For college football and to a similar degree for men's basketball, there is no such thing as too much. At some point, whether sooner or later, 'no too much' can become a major problem. The 'much' refers to money as it envelops a college sports world in which hundreds of millions are now spent on annual rosters with only the slightest relation to financial return on investment.
The money explosion affects many college basketball programs as well. Other college sports are also impacted. Without NIL funds, Texas Tech Softball and a $1M pitcher probably would not have made the Women's College World Series Final.
According to an On3 poll of college sports insiders, reported by SI.com, Texas Tech is No. 2 among the 10 biggest spenders in college sports. Texas was No. 1. Following the Longhorns and Red Raiders were, in order, Ohio State, Oregon, Texas A&M, and Miami tied, and Michigan and USC tied at No. 8. SEC members Tennessee and Auburn closed out the top ten.
As reported by The Athletic, Texas Tech General Manager James Blanchard stated the Red Raiders' football payroll is $25M. That number may not reflect preloaded NIL funds spent before July 1. Blanchard is quoted as having said mega-booster Cody Campbell gave the Red Raiders an "open checkbook" to spend "whatever it takes." One result was $12M spent on 21 transfer players.
Other recent estimates are that, combining revenue sharing and NIL, player payrolls for Texas and Texas Tech football will be around $35M. According to CBS Sports, the Texas A&M Aggies' athletes earned $19.4M in the 2023-24 cycle. In the cycle that ended on June 30, 2025, the number exploded to $51.4M.
The Red Raiders and others are repeating what has been tried before. Texas A&M tried to buy a college football championship by throwing insane money at Jimbo Fisher. What has changed since the Jimbo failure is that massive player personnel costs are now seen as a necessity for championship success.
Compensating players is good - buying college football championships is not
Paying players is not only necessary; it is fair to reward their work. The issue is what happens to college football if championships are won every season by one of a few of the biggest spenders. If deep-pocket boosters, in effect, buy the Red Raiders a National Championship, how will many college football fans respond? How many will have their appetite for the game dwindle? Also reported by The Athletic, one Big 12 coach said the "Texas Tech roster was being paid 10 times what he was paying his players."
Alabama Football can succeed with a player payroll budget outside the top 10. Based on estimates from insiders, Alabama is expected to allocate around $14M to revenue share, with another $10M to $12M of NIL funds, making football player payroll around $25M. Whatever the exact number, no spring Transfer Portal attrition showed Alabama can effectively protect its roster from attrition.