Audio By Carbonatix
Division-I colleges and universities were allowed to share revenue with their student-athletes for the first time on Tuesday, which actually creates a competitive advantage for mid-major basketball programs. Smaller schools with FCS football programs are able to distribute more money elsewhere.
It will be interesting to see whether this new era of collegiate athletics allows for more parity on the hardwood.
The last four years of Name, Image and Likeness were largely unregulated. There were no rules. Schools, through their NIL collectives, were able to spend whatever amount of money they wanted on any player in any sport without any guidelines on how to operate. Inducements were common. Tampering was rampant.
Although some of that behavior will surely continue under the table, this new revenue sharing model is supposed to provide some semblance of structure when it comes to finances across college sports. Universities must operate under a set cap for direct compensation. Outside NIL deals must undergo approval from an outside entity. The entire pay scale will be limited. (We’ll see!)
Generally speaking, SEC programs will have a maximum annual budget of approximately $21 million. Approximately $14 million will go to football, $4 million to men’s basketball, $1 million to women’s basketball and $2 million to the other sports combined. Those numbers will obviously vary.
This is where smaller schools might find some common ground if they do not compete in college football on the FBS level. They can pump more money toward college basketball.
Smaller schools could choose to split its revenue share money as follows:
- TOTAL — $4.8 million
- Men’s basketball: $2.66 million
- Football: $1.31 million
- Women’s basketball: $485,000
- Other sports: $350,000
The $2.66 million for men’s basketball is not too far off from $4 million at SEC schools. That $2.66 million number is more or less on par with high-major programs.
However, those numbers are not the same at every school. Some mid-majors have larger goals for compensation. Others have less.
Athletic departments could spend a similar amount of money on basketball as the “bigger” schools that focus on football to be just as competitive in terms of compensation as, say, Wisconsin. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. How long will those “bigger” schools allow for this somewhat level playing field? When will they starts pumping more money in the direction of men’s basketball?