NIL Breakdown: Big 12 Outspends SEC, ACC, And Big Ten In These Key Positions

As Week 1 of the 2025 college football season is about to kick off, the landscape of college athletics continues to shift in unprecedented ways, and not just on the field, but in the wallets of student-athletes.

This season, each institution can distribute up to $20.5 million annually in revenue sharing, formalizing a pay structure that had previously been driven by donor-backed collectives and third-party deals. According to projections, total NIL income in college football is expected to balloon to $1.9 billion this year, up from just $393 million in 2021.

Of that, $1.4 billion is projected to come from direct university revenue sharing, while collectives will account for $213 million, and commercial NIL deals another $290 million.

So where are teams and conferences putting their money?

A new report from Opendorse — a prominent NIL marketplace and tech platform — reveals just how much conferences are paying at each football position. The data was compiled using verified anonymous NIL payments, disclosures, and budgets from collectives and colleges” collected between July 1 and August 10.

The findings show that every conference has a different approach to how NIL funds are allocated by position. For example, the Big 12 places the quarterback position as its top priority, dedicating 23.1% of their revenue-sharing budgets for them. The ACC followed with 19.4%, the SEC (15.1%), and the Big Ten (14.4%) rounded out the bottom.

The Big 12 also led in three other position groups: defensive backs (14.4%), running backs (10.8%) and tight ends (6.6%).

Meanwhile, the ACC committed the highest share of funds to offensive and defensive linemen — the latter in a tie with the SEC. The SEC allocated more to linebackers than any other conference, and the Big Ten led in spending on wide receivers and specialists.

When it comes to overall offensive vs. defensive spending, Big 12 programs heavily favor the offense with 64% of their rev-share budgets going to offensive players, with just 36% going to the defensive side. When compared to other leagues, the ACC was even higher with 70% towards offense and just 30% towards defense. Meanwhile the Big Ten and SEC, which spent a little bit less on offense to put more into defense, still outspent the defensive side.

College Football Player Earnings

Headlines are dominated by news of million-dollar deals, but the numbers show that’s not the reality for most college football players.

Roughly 9% make more than $100,000 and more than 66% make less than 10,000. See below for the full breakdown.

• Between $100,000 and $499,999 — 9.1%

• Between $50,000 and $99,999 — 7.4%

• Between $10,000 and $49,999 — 16.1%

• Less than $10,000 — 66.5%

They say "defense wins championships", and if that's the case, the SEC, which has invested more on that side of the ball, should be in a great position to do so. The 2025 season is shaping up to be a good one and it will be fun to see who comes out on top, and more importantly where they put their money, as teams will look to replicate it.

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