OT: Kentucky NIL is out of hand

[Zonepress]

Disgusting
Cap at 6000000 500 k x12
Free education and 1-2 mm is reasonable
I don’t mind kids making good money but there has to be curbs

 

[Zonepress]

why would u find it Disgusting!?

 

[bjc42]

That amount does surprise me. Ohio State spent about $20 million on their football team last year. And football has a lot more players and also I'm sure OSU football makes a lot more money than Kentucky basketball. So yeah that number is surprising. At least OSU did win the championship. Let's see what Kentucky does.

Ohio State AD projects football roster cost 'around $20 million' in NIL money | FOX Sports

Ohio State's estimate of $20 million in NIL money spent on its football roster is believed to be the highest in the nation.

www.foxsports.com

Other football teams spent more than OSU last year, fwiw

 

[Flipside]

 

[Flipside]

and lest we forget

 

[HooperScooper]

Other football teams spent more than OSU last year, fwiw

Which ones? There were a bunch of these articles saying Ohio State spent the most.

Looks like Texas was up there too although the article has OSU at 2 on this list for highest NIL collectives but says they spent the most on their roster in 2024.

College football NIL collective leaders for 2025: NCAA estimates nation's top-25 spenders

Fundraising and donor contributions are not issues at these programs.

247sports.com

 

[champs99and04]

That amount does surprise me. Ohio State spent about $20 million on their football team last year. And football has a lot more players and also I'm sure OSU football makes a lot more money than Kentucky basketball. So yeah that number is surprising. At least OSU did win the championship. Let's see what Kentucky does.

Ohio State AD projects football roster cost 'around $20 million' in NIL money | FOX Sports

Ohio State's estimate of $20 million in NIL money spent on its football roster is believed to be the highest in the nation.

www.foxsports.com

I'm not surprised - the market for basketball talent has always been much more efficient than the football market. Most of the top football prospects don't even see regular snaps until year three or four, at which point they're already draft eligible and not as likely to be wooed by the offers of other schools. It's just much more of a guessing game from beginning to end, which is why you're actually starting to see more parity in the portal era. It used to be that you brought 30-40 of the top high school prospects to campus and let the cream rise to the top. Now the cream is starting to leave after a year or two because they can play more snaps elsewhere.

Basketball players are worth 300-400% more simply by virtue of playing a game with fewer players. Once you factor in both sides of the ball, it's really like a 22:5 ratio, since obviously basketball players play both offense and defense.

 

[JohnFSilver]

In all candor, does this surprise anyone?

I have no problem with it.

This gives Kentucky an advantage, but it isn't big enough to make up for coaching and management.

We should always allow these things because moral hazard exists. We saw how Texas A&M went belly up under fisher despite a ton of money spent.

Money is not infinite, if pope has a $22M salary, they should theoretically go undefeated.

How are the investors gonna act when they get $22M for a sweet 16 loss and the guy Pope passed on is better than the guy who got paid and is in Final Four?

I think the dynamic is working fine.

 

[DRBackup]

KY is to NCAA men's basketball as the Yankees are to MLB. Biggest spenders with no chips.

Hasn't been true in quite a long time. The Dodgers have been the biggest spenders in MLB for years. And in 2025 the Dodgers were #2 behind the Mets.

 

[ctchamps]

This 22 mil is probably less than the unofficial NIL Calipari had while at Kentucky.

 

[Jaydumo20]

“For the good of the game”?

I am a dyed-in-the-wool free market capitalist. Made my wealth/lifestyle over 40 years of straight commission sales. BUT………competitive sports, pro or college, depend on a marketplace that rewards (and penalizes) success and/or failure on the gridiron, field, court, rink. Monopoly, based on (NIL) spending will erode competition. How many consecutive years of Ohio State/Alabama, Georgia/Michigan, or LSU/Clemson will the football watching audience tolerate before getting bored?

And then tune out.



ve

Ive already tuned out because of it.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Good. Spend even more than that.

I think it's clear that $$$ doesn't translate to titles. You buy up players driven solely by the dollar and those players never, ever come through vs the teams that play for other reasons.

100%.

IMO, Kentucky might be the #1 villain in CBB this season.

On a more positive note, I love hearing when certain players left money on the table picking UConn over other schools.

Fit > $$$

 

[InTheRed]

UNC is soliciting Saudi investor money to support their athletic department. It's just a matter of time before private equity controls D1 sports.

I think that would be the Mets. No team has spent more per win in the last five years than the Mets.

 

[bjc42]

Which ones? There were a bunch of these articles saying Ohio State spent the most.

Looks like Texas was up there too although the article has OSU at 2 on this list for highest NIL collectives but says they spent the most on their roster in 2024.

College football NIL collective leaders for 2025: NCAA estimates nation's top-25 spenders

Fundraising and donor contributions are not issues at these programs.

247sports.com

Just saying from what I heard that teams like Texas, Georgia, and Oregon all spent more, and heard that on message boards from beat reporters/insiders.

 

[uconnfan68]

“For the good of the game”?

I am a dyed-in-the-wool free market capitalist. Made my wealth/lifestyle over 40 years of straight commission sales. BUT………competitive sports, pro or college, depend on a marketplace that rewards (and penalizes) success and/or failure on the gridiron, field, court, rink. Monopoly, based on (NIL) spending will erode competition. How many consecutive years of Ohio State/Alabama, Georgia/Michigan, or LSU/Clemson will the football watching audience tolerate before getting bored?

And then tune out.



ve

Basically already there. Watch UConn, but little else.

 

[MJ1]

Basically already there. Watch UConn, but little else.

It’s actually better now than before, now it’s more out in the open, all of these power teams were doing this behind the scenes for years. I enjoy watching College basketball and will not stop because NIL has changed the perception of college basketball. Adapt, move on and hope your team does so as well.

 

[ec33]

Just saying from what I heard that teams like Texas, Georgia, and Oregon all spent more, and heard that on message boards from beat reporters/insiders.

UGA does not spend more. They are the equivalent to UConn in basketball. Spend well but aren't the top bidders. Kirby sells kids on being their path to the NFL (which is far more established than UConn and the NBA).

Texas and USC are at the top. OSU spent far more than $20 million last year, that number was just for transfers.

 

[Iluvsuebird]

KY is to NCAA men's basketball as the Yankees are to MLB. Biggest spenders with no chips.

wait what? 27 rings bubba. Most by any franchise in any sport. And by the way, if you want to be current and accurate, the Dodgers are now the new Yankees. Just to keep it factual.

 

[UConnTrumbull]

I won’t really care until we can’t retain our players and get the recruits we want. But to be honest it’s only because of Dan and the staff that we feel immune to this stuff. I’m not gonna pretend it’s not possible.

 

[Gburyhusky]

As a UConn and Big East fan I am not terribly concerned about the Kentucky NIL because I don't think you can spend yourself into a championship. In professional sports the highest payroll does not directly correlate to the most success. For example in major league baseball (which has no real salary cap and minimal guardrails against organizations looking to outspend the competition) the teams remaining in the playoffs are ranked 2, 5, 16 and 23 in terms of highest payroll. Of the top 10 MLB payrolls in 2025, 4 missed the playoffs entirely, including the team with the highest payroll. Also keep in mind that in college basketball you have a roster of 15, however it's the first 7 to 9 members of the team that will usually determine the success of the team in any given season, so the total payroll may not correlate to amounts needed to pay and retain the top tier of the roster, which is the key to roster construction in the NIL era.

 

[rrskyjf]

KY does have 8 titles. It's not like they don't have any, and they do have a somewhat recent one in 2012.

 

[80shusky]

Not a big deal. That's only like $2m more than their 2012 payroll.

 

[RuffRuff]

KY does have 8 titles. It's not like they don't have any, and they do have a somewhat recent one in 2012.

Uggh - modern era please. It is REALLY hard to qualify their 4 titles pre 1958 other than pieces for a museum. I'll even give them the 1978 title as part of the conversation, since they beat Duke.

Yale could brag about having the best college football program of all time with their 18 titles. Get what I'm saying?

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Ooph that roster and being the top spenders…

 

[StllH8L8ner]

I won’t really care until we can’t retain our players and get the recruits we want. But to be honest it’s only because of Dan and the staff that we feel immune to this stuff. I’m not gonna pretend it’s not possible.

Yeah as someone who worked in corporate America for many years and has heard the word “competitive” thrown around a lot when talking dollars and cents, it worries me a little bit in the long run when that’s how our NIL pool is described.