The NCAA v. House settlement likely ushers in the revenue-sharing era of college football on July 1. The landmark antitrust case allows schools to pay players directly, and roster spending for a handful of the nation’s premier programs will reach upwards of $40 million, according to Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti.
“This is an unprecedented couple days, weeks, where everybody’s waiting on this rev share,” Cignetti told CBS Sports. “There’s five or six (programs) out there that have unlimited NIL resources. It’s kind of scary for everybody else. Our little pot of gold (at Indiana) is pretty nice, but we’re not at $40 million. Or $30 million. Or even $25 million.”
Ohio State made headlines last offseason when athletic director Ross Bjork spent $20 million on its 2024 roster, which went 14-2 and won the program its first national championship since 2014. However, sources told CBS Sports that the top spending programs in 2024 paid upwards of $30 million. Roster spending is expected to reach $40 million as college football’s deepest pockets battle for elite high school and transfer portal talent. Cignetti named Ohio State, Oregon, Texas, Miami, Notre Dame and Texas Tech as the sport’s biggest spenders.
“Right now, I would say yes,” Cignetti said when asked if roster spending has reached $40 million for some programs. “If you want to be the best, you got to be able to compete against the best. Right now, I understand that is Oregon, Ohio State, Texas. … Texas Tech because of their oil money. I think Notre Dame’s up there pretty good right now, too. Miami, of course.”
Texas Tech was the lone program Cignetti mentioned to rank outside the top 15 of the 2024 Team Talent Composite. However, the Red Raiders rank No. 1 in this offseason’s team transfer portal rankings and are joined in the top five by Oregon (No. 4) and Miami (No. 5). Ohio State, Texas and Notre Dame haven’t made huge splashes in the portal this offseason but have retained most of their top talent and plugged holes with starting-caliber transfers.
“Those people are kind of playing their own game, but you’ve got to be in that next tier,” Cignetti said. “There are enough good ones out there. You’ve got to be able to retain your good ones and then go get what you need.”
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The House settlement would allow schools to pay players millions of dollars directly starting July 1. Each school’s revenue-sharing formula would be capped at $20.5 million, with the pool increasing 4% each year during the 10-year agreement. The $2.8 billion in back payments for athletes who competed between 2016 and 2024 would also be set in motion upon the approval of Judge Claudia Wilken of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
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