Help me understand what youre asking...
Profit comes from revenue - expenses
Revenue is going to be ticket sales, concessions, tv revenue, etc.
Expenses are going to be scholarships, food, travel, facilities, etc
Are you asking what portion of NIL the school used to fund their roster came from fans?
If so, whatever answer youre going to get is going to be misleading, at best, and wildly incorrect, at worst.
For one...we dont know that the figure the article mentions for UTs roster is even true...but for the sake of argument lets say it is.
So what comprises that 15mil number?
If it comes from the University (and its a public university) then the NIL figure is already going to be on the expense report. So that portion would be fairly easy to validate (though some schools have gotten around explicitly stating what they paid in NIL).
The second part of that is that people conflate rev share with NIL. They include rev share dollars in what is being provided to athletes and then call that total number NIL...except it isnt NIL.
If a collective pulls in 5 million for their roster and the school dishes out 3.5 million in rev share, the school could tout 8.5 million dollars in a NIL war chest and not a single dime of it would actually be NIL coming from the school.
That's an extreme example but lets say a school provides 6.5 million in NIL for its basketball roster, 3.5 million in rev share, and 5 million...thats 15 million, the exact total the article mentions, but with only a third of it coming from the school through NIL
The larger thing to be aware of is that not a single entity has a vested interest in downplaying their war chest, nor do they have a vested interest in being correct in the figures they put out.
No athlete is going to lowball what hes getting paid. It makes him look better to agents, other schools, girls, etc to inflate his numbers
No school is going to lowball what theyre paying. Yes, come to our school, here's an article showing we have 15 million dollars to play with. Receipts you say? No, no thank you.
No agent is going to lowball how much money he got for his client.
Youre funding less of a percentage for athletes than you have been funding for coaches for the last 50 years...but for some reason I dont see the hand wringing going on for that aspect of it.
Thread Replies (41)
A Little NIL Perspective: Building an NCAA Roster in 2026
-- jjbeat
May 04, 2026 at 04:36 PM ET
jjbeat
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05/04/26 04:36 PM ET
Quick search says UT MBB program generated $12M in profit, FWIW.**
-- 40ozDistrict
May 05, 2026 at 12:21 PM ET
40ozDistrict
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05/05/26 12:21 PM ET
How much NIL dd the fans provide for the team to generate that profit?**
-- JM397
May 05, 2026 at 02:20 PM ET
JM397
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05/05/26 02:20 PM ET
Help me understand what youre asking...
◄
-- GCHokie34
May 05, 2026 at 03:38 PM ET
GCHokie34
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05/05/26 03:38 PM ET
Funding for coaches vs funding for athletes...
-- Gobbler Guru
May 06, 2026 at 01:53 PM ET
Gobbler Guru
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05/06/26 01:53 PM ET
Agree there is no way to know exactly what "all in" is in terms of $$$.
-- Vippie1
May 06, 2026 at 09:38 AM ET
Vippie1
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05/06/26 09:38 AM ET
Id like to give you a specific number, but the current admin...
-- GCHokie34
May 06, 2026 at 12:36 PM ET
GCHokie34
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05/06/26 12:36 PM ET
Another good post. The AthDept follows the United Way
-- saret
May 06, 2026 at 12:54 PM ET
saret
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05/06/26 12:54 PM ET
NIL funds can be handled by the university independent of Triumph...
-- GCHokie34
May 06, 2026 at 01:00 PM ET
GCHokie34
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05/06/26 01:00 PM ET
Thanks for the response. This is an honest question. I believe you
-- saret
May 06, 2026 at 01:10 PM ET
saret
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05/06/26 01:10 PM ET
Tennessee/Virginia v. NCAA
-- GCHokie34
May 06, 2026 at 01:44 PM ET
GCHokie34
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05/06/26 01:44 PM ET
I was really trying to estimate how much teams spend on players through
-- JM397
May 06, 2026 at 05:05 AM ET
JM397
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05/06/26 05:05 AM ET
GC, this is an excellent, excellent post. Bravo!**
-- saret
May 05, 2026 at 04:40 PM ET
saret
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05/05/26 04:40 PM ET
I thought NIL is an “off books” expense since it is not paid by the school
-- Femoyer Hokie
May 05, 2026 at 03:59 PM ET
Femoyer Hokie
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05/05/26 03:59 PM ET
July of last year was the start when you could bring NIL in-house
-- GCHokie34
May 05, 2026 at 05:18 PM ET
GCHokie34
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05/05/26 05:18 PM ET
I believe the University can not touch funds that are NIL
-- Nelsonia Hokie
May 07, 2026 at 12:34 PM ET
Nelsonia Hokie
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05/07/26 12:34 PM ET
That is what the AD stated**
-- Nelsonia Hokie
May 07, 2026 at 06:36 PM ET
Nelsonia Hokie
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05/07/26 06:36 PM ET
There is a lot of context missing here...
-- GCHokie34
May 07, 2026 at 06:44 PM ET
GCHokie34
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05/07/26 06:44 PM ET
Are we finished adding to our current roster for this season?**
-- YBYSAIAHokie
May 05, 2026 at 12:14 PM ET
YBYSAIAHokie
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05/05/26 12:14 PM ET
No, my bet is they add at least 3 probably 4 more
-- GCHokie34
May 05, 2026 at 05:20 PM ET
GCHokie34
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05/05/26 05:20 PM ET
From the portal? I thought it was closed.**
-- YBYSAIAHokie
May 06, 2026 at 12:32 PM ET
YBYSAIAHokie
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05/06/26 12:32 PM ET
Likely 2-3 from the portal, 1-2 HS
-- GCHokie34
May 06, 2026 at 12:40 PM ET
GCHokie34
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05/06/26 12:40 PM ET
Doubt it. IF they can find 2-3 more, another big, a PG and a 3-4 wing.**
-- ancient alien 2018
May 05, 2026 at 02:30 PM ET
ancient alien 2018
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05/05/26 02:30 PM ET
5 million?That's like the 10th overall NBA pick. This is insane,competing
-- HokieBrazil
May 05, 2026 at 07:50 AM ET
HokieBrazil
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05/05/26 07:50 AM ET
Ky spent 20 million last year and now the faithful want the HC gone.
-- ancient alien 2018
May 04, 2026 at 06:21 PM ET
ancient alien 2018
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05/04/26 06:21 PM ET
That's the thing - if VT spends $5-10MM on a roster and makes the
-- hokiehill1117
May 05, 2026 at 08:34 AM ET
hokiehill1117
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05/05/26 08:34 AM ET
Yeah - no one is asking to match TN in this example….
-- GoldCoast
May 06, 2026 at 09:43 AM ET
GoldCoast
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05/06/26 09:43 AM ET
Unless youre including rev share, VT did not spend 5-10 mil this season**
-- GCHokie34
May 05, 2026 at 03:41 PM ET
GCHokie34
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05/05/26 03:41 PM ET
I wouldn't but that's just me.**
-- ancient alien 2018
May 05, 2026 at 10:24 AM ET
ancient alien 2018
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05/05/26 10:24 AM ET
I am curious what your target budget would be for VT basketball
-- hokiehill1117
May 05, 2026 at 01:29 PM ET
hokiehill1117
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05/05/26 01:29 PM ET
To be competitive, $8-10 million. 22 wins most seasons. Will it
-- ancient alien 2018
May 05, 2026 at 02:26 PM ET
ancient alien 2018
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05/05/26 02:26 PM ET
I think we are on the same page - if we get to spending $8-10MM with
-- hokiehill1117
May 06, 2026 at 08:54 AM ET
hokiehill1117
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05/06/26 08:54 AM ET
Is that 8 to ten include rev share? or just nil**
-- vtox1
May 05, 2026 at 07:09 PM ET
vtox1
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05/05/26 07:09 PM ET
Said in Nate Bargatze's voice, "nobody knows..."**
-- hokiehill1117
May 06, 2026 at 02:49 PM ET
hokiehill1117
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05/06/26 02:49 PM ET
To me it waters down the meaning of it all.
-- NC Hoke
May 04, 2026 at 05:39 PM ET
NC Hoke
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05/04/26 05:39 PM ET
Waters down the meaning of what? Only difference now is it's in the open.**
-- marcbvtgm
May 05, 2026 at 10:31 AM ET
marcbvtgm
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05/05/26 10:31 AM ET
Between the NIL and the related "rent a player" for a year model the care
-- Tuckahokie
May 05, 2026 at 06:01 AM ET
Tuckahokie
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05/05/26 06:01 AM ET