Wyoming is at a serious disadvantage when it comes to NIL. The Cowboys have less money available to pay their athletes than (at least) two nearby universities on a lower level of college football.
Meanwhile, those (at least) two schools are lobbying for their spot in the Mountain West.
This unique situation creates something of a college football case study. At what point is an unsuccessful program forced to move up or down based on financial wealth? Is it time to create a relegation system?
Wyoming is rich, but still broke.
It is no secret that college football is no longer an amateur sport. Players are getting paid, sometimes millions of dollars, and the teams with the most amount of money are able to purchase the best players. Having the best players typically leads to success. Money can buy a national title.
That puts Wyoming in an awkward spot. According to David Madison of the Cowboy State Daily, the Cowboys spend only $1.4 million on its entire roster.
That is the relative cost of just one superstar player in power conferences.
Meanwhile, schools like Montana and Montana State are spending closer to $2.2 million in NIL on their respective rosters. I would guess North Dakota State is not too far behind.
There is one key difference between Montana, Montana State and Wyoming. The former two compete in the Football Championship Subdivision. The latter competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Two schools that compete on a lower level of competition spend nearly twice as much as the Cowboys. And it doesn’t make sense because there is plenty of money in/around Laramie. So where is it?
Should a college football team move from FBS to FCS?
Due to this lack of NIL money, there is a lot of chatter about the idea that Wyoming could move down. The Cowboys might have more success in the FCS against teams with similar NIL budgets than they do in FBS. It’s not a crazy thought!
However, there is still more money to be made as a losing FBS program than a winning FCS program.
Mountain West schools like Wyoming receive approximately $3.5 million annually from the conference’s television deal with CBS and Fox. Big Sky schools like Montana and Montana State make less.
It makes more sense for the Cowboys to stay right where they are.
“The better question is, why are Montana, Montana State begging to get into the Mountain West?” AD Tom Burman Burman told the Cowboy State Daily. “I can tell you that the top tier of the FCS is willing to pay money to join the Mountain West.”
He is not wrong.
According to Sam Herder, North Dakota State is quietly raising the money necessary to make the job to the FBS. According to Matt Brown, the price to “buy into” an FBS league hovers around $10 million.
Thus, it is actually better for Wyoming to lose every game in the FBS than drop down to the FCS. The boosters need to step up and fund a winning program.