College athletes are getting paid and fans are starting to see a bigger share of the bill

In Tennessee they are add a ‘talent allowance’ on the price of sports tickets. In Arkansas they will charge 3% more at the concession stands. At Michigan State and Michigan, athletic directors sent letters warning boosters that winning will cost more and more. And in a first, Clemson is going one athletic allowance in tuition bills.

Winning in major college sports has never been free, but in a rapidly changing era where players are allowed to make money and get paid by their own schools, it has never been clearer that fans will take a bigger share of the profits. tab.

“College athletics is not as professionalized as I think it could be,” said Nels Popp, a professor of athletics at the University of North Carolina, who believes most schools still rely more on the emotional, long-term school bonds of fans then on base. -line marketing strategies. “And now I think this is pushing them in that direction.”

Then the NCAA reluctantly approved payments to players for the use of their names, images and likenesses (NIL) in 2021, boosters that used to give to schools and their athletic departments began funneling money to collectives — independent organizations that raised the money and paid the athletes. These collectives are becoming increasingly closely linked to the universities.

Under the conditions of a $2.8 billion lawsuit which is on track to take effect next year, the NIL deals will remain in full force and the schools themselves will face other multimillion-dollar changes to their bottom lines, including:

– Any school with the money to do this gets to share as much as $22 million in annual revenue with athletes – money they get from ticket sales, TV contracts and other sources. They may share less, but top recruits will be at the forefront of the arms race for talent.

– The amount the NCAA pays to more than 350 Division I schools each year will decrease. The organization is on the hook to cover about $1.2 billion in damages under the settlement, with the rest to be covered by conferences where less money is shared each year by the NCAA and its lucrative men’s basketball tournament.

— Schools will be allowed to offer more scholarships for all sports and that costs money. For example, a school could offer up to 20 additional scholarships for a total of 105 scholarships for football. Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said adding scholarships for all sports could add $29 million in education costs to the department’s bottom line. And that’s in addition to revenue sharing.

“Maintaining a high level of support for our 29 NCAA athletic programs will require a greater commitment from everyone,” Manuel wrote to Wolverines fans last month.

One option for Michigan could be placing ads in Michigan Stadium, a practice the Wolverines have steadfastly avoided in recent decades. The school also recently sent out a survey that asked, among other things, whether fans would be willing to pay between $3,000 and $4,000 for a new tranche of seat-back seats, which are rare outside of The Big House club sections.

In 2023 it cost two fans one averages about $180 to attend a college football game And about $340 to go to an NFL game. After all, college sports didn’t have to worry about the biggest expense on a professional team’s budget: player salaries.

NIL started to chip away at that, and once the terms of the lawsuit go into effect, that dynamic will change even more. Michigan State AD Alan Haller told Spartans fans that his department’s ’25-26 budget will include between $25 million and $30 million in additional spending.

“As a department, we will continue to explore new opportunities for both generating revenue and controlling costs,” Haller said. “However, your continued generosity and commitment will undoubtedly be critical to our pursuit of excellence.”

Some fans will no doubt continue to write checks to keep the players – and hopefully the wins – along with retaining their ‘rights’ to purchase a certain number of tickets to football matches.

On a tour of the parking lot before this season’s Michigan-Michigan State game, there were others who sounded more reserved.

“The price of education is out of control,” said Mike Bouchard, a Michigan State fan, citing a price of more than $55,000 for an out-of-state student to attend his alma mater. “There is absolutely no way I am going to dig into my pocket beyond that amount. Tell them to use their hundreds of millions in donations.”

“Absolutely not,” said Ann Arbor resident Michael Ketslakh when asked if he would give more to support Michigan athletics. “I think it’s exaggerated. It’s bad for the sport.”