Ten $216,471
Football Football Defensive line Big Ten $196,548
Football Football All A.C.C. $192,365
Football Football Running back Big 12 $185,363
Football Football Linebacker Big Ten $177,467
Football Football Tight end SEC $169,993
Football Football Defensive back Big Ten $168,770
Football Football Defensive back Big 12 $164,604
Football Football All Big 12 $159,353
Football Football Running back A.C.C. $158,794
Football Football Linebacker Big 12 $152,978
Football Football Tight end Power 4 $143,920
W. Basketball Women’s basketball All NCAA DI $130,515
Football Football Linebacker A.C.C. $129,700
Football Football Wide receiver Big 12 $126,880
Football Football Offensive line Big 12 $114,274
Football Football Defensive back A.C.C. $111,029
Football Football Defensive line Big 12 $109,030
W. Basketball Women’s basketball Forward NCAA DI $101,691
Football Football Tight end A.C.C. $98,011
Football Football Tight end Big Ten $97,679
Football Football Tight end Big 12 $90,941
Baseball Baseball All NCAA DI $72,324
W. Basketball Women’s basketball Center NCAA DI $65,066
Football Football Specialist Big Ten $58,341
Football Football Specialist Power 4 $55,770
Football Football Specialist SEC $54,887
Football Football Specialist Big 12 $40,713
Football Football Specialist A.C.C. $27,706
M. Golf Men’s golf All NCAA DI $23,101
W. Gymnastics Women’s gymnastics All NCAA DI $20,857
Wrestling Wrestling All NCAA DI $18,153
M. Track/cross country Men’s track/cross country All NCAA DI $17,940
M. Track/cross country Women’s track/cross country All NCAA DI $13,988
W. Swimming/diving Women’s swimming/diving All NCAA DI $13,519
W. Soccer Women’s soccer All NCAA DI $12,292
Softball Softball All NCAA DI $11,422
W. Volleyball Women’s volleyball All NCAA DI $10,645
W. Golf Women’s golf All NCAA DI $8,059
W. Tennis Women’s tennis All NCAA DI $5,904
M. Lacrosse Men’s lacrosse All NCAA DI $5,780
M. Soccer Men’s soccer All NCAA DI $5,048
M. Swimming/diving Men’s swimming/diving All NCAA DI $4,462
W. Lacrosse Women’s lacrosse All NCAA DI $4,378
M. Tennis Men’s tennis All NCAA DI $4,150
W. Ice hockey Women’s ice hockey All NCAA DI $3,556
M. Ice hockey Men’s ice hockey All NCAA DI $3,518
M. Gymnastics Men’s gymnastics All NCAA DI $2,282
Field hockey Field hockey All NCAA DI $1,244
Rowing Rowing All NCAA DI $1,035
Bowling Bowling All NCAA DI $658
M. Volleyball Men’s volleyball All NCAA DI $488
Rifle Rifle All NCAA DI $161
Fencing Fencing All NCAA DI $138

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Source: Opendorse. Data is based on N.I.L. transactions disclosed through or processed by Opendorse between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2024.

Note: To be included in the calculations, players’ expected annual earnings must rank in at least the top 50 at their position. The Track/Cross Country category includes athletes in track and field.

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