A new era of college football kicked off over the weekend as universities for the first time can directly pay their athletes. But that doesn’t mean they’re not getting paid through name, image and likeness deals they’ve been allowed to sign the past four years.
A new report from Opendorse estimates how much money is finding its way to college football players. It’s a big number. And one that’s only expected to grow.
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In addition to showing football player earnings, the report explores school spending, revenue sharing by position and the transfer portal effect. Opendorse is the leading marketplace for athletes to build and monetize their NIL value.
How much college football players have made and will make
In 2021, the first year of NIL, college football players took in $393 million. This season with the addition of direct payments from their schools, that number could balloon to $1.9 billion.
Opendorse projects the bulk of that money, $1.4 billion, will come through university revenue sharing and the remainder from commercial deals and collectives, the organizations that boosters created to pool funds from donors, fans and businesses to pay college athletes for use of their NIL.
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By 2027, college football players could collectively be making $2.6 billion, according to the report.
What position is most valued?
Starting this season, universities can set aside as much as $20.5 million to pay their athletes across all sports. Most schools around the country earmarked the lion’s share for football and men’s basketball — the two main revenue-generating sports.
While quarterback often is considered the most important position on the football field, it’s not valued the same in the Power 4 conferences. In fact, according to the Opendorse report, quarterback tops the revenue-sharing budgets in only two of those conferences — the Big 12 at 23.1% of the total and the ACC at 19.4%.
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The Big Ten and SEC place the most value on wide receiver, taking 16.8% and 15.9%, respectively, of their schools’ revenue-sharing budgets.
Defense also means more in the SEC, where players on that side of the ball get a bigger slice of the pie than do defensive players in the other conferences. SEC defensive linemen, linebackers and defensive backs all get as high or higher percentages of revenue sharing budgets as those in the other conferences, with the exception of defensive back in the Big 12.
Offensive lineman in the ACC get a higher share of the pot than do those in the other conferences.
Football player income brackets
While the big earners in college sports get lots of media attention, only a tiny percentage of college football players make over a million dollars. After an Opendorse assessment of Power 4 football players’ annual earnings, here’s how it broke down:
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.3% more than a million dollars
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.6% from $999,000 to $500,000
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9.1% from $499,000 to $100,000
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7.4% from $99,000 to $50,000
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16.1% from $49,000 to $10,000
Do transfers make more money?
Texas wide receiver Parker Livingstone (13) catches a touchdown pass as Ohio State cornerback Jermaine Mathews Jr. (7) defends in the second half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025., in Columbus, Ohio. | Sara Diggins
The transfer portal has become a way for football players to quickly find new schools. Does it mean a bigger payday? The answer is yes. Last season, transfer portal windows in December and in the spring led to higher average earnings for players, per Opendorse.
Average income after the traditional December window jumped 61.5%, while after the spring window it rose 13.6%.
“With an ongoing narrative and momentum from coaches favoring the consolidation of transfer periods, the post-portal jump could be amplified even further for this season’s athletes,” according to the report.
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What if . . .
Under the title “Titans of the Game,” Opendorse report estimated how much select college football greats from three eras — ”modern” (2005-2020), “classic” (1985-2004) and “golden” (1984 and earlier) — could have made had NIL and revenue sharing been in place when they played.
The top earner at any position?
Former Texas A&M and 2012 Heisman-winning quarterback Johnny Manziel at $3.2 million. USC running back Reggie Bush and Georgia Tech wide receiver Calvin Johnson were next at $1.3 million and $1.2 million, respectively. All three were in the modern era category.
And even though he played in the golden era, Alabama great Joe Namath wasn’t too far behind Bush and Johnson at $905,000.
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The final figures for each player represent their unique, projected collegiate NIL and commercial NIL earnings in their era, in today’s dollars. Both final figures were added together for the total income statement.
