Business of Sports · College Sports
College Sports Commission Publishes First Detailed Athlete Pay Tables
The new tables separate school revenue sharing from outside NIL agreements, with different reporting periods and no individual athletes identified.
The College Sports Commission has published its first detailed compensation tables, giving athletes and schools a reference for revenue sharing and outside endorsement agreements while withholding individual identities.
The October 30 release groups football players by position and separates basketball compensation by conference. Other sports are listed individually, with comparisons between the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and SEC and schools outside those conferences.
The commission reported $1.77 billion in direct school payments during the first revenue sharing year, which ended June 30, 2026. Separately, its NIL Go clearinghouse approved 46,478 deals worth $582.49 million through August 31. Those totals cover different periods and should not be added into a single compensation figure.
The tables also use different reporting windows. Football school payments include amounts paid or scheduled for 2026 roster members that year. The commission says virtually all contingent performance incentives are treated as scheduled payments while the season continues, even when athletes have not reached the required benchmarks.
Basketball school payments cover July 1, 2025, through April 6, 2026. Other sports use a school payment period ending June 30. The accompanying methodology specifies separate windows for cleared endorsement deals.
The report excludes scholarships, cost of attendance stipends and Alston payments. It therefore does not represent every form of financial support an athlete receives.
NIL figures reflect full contracted amounts for cleared deals, regardless of when those agreements begin or end. They are not annualized earnings, and athletes without cleared deals during the reporting window are excluded from those NIL comparisons.
School payment tables distinguish cohorts including athletes receiving nothing from those limited to paid or scheduled recipients. The median marks the midpoint within the defined group, rather than a salary guarantee.
The commission says some sports lack enough records for anonymous reporting. Data may change as information arrives.
