College football's top 50 programs ranked by NIL efforts (2024)

50.Memphis Tigers: $170million

49.Maryland Terrapins: $194 million

48. Minnesota Golden Gophers: $199million

47. Oregon State Beavers: $201million

46. Colorado Buffaloes: $208million

45. NC State Wolfpack: $216million

44. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets: $220million

43. UCLA Bruins: $233million

42. Nebraska Cornhuskers: $236million

41. Iowa State Cyclones: $249million

40. Arizona State Sun Devils: $265million

Memphis is the only Group of Five school in the top 50 over the last 17 years. What does that say about the sizable gap between the Power Four conferences and G5 ranks? This number is likely higher now that the data has aged after FedEx announced in April it was funding $25 million for Memphis NIL.It is believed to be largest corporate partnership with athletes, per CBS Sports, and is earmarked to fund $5 million in NIL per season for Memphis athletes for the next five years.

39. Mississippi State Bulldogs: $273million

38. California Golden Bears: $283million

37. Purdue Boilermakers: $289million

36. Kentucky Wildcats: $302million

35. Ole Miss Rebels: $310million

34. Virginia Tech Hokies: $319million

33t. Kansas State Wildcats: $324million

33t. Arkansas Razorbacks: $324million

31. Mizzou Tigers: $344million

30. North Carolina Tar Heels: $344million

29. Arizona Wildcats: $346million

28. Indiana Hoosiers: $351million

27. West Virginia Mountaineers: $354million

26. Illinois Fighting Illini: $373million

UNC cracked the top 30with some of theACC's top givers which contribute a large portion to men's basketball and football. There is always a handsome payoff on the hardwood for the Tar Heels'efforts as they were able to retain Armando Bacot last season through NIL and have veteran point guard R.J. Davis returning to this fall. Ironically, Tar Heels football coach Mack Brown said this summer his star running back, Omarion Hampton, turned down an NIL opportunity worth four times more than what he's receiving at UNC to stay in Chapel Hill.

25. Penn State Nittany Lions: $386million

24. Wisconsin Badgers: $389million

23. Texas Tech Red Raiders: $396million

22.Washington Huskies: $402million

21. Michigan State Spartans: $439 million

Among the public universities out West, Washington's givers were substantial at just over $400 million — and that came before the Huskies' rise during the 2023 season that included a conference championship and national title game appearance. That number has to increase over the next two decades to maintain the Huskies' competitiveness in the expanding Big Ten.

20. Louisville Cardinals: $450million

19. Kansas Jayhawks: $459million

18. South Carolina Gameco*cks: $466million

17. Clemson Tigers: $476million

16. Iowa Hawkeyes: $477 million

It's crazy how close the Gameco*cks and Tigers are on the grand scale of giving, almost equal within the Palmetto State. South Carolina won two national championships in baseball and a women's basketball title during this stretch of substantial help from donors while Clemson captured two College Football Playoff national championships in a multi-year stretch under Dabo Swinney to strengthen its brand nationally. South Carolina added a second national championship to Dawn Staley's trophy case over the summer.

15. Michigan Wolverines: $493 million

14. Tennessee Volunteers: $500million

13.Virginia Cavaliers: $516million

12. Alabama Crimson Tide: $528million

11. Ohio State Buckeyes: $536 million

Project Ohio Stateinto the top 10 after a memorable offseason in Columbus. The Buckeyes secured an estimated "$20 million in NIL deals" for athletes this year. Also,Ohio State was the nation's leader in athletic revenue for the 2022 fiscal year. The Buckeyes managed that despite ranking just outside the top 10 in donations. Ohio State's annually inside the top five for revenue, but coming in at No. 1 is a bit of a surprise over the second-ranked program in this study (Texas).According to USA Today, "in 2022, only nine public schools outside the Power Five conferences had more than $62.1 million in total operating expenses for their entire athletics program."

The Seminoles might be working with JP Morgan to fund a gargantuan buyout to leave the ACC, but FSU has no worries in the financial giving department according to the raw data from USA Today and the Knight Commission. The Seminoles have received the most money in donations in the ACC over the last 17 years prior to last fall's unbeaten regular season, which has led to facility enhancements and athletic department growth. FSU recently upgraded its football locker rooms and other athletics facilities are impressive.

Auburn annually seems to land wealthy one-off donations, but one of the biggest came in 2019 when the Tigers received $10 million from the Woltosz family that was earmarked for the new practice facility. It was the largest gift in program history and pushed the donation-funded total to over $30 million for the new facility.Walt and Ginger Woltosz said at the time their giving was an effort to make the Tigers more competitive in recruiting. Auburn recently hired Hugh Freeze as its new coach and recently paid ex-coach Bryan Harsin a $15 million buyout.

Over the stretch of this survey, Oklahoma donors gave nearly $600 million to the Sooners' athletic department efforts, which ranked third-highest in the Big 12 at the end of the 2022 campaign.The Sooners, like the Texas Longhorns, will receive a considerable bump during the 2024-25 fiscal year as SEC members, thanks to sharing sizable revenue distribution with the rest of the conference. We suspect that's going to mean more donations from top givers, too. It'll be interesting to see if the Sooners can continue to recruit at an elite level under Brent Venables and be an annual conference championship contender in the expanded SEC considering the wealth of talent on the schedule increased exponentially.

LSU's donor contingent is a collective effort. Even third-year head coach Brian Kelly is in on the giving. His recent pledge of $1 million to the construction of an improved training room for athletes was a program record for a sitting coach.The Tiger Athletic Foundation is one of the most respected in the SEC. LSU's overall giving from 2005-22 was fourth-best in the SEC and second in the West (Texas A&M).

"Investing in the health and well-being of student-athletes is among the most important commitments a coach can make, and my family and I are honored and privileged to contribute to the expansion of our athletic training room and recovery suite," Kelly said in a university release two years ago. "The commitment from TAF, LSU Athletics, and our partners in the community to provide the best sports medicine and comprehensive care to generations of Tigers is unwavering and unmatched, and we are grateful to be able to give back to all of our student-athletes."

Prior to the 2023 season, Oklahoma State received a $120 million gift from the T. Boone Pickens Foundation. Pickens,posthumously, is the Cowboys' wealthiest benefactor. Most of those funds go toward scholarships along with a wellness and health center for students. Pickens, an alumnus, was a "transformative philanthropist whose giving to Oklahoma State now approaches $650 million", according to a release.The T. Boone Pickens Foundation was established in 2006, one year prior to the beginning of this USA Today and Knight Commission study of donor giving.

No program in college football spends more money on football recruiting than the Bulldogs and theyearned a handsome return on investment.Athletic department expenses surpass revenue at most schools andaccording to USA Today, the average salary for a college football head coach pre-pandemic in 2019 was $3.5 million per season. Thanks to unrivaled success and consecutive national championships, Georgia's Kirby Smart makes nearly four times that number as one of college football's elite coaches. The Bulldogs' brand, in 2024, has never been more recognizable and Georgia is once again college football's preseason No. 1.

University of Florida graduate Gary Condron, CEO and founder of The Conlan Company (construction firm), is said to be the largest donor in athletic department history in Gainesville. A 2021 release revealed that Condron has given more than $22.5 million to the Gators over the years and the football program's indoor practice facility bears his name. Condronplayed baseball for the Gators. In 2018, he served as honorary head coach at Florida for the spring football game. Like other high-end boosters nationally, when Condron speaks at Florida, people listen.

Always one of the nation's top revenue producers, the Longhorns push closer to Ohio State for top billing if not surpass the Buckeyesduring the 2024-25 fiscal yearas an official SEC memberand shares in sizable revenue distribution with the rest of the conference. Not exactly a sleeping giant in college football given this program's revenue numbers and resources devoted to winning, the Longhorns could hit supernova status in the new era if Steve Sarkisian can put this team in the playoff every season.

The 12th Man Foundation generates gobs of money annually via donations. They are raisingfunds for the$120 million Centennial Campaign, which involves the construction of a new 140-yard indoor football practice facility, an indoor track and an updated academic and nutrition center for athletes. Texas A&M has been at the forefront of college football's new NIL era as well and in 2022, signed the highest-rated football recruiting class in history. Former Aggies athletic director Ross Bjork said last spring that Texas A&M athletes have signed NIL deals worth approximately $10 million. That number is now dwarfed by a $20 million estimation at his new school, Ohio State.

Nike founder Phil Knight is the primary reason the Ducks have one of the nicest football facilities in the country and are lapping others in NIL resources. Knight, a university alumnus, has given more than $1 billion back to Oregon over the past two decades.In 2016, Knight donated $500 million to the University of Oregon's science program exclusively. He helped bankroll several state-of-the-art construction projects within athletics and is believed to be the singlemost influential donor across college athletics. When you're the brains behind the Swoosh, you hold that level of power.