As the college hoops season tips off this week, new data shows men’s and women’s basketball players are collectively accounting for nearly 29% of revenue-sharing dollars in the first year of collegiate athletics’ new financial era.
Division I athletic departments are allowed to directly share up to $20.5 million of revenue with athletes this academic year, on top of any NIL (name, image, and likeness) money they receive, thanks to the result of the House v. NCAA settlement in June.
While football players are being paid the majority of revenue-sharing money, men’s and women’s basketball players are second and third, respectively, according to a new report from Opendorse, one of the leading NIL payments marketplaces, used by 100 D-I programs.
Pieces of the Pie
Here’s the estimated breakdown for the average school in the 2025-26 academic year across the top 10 FBS conferences, which include the Power 4 and Group of 6 leagues:
- Football: $13.1 million (63.8%)
- Men’s basketball: $4.3 million (20.9%)
- Women’s basketball: $1.6 million (8%)
- All other sports: $1.5 million (7.3%)
The “other sports” category contains 31 different NCAA championship programs, including baseball, softball, volleyball, and gymnastics.
Rise of Women’s Sports
Led by women’s basketball, between 8% and 12% of all revenue-sharing dollars (roughly $2 million out of the $20.5 million that is allowed) this year are expected to be directed toward women’s sports, per Opendorse.
When combining revenue-sharing and NIL deals, women’s sports athletes are projected to earn $417.8 million this year, with that total expected to rise to more than $663 million by 2028. (College football players are projected to earn $1.9 billion this season).
Women’s sports athletes have accounted for 32.2% of the 500,000-plus deal applications submitted through Opendorse.
Many schools have been investing in women’s sports beyond basketball, with volleyball and softball each seeing notable growth this year.
