• Loading stock data...
Friday, July 18, 2025
opinion
College Sports

In the NIL Era, You Can Help Your School Buy a Quarterback

You can’t give your favorite NBA team $1 million to recruit your favorite player. But in college sports in the NIL era, you can.

Dec 7, 2024; Atlanta, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Carson Beck (15) reacts during the second half in the 2024 SEC Championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Brett Davis/Imagn Images
Exclusive

Bill Belichick UNC Series Heading to Hulu After ‘Hard Knocks’ Breakdown

The series lands at Hulu after a deal with HBO fell through.
Read Now
July 18, 2025 |

In the final weeks of the college football season, all the talk was around the flurry of NIL (name, image, and likeness) deals. 

Carson Beck transferred from Georgia to Miami for his final year of eligibility for more than $4 million in NIL money, a source told Front Office Sports. Darian Mensah transferred from Tulane to Duke for $8 million over two years, CBS reported. John Mateer transferred from Washington State to Oklahoma for the same price, 247Sports reported

It sure looks like $4 million per year is the market rate for a top college quarterback right now. But check back in one month and the numbers will probably go up. Quinn Ewers—who ended up declaring for the NFL Draft—was supposedly offered $8 million by an unnamed school to play one more college season, according to 247Sports. That is the breakneck pace at which the NIL Wild West is only getting wilder.  

All of this culminated in Ohio State winning the national title after spending “around $20 million” in NIL money on its roster, AD Ross Bjork said. It was thought to be one of the two biggest NIL payrolls this season.

The entire NIL system might only be a stopgap until schools share revenue directly with players, depending on the results of the House v. NCAA settlement. (Opponents have until Jan. 31 to file their grievances.) But for now, this system—although to call it a “system” is too generous; it’s a slapdash carnival—is the new normal. 

And because this is the new normal, the biggest distinguishing factor between college sports and the pros is now this: You, a regular person, can directly contribute to your school’s recruitment of new stars. 

You can’t personally give $1 million to your favorite NBA team for them to go out and get Jimmy Butler. But you can give $1 million to your alma mater’s NIL collective so they can get a new quarterback. Or running back. Or point guard. 

Sure, not you, a non-multimillionaire. Only the ultra-rich, you might say. And indeed, it’s the ultra-high-net-worth alumni who are fueling this system: oil barons at SMU, Nike founder Phil Knight at Oregon, Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison (on behalf of his alumna wife) at Michigan, VitaminWater founder Mike Repole at St. John’s. 

But even if your part is paltry, you still can contribute. Just know that your investment is a gamble. It could lead to a national title, or the player could abscond to greener pastures—or, in this context, a richer campus quad. Earlier this season, Matthew Sluka, the quarterback who got UNLV off to a 3–0 start, abruptly announced he’d sit out the rest of the season over NIL “representations” he said weren’t fulfilled.

One FOS source donated a few thousand dollars to the Vanderbilt NIL collective two years ago—before NIL prices reached their current fever pitch—and was told it was going directly to a specific player, who, according to the source, got about $20,000 in NIL money from the collective. Six weeks later, that player transferred to Georgia for more than $200,000. The source says, “I called them up and asked, ‘What about my money, do we get it back?’ The guy who raised the money said, ‘Good question, I don’t even know for sure, but I don’t think so.’”

Ohio State’s massive payroll delivered the Buckeyes the first championship of the 12-team Playoff era, but as Matt Brown wrote for FOS, the big price tag doesn’t tell the whole story. No. 1 seed Oregon—which also had an eight-figure NIL roster—didn’t make it past the second round.

In the new open market of college sports recruiting, cash doesn’t guarantee victory. But it sure helps.

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

(NCL_OSU_11_SUGAR_LAURON 04JAN11) Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Terrelle Pryor (2) slips around the Arkansas Razorbacks defense during first half of the Sugar Bowl at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, January 4, 2011.

Terrelle Pryor’s Case for NIL Backpay Dismissed in Court

Pryor played seven years in the NFL after leaving OSU amid a scandal.

WNBA Stars Say Zero Progress Made at CBA Meeting

The WNBA and its union had their first in-person meeting Thursday.
exclusive

Bill Belichick UNC Series Heading to Hulu After ‘Hard Knocks’ Breakdown

The series lands at Hulu after a deal with HBO fell through.

Featured Today

Jul 21, 2024; Ayrshire, SCT; Xander Schauffele celebrates with Claret Jug after winning the Open Championship golf tournament at Royal Troon.

The Boozy History and Traditions of The Open’s Claret Jug

The Open awards the world’s most famous wine decanter.
2025 PDC World Darts Championship Final - Luke Littler vs Michael Van Gerwen
July 16, 2025

A Teen Darts Prodigy Is Becoming Bigger Than the Game Itself

Luke ‘The Nuke’ Littler is cashing in on his devastatingly accurate shot.
May 31, 2025; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Sydney McLaughin-Levrone (USA) reacts before the women's 100m hurdles during the Grand Slam Track Philadelphia at Franklin Field
exclusive
July 13, 2025

Track’s New Money Is Running Into Old Problems

The sport’s big-money era has hit some speed bumps in 2025.
Bobbleheads are seen at Vintage Indy Sports, Tuesday, April 29, 2025 in Speedway. The local sports memorabilia store opened recently.
July 12, 2025

Baseball’s Bobbleheads Are the Center of the Collectibles Universe

Baseball’s most important keepsake drives long lines—and big business.
Mar 21, 2025; Seattle, WA, USA; Memphis Tigers head coach Penny Hardaway walks off the court after losing to Colorado State Rams at Climate Pledge Arena.

Memphis Basketball and Softball Placed on NCAA Probation

Memphis has had multiple NCAA issues since hiring Penny Hardaway.
July 16, 2025

Alabama’s New Era Contends With NIL—and Nick Saban Rumors

Kalen DeBoer is entering his second season as head coach.
Sep 28, 2024; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; GOP Presidential candidate Donald Trump waves flanked by former Georgia Bulldogs player Herschel Walker, recording art Kid Rock, professional golfer John Daily, Alabama senators Tommy Tuberville (R) and Katie Britt (R) during the second half of the game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Georgia Bulldogs at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
July 16, 2025

President Trump Is Actively Working on an NIL-Related Executive Order

It’s unclear what the executive order would include.
Sponsored

Game On: Portfolio Players Stories, Brought to You by E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley

Dealmaker Jeffrey Kaplan maps the evolution of sports as an asset class
Texas Head Coach Steve Sarkisian waits to lead his team out of the tunnel ahead of the Longhorns' game against the Baylor Bears, Saturday, Sept. 23 at McLane Stadium in Waco.
July 15, 2025

Is a Texas Takeover About to Hit the SEC, On and Off..

The Longhorns are favored to win the SEC in their second year in the conference.
Georgia takes the field for the first half of the SEC championship game against Texas in Atlanta, on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024.
July 15, 2025

SEC Lands Starring Role in Netflix College Football Docuseries

Netflix brings its sports storytelling to the heart of SEC football.
May 15, 2025; Washington, DC, USA; United States Capitol seen as People rally outside the Supreme Court before justices hears oral arguments in Trump v. CASA, Inc. At issue in the case is if the Supreme Court should stay the district courts' nationwide preliminary injunctions on the Trump administration’s executive order ending birthright citizenship.
July 15, 2025

Pro-NCAA Bill Takes First Step Toward Being Introduced on House Floor for..

It could be the first bill of its kind to make it to the House floor.