What do you think our overall budget is for NIL in football?

[Perd Hapley]

But you are acting like the other expenses of running the athletic department just went away.

In reality, a lot of them did. You aren’t seeing any more major facilities capital expenditures anymore. Certain positions were cut or reassigned. Other costs were simply absorbed because the cost of running the day to day functions of the department have not increased on nearly the scale of player compensation demand or SEC Network revenue.

Think about it this way, in 2010, we didn’t have to pay players anything, but we also didn’t have $70 million per year simply handed to us just for being SEC members. How did we pay for all the other functions of the department back then? Seems like the current situation is much better financially. Yes, expenses have greatly increased, but not nearly as much as revenue has increased. Its still a net gain over the pre-NIL / pre-SECN days, which is why the money going out to players keeps going up. We still haven’t hit an inflection point to where it’s no longer feasible.

We are essentially adding tens of millions of dollars to our budget to pay the players. That money has to come from somewhere and it is coming mostly from the alumni.

We added tens of millions in TV revenue 14 years ago. We just added the tens of millions to pay players like 3 years ago. The argument doesn’t hold water. Everybody had it really good for over a decade until it became time to pay the piper.

Yes, alumni also have to pitch in way more, too, but their contributions pale in comparison to the TV money.

 

[olblue]

Whatever it is, its unsustainable. I think even the OM's of the world are starting to "cry uncle" a little. Ill keep giving what I can and hope for the best.

 

[dawgstudent]

In reality, a lot of them did. You aren’t seeing any more major facilities capital expenditures anymore. Certain positions were cut or reassigned. Other costs were simply absorbed because the cost of running the day to day functions of the department have not increased on nearly the scale of player compensation demand or SEC Network revenue.

Think about it this way, in 2010, we didn’t have to pay players anything, but we also didn’t have $70 million per year simply handed to us just for being SEC members. How did we pay for all the other functions of the department back then? Seems like the current situation is much better financially. Yes, expenses have greatly increased, but not nearly as much as revenue has increased. Its still a net gain over the pre-NIL / pre-SECN days, which is why the money going out to players keeps going up. We still haven’t hit an inflection point to where it’s no longer feasible.


We added tens of millions in TV revenue 14 years ago. We just added the tens of millions to pay players like 3 years ago. The argument doesn’t hold water. Everybody had it really good for over a decade until it became time to pay the piper.

Yes, alumni also have to pitch in way more, too, but their contributions pale in comparison to the TV money.

Costs have gone up as well just to run an athletic department. I'll do like tbobby said - I'll give what I can and hope for the best.

Edit to add...

In 2010 - $17 million/school was distributed. In 2013 - 14.1 million(assuming it went down because we added A&M and Mizzou). In 2025 - it was $72 million with Texas and Oklahoma getting a reduced share of $14 million in totality.

 

[QuadrupleOption]

I'm going with $20 million.

I'm going with $20 million.

 

[MSUDOG24]

$20,000,000.27 *

* updated balance with Shmuley's Oby's Round-up for NIL.

I helped push that number to 29 just last week.

 

[Perd Hapley]

Costs have gone up as well just to run an athletic department. I'll do like tbobby said - I'll give what I can and hope for the best.

Edit to add...

In 2010 - $17 million/school was distributed. In 2013 - 14.1 million(assuming it went down because we added A&M and Mizzou). In 2025 - it was $72 million with Texas and Oklahoma getting a reduced share of $14 million in totality.

The SEC Network kicked off officially in 2014, that’s when we saw the first big jump from $20 million to $30 million, then it bumped up again to $40 million for a few years, then continuously increased by an average of $5 million per year or so.

Bottom line - schools pocketed around $250-$300 million in additional TV revenue above the previous baseline before NIL ever entered the picture. I do believe that just about 100% of AD’s would prefer the scenario of $72 million in TV revenue and $20 million in player expenses ($52 million in surplus), to the previous case of $20 million in TV revenue with $0 in player expenses in 2013 ($20 million surplus). Difference to the bottom line between those two cases is $32 million.

Excluding the new revenue share expenses, it doesn’t cost $32 million more to run an athletic department now than it did in 2013. No chance in hell.

 

[Willow Grove Dawg]

I would say that it’s not semantics at all in regards to the question at hand. It’s the difference between us paying $20 million vs us paying $35 million to our football team. That’s a huge swing. The revenue share number just doesn’t matter, because it’s the same for everybody. The physical NIL number, what we pay on top of the revenue share, is the only thing worth assessing the value of compared to other schools. If your position is that our actual NIL number is only $5 million (as indicated by your $20 million total), then we would be in really, really bad shape.

Furthermore, there’s a huge difference in revenue share vs. NIL in the regulatory sense. Revenue share comes straight from the university, and is not subject to approval by the CSC clearinghouse. That’s why all these megadeals that these one and done basketball players are signing with Kansas and Kentucky are revenue share agreements…..they are so far in excess of typical NIL FMV that they’d never pass the smell test of the CSC. But because its from the revenue share, it doesn’t matter. The revenue share is therefore not NIL in any sense…..it is straight up, unapologetic pay for play that is now legal.

My logic for considering combined Revenue Share & True NIL as Total NIL Payments:
Late in 2024 the State Excellence Fund was created to help fund Revenue Share. Most Everyone that was making recurring contributions to the Bulldog Initiative was contacted by a combination of Bulldog Club & Bulldog Initiative personnel and encouraged to transition that recurring contribution from the BI to The State Excellence Fund, so the intent of the MSU Athletic Department was to take funds that had been contributed to the Bulldog Initiative (NIL) and transfer it to The State Excellence Fund (Revenue Share). The way it was explained to me was that the contributions would still fund direct payments to athletes.

I don't think MSU is the only school that took this course of action.

My opinion is that the Revenue Share Number is a baseline of $20 million - $22 million in NIL that makes up a portion of $35 million to maybe as high as $60 million in total NIL for Power 4 (primarily Big 10 & SEC schools).

 

[Perd Hapley]

My logic for considering combined Revenue Share & True NIL as Total NIL Payments:
Late in 2024 the State Excellence Fund was created to help fund Revenue Share. Most Everyone that was making recurring contributions to the Bulldog Initiative was contacted by a combination of Bulldog Club & Bulldog Initiative personnel and encouraged to transition that recurring contribution from the BI to The State Excellence Fund, so the intent of the MSU Athletic Department was to take funds that had been contributed to the Bulldog Initiative (NIL) and transfer it to The State Excellence Fund (Revenue Share). The way it was explained to me was that the contributions would still fund direct payments to athletes.

I don't think MSU is the only school that took this course of action.

My opinion is that the Revenue Share Number is a baseline of $20 million - $22 million in NIL that makes up a portion of $35 million to maybe as high as $60 million in total NIL for Power 4 (primarily Big 10 & SEC schools).

There’s really no reason to get this far into the weeds.

End of the day, the university has a big pool of money from various sources. TV deal, apparel deal, ad revenue, donations, ticket sales, and so forth. Regardless of where all that money comes from, ultimately $15 million of it goes to football pay-for-play (call it whatever you want).

There is then a non-university affiliated portion that is distributed as “true NIL” via 3rd parties. Some of which may be collectives, some not. Either way, it’s not through the university. It’s actually THIS amount that ultimately determines our competitiveness in the portal, HS recruiting, and ultimately on the field. By most accounts, if we aren’t bringing in at least another $20 million here annually - bare minimum - then we’re not really ever going to have a chance at competing for anything above 5-7 / 6-6 type seasons.

The total amount of all of it needs to be at least $35 million.

 

[BreckyBratt]

 

[3-2 Dawg]

Every source I have read has us at the bottom of the SEC just above Vandy. No idea how close to the truth but seems realistic given our alumni base. Which begs the question - is it realistic to expect anything above bottom third of the conference in this environment? Seems like we may somehow have missed a high watermark last year had we closed out the Florida and two UT games. Maybe more belief in the head coach gets a bit of a bump but hard to believe that bump is all that meaningful relative to the upper half of the conference? I for one am hoping Lebby gets it done this year because I am doubtful there are many other head coaches that want to take on this type of roster disadvantage.

 

[Bulldawg77]

Football is close to 30MM. Ross Delinger made references to this last week at media days. We are a little higher than what Ross stated. And it’s an amount I have been stating since last fall. I have been on here numerous times to explain the NIL situation. We are not Texas or ATM or UGA or some others in the Big10 but we are competitive. One major difference others schools have that we don’t is a large amount of those fanbases donating 25 to 100 a month to the respective collectives. We still have a lot of people refusing to donate who can but are looking for excuses not to donate . And I’ll say it again it’s your money do with it what you want, but if you can give every fan of MSU should try and donate. You may not think it helps but that’s being short sighted. It does help. It also helps to see the fan base committed to winning should we have to make a change at the two major sports. Coaches look at NIL and commitment before discussing the job and contracts.

 

[Anon1774962825]

Hadad interviewed Andy Staples the other day at media days and Staples said State’s roster was in the upper 20 millions. And we tried to pay the left tackle that went to LSU 5/6 million. Money was not the problem. We had money left.

 

[BoDawg.sixpack]

How successful has the school been in soliciting funds from some some of the NFL talent that Mullen developed? Looking at these figures it's really hard for me to imagine our NIL budget being so low.


Dak Prescott
4 years, $240 million

Chris Jones
5 years, $158.75 million

Jeffery Simmons
3 years, $105.8 million

Fletcher Cox
6 years, $103 million

Montez Sweat
4 years, $98 million

Elgton Jenkins
4 years, $68 million, potentially $74 million

Preston Smith
OLB/DE
4-year, $52.5 million

Darius Slay
3 years, $50 million

Benardrick McKinney
5 years, $50 million

 

[Perd Hapley]

Hadad interviewed Andy Staples the other day at media days and Staples said State’s roster was in the upper 20 millions.

Upper $20 million tracks with $15 million in revenue share, plus $12-14 million 3rd party NIL on top of revenue share. That’s about what I expected, and shared above. And it’s not enough.

And we tried to pay the left tackle that went to LSU 5/6 million. Money was not the problem. We had money left.

And how much did LSU pay him? I guarantee you it’s more than our max offer was. He didn’t take a pay cut to go there, I assure you. Therefore, money was a big part of the problem. And it always will be for players of that caliber.

 

[Maroon13]

Upper $20 million tracks with $15 million in revenue share, plus $12-14 million 3rd party NIL on top of revenue share. That’s about what I expected, and shared above. And it’s not enough.

This is my guess as to the numbers thrown out around here.

State fans did increase their giving by 37% to the university in 2025(knight commission). So I find it hard to believe Howard Industries and whomever else increased their giving to the school by 37% AND gave another $30 million to NIL (outside the school to collectives).

 

[TheBannerM]

I for one am hoping Lebby gets it done this year because I am doubtful there are many other head coaches that want to take on this type of roster disadvantage.

If we fire Lebby, I suspect you'll see Selmon rally the big money boosters to offer an upgraded NIL package to obtain/retain talent in order to attract decent coaching candidates. Va Tech and Oklahoma State promised their new head coaches more resources than the previous staff and got pretty good results so far from portal season. We're going to have to do that with the next coach.

If Lebby has a decent season, you'll have a lot of NIL support coming in to keep Kamario & Co. and to upgrade the talent around him. I get the feeling a lot of State fans and boosters are waiting to see if Lebby turns it around this season before really opening up the wallet.

 

[thatsbaseball]

How successful has the school been in soliciting funds from some some of the NFL talent that Mullen developed? Looking at these figures it's really hard for me to imagine our NIL budget being so low.


Dak Prescott
4 years, $240 million

Chris Jones
5 years, $158.75 million

Jeffery Simmons
3 years, $105.8 million

Fletcher Cox
6 years, $103 million

Montez Sweat
4 years, $98 million

Elgton Jenkins
4 years, $68 million, potentially $74 million

Preston Smith
OLB/DE
4-year, $52.5 million

Darius Slay
3 years, $50 million

Benardrick McKinney
5 years, $50 million

I wouldn't doubt for one second that most of those guys feel like the school owes them money . "Dear old Alma Mater" has left the building .

 

[bddawg]

I wouldn't doubt for one second that most of those guys feel like the school owes them money . "Dear old Alma Mater" has left the building .

It's over 30 mil

 

[o_Hot Rock]

I would say that it’s not semantics at all in regards to the question at hand. It’s the difference between us paying $20 million vs us paying $35 million to our football team. That’s a huge swing. The revenue share number just doesn’t matter, because it’s the same for everybody. The physical NIL number, what we pay on top of the revenue share, is the only thing worth assessing the value of compared to other schools. If your position is that our actual NIL number is only $5 million (as indicated by your $20 million total), then we would be in really, really bad shape.

Furthermore, there’s a huge difference in revenue share vs. NIL in the regulatory sense. Revenue share comes straight from the university, and is not subject to approval by the CSC clearinghouse. That’s why all these megadeals that these one and done basketball players are signing with Kansas and Kentucky are revenue share agreements…..they are so far in excess of typical NIL FMV that they’d never pass the smell test of the CSC. But because its from the revenue share, it doesn’t matter. The revenue share is therefore not NIL in any sense…..it is straight up, unapologetic pay for play that is now legal.

I guess he could have asked, "How much do you think we are spending on players from all sources?" That way you and I both would have typed less this day with such an idiotic argument over word play on a message board. My guess is it's north of 20 and less than 25 mil total but I don't know ****.

 

[Perd Hapley]

If Lebby has a decent season, you'll have a lot of NIL support coming in to keep Kamario & Co. and to upgrade the talent around him. I get the feeling a lot of State fans and boosters are waiting to see if Lebby turns it around this season before really opening up the wallet.

That’s a Catch-22 though. “Wait and see” is not a luxury that anyone has anymore. It’s the equivalent of a death sentence. Money on the sidelines 100% assures more losses on the field.

If we have boosters that have like $10-$15 million ready to go, but they don’t pull the trigger because of lack of faith in Lebby maximizing it in the W-L column, then they are self-assuring the destruction of the current regime. May as well fire Lebby now.

Goes like this:

1) Good coach + good players = good results (8-4 or better against 10-game P4 slate)

2) Average coach + good players = variable results that could be anywhere from 5-7 to 7-5 or so against a 10-game P4 slate….depending on luck.

3) Good coach + average players = same as #2 above

4) Average coach + Average players = 6-6 at best, maybe worse depending on key injuries or other bad luck

5) Average coach + bad players = 5-7 or 4-8

6) Bad coach + average players = 5-7 or 4-8

7) Good coach + bad players = 5-7 or 4-8

8) Bad coach + Bad players = 3-9 or worse

Bottom Line: Nobody on planet earth would describe Lebby as anything more than an average coach. 95% would call him a pretty bad coach at this point. Either way, in the context of the SEC, if you aren’t spending the funds, you have bad players. That puts our ceiling in that 3-9 to 5-7 range, and makes the entire season just another wasted year.

 

[Willow Grove Dawg]

That’s a Catch-22 though. “Wait and see” is not a luxury that anyone has anymore. It’s the equivalent of a death sentence. Money on the sidelines 100% assures more losses on the field.

If we have boosters that have like $10-$15 million ready to go, but they don’t pull the trigger because of lack of faith in Lebby maximizing it in the W-L column, then they are self-assuring the destruction of the current regime. May as well fire Lebby now.

If this situation exists, you have to make a change in leadership to get this money

 

[patdog]

$20,000,000.27 *

* updated balance with Shmuley's Oby's Round-up for NIL.

Man, I tried to do my part on my way to Tupelo Friday. Planned to hit Starkvegas around noon and figured I'd eat at Oby's since I hadn't in so many years. Figured with all the new restaurants over the last decade or so and it being kind of out of the way maybe it wouldn't be as busy as it used to be. No such luck. Line was about out the door so I went to the Grill. Impressive a restaurant can draw that kind of crowds for so many years.