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Sunday Edition

January 26, 2025

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In the wake of Ohio State’s national title win this past week, the prevailing talking point was the school’s mega $20 million NIL payroll [[link removed]]. But the most interesting part to me is what the new Wild West of the NIL era [[link removed]] means for you, the fan. Read on and I’ll explain. Plus, at the bottom of today’s newsletter you’ll find this week’s big media scoops from FOS. As always, send me your thoughts at [[email protected]] or on Twitter [[link removed]].

— Dan Roberts [[link removed]], FOS EIC

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

Brett Davis/Imagn Images

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 [[link removed]], a source told Front Office Sports. Darian Mensah transferred from Tulane to Duke for $8 million over two years, CBS reported [[link removed]]. John Mateer transferred from Washington State to Oklahoma for the same price, 247Sports reported [[link removed]].

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 [[link removed]] by an unnamed school to play one more college season, according to 247Sports. That is the breakneck pace at which the NIL Wild West [[link removed]] is only getting wilder.

All of this culminated in Ohio State winning the national title after spending “around $20 million” in NIL money [[link removed]] on its roster, AD Ross Bjork said [[link removed]]. 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 [[link removed]]. (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 [[link removed]] (on behalf of his alumna wife) at Michigan, VitaminWater founder Mike Repole [[link removed]] 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 [[link removed]] 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 [[link removed]] 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 [[link removed]] wrote for FOS, the big price tag doesn’t tell the whole story [[link removed]]. No. 1 seed Oregon—which also had an eight-figure NIL roster [[link removed]]—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.

SPONSORED BY TICKPICK

The NFL’s Best QB Clash

Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen make up the NFL’s best rivalry. Allen’s Bills have dominated regular-season matchups, but Mahomes and the Chiefs [[link removed]] have won all three playoff games. The fourth takes place this weekend in the AFC championship game, as the most anticipated clash of the 2024 season.

For all the hype, this isn’t even the most expensive AFC championship [[link removed]] on record, according to TickPick [[link removed]]. In fact, it barely cracks the top five. Its $500 average purchase price is 72% less expensive than last season’s Ravens-Chiefs game ($862).

As Mahomes chases an unprecedented Super Bowl three-peat, this weekend will be his 20th postseason game. TickPick indicates it is the third-most-expensive non–Super Bowl game he’s played in, with the first being the Chiefs-Bills game in this same round four years ago ($705 average price).

For more NFL ticketing trends and insights, check out our Big Ticket Trend Report [[link removed]], presented by TickPick, and get $15 off your first purchase [[link removed]] of $99+ with code FOS15.

Glass Break Golics Exit DraftKings, Bussin’ Goes to FanDuel

DraftKings

This week, FOS reporter Ryan Glasspiegel [[link removed]] got the exclusive on several major happenings in sports media:

Father-son analyst duo Mike Golic and Mike Golic Jr. will be leaving the DraftKings Network [[link removed]] when their contracts expire in late March. They’ll find a new home for their content in 2025. Fanatics and The Pivot podcast—hosted by former NFL stars Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor, and Channing Crowder— mutually ended their partnership [[link removed]] in late 2024. The two sides reevaluated their commitment to each other and decided the podcast would be better off returning to be an independent platform. After leaving Barstool Sports, Bussin’ With the Boys will enter into a massive sponsorship deal with FanDuel [[link removed]]. The podcast, hosted by ex-NFL players Will Compton and Taylor Lewan, host their own IP, which means they won’t have to restart their podcast or YouTube feeds from scratch. Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Events [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Shows [[link removed]] Written by Daniel Roberts [[link removed]], Meredith Turits [[link removed]] Edited by Meredith Turits [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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