Top 10 Richest NIL Collectives

[lukeneyland]

They only way they would break event is if you start charging out the nose for tickets, premium seating, sponsorships, etc. and actually get people to pay those prices, or cut resources to the bone and drop the programs. Pick your poison.

Oh, then there's the Title IX thing.

Title 9 mandates that we have a program not that we spend a particular amount. I guarantee it’s possible

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

I have a difficult time seeing getting a full ride to college for playing a sport as getting screwed. It’s more than most students receive. I don’t see institutional NIL payments as something student athletes are entitled to if their sport doesn’t generate enough revenue to run in the black.

All sports don't offer full athletic scholarships

 

[VolCalls]

Title 9 mandates that we have a program not that we spend a particular amount. I guarantee it’s possible

Not without decimating the program and ruining the experience of any student-athlete that may choose to come here. Might as well drop the program and face the music in court.

 

[Tnphil]

Have you been to Nebraska? Nothing to do there except get drunk and watch football.

I have you know I've planted and picked corn in Nebraska....So that makes 3.

 

[Johnnycatvol]

This is a sickening and ultimately embarrassing take… if you place self value on a college football team you have some serious work to do on yourself.

I think what he meant was we care about football. People around here make a living taking phone calls to let us vent our anger or express our joy. We do countdowns to the number of days before kickoff. We are the definition of fan being short for fanatic. So, I guess we all need to do some serious work on ourselves.

 

[cbrown]

All sports don't offer full athletic scholarships

Pretty sure WBB does, and it’s my understanding that they generate just about enough revenue to pay for themselves. My point (probably an unpopular one) is that every dollar you’re giving to a womens basketball player is a dollar you’re not giving to a football player. If it’s all coming out of one big pool of money managed by the collective, my preference would be to spend it on FB and MBB. Now, if people donate money and specify that they want it to go to specific sport, that’s another story, but if “general” collective funds are being given to other sports when they could be given to football, you’re just accepting that you’re OK with not optimizing football’s chances at competing at the highest level.

 

[lukeneyland]

Not without decimating the program and ruining the experience of any student-athlete that may choose to come here. Might as well drop the program and face the music in court.

I don’t care if it’s decimated. Football is what most of us live for

 

[VolCalls]

I don’t care if it’s decimated. Football is what most of us live for

I don’t “live for” football or any other sport. You sound like a disturbed individual.

 

[loservol]

Then a decision needs to be made. Being an everything school is great and all but if it doesn’t lead to championships then what’s the point?

"Jack of all trades, master of none" should be UT's new motto.

"Maecenas omnium artium magister est"

 

[lukeneyland]

I don’t “live for” football or any other sport. You sound like a disturbed individual.

Yeah you aren’t my kind of fan. You sound like someone that leaves games early

 

[KenStephTn]

We are in the top 3?? What are we doing trying to save the NIL money and gain interest?? Because from my seat EVERY Team in the SEC outside of Vandy and maybe UK(Football) has literally BLOWN Tennessee out of the water in the portal if NIL $$ isn't the problem then what is? I predict we lose to UGA,AL,FL,OK at the least. Then wouldnt be surprised if we lost another game we shouldn't and finish at 7-5. I would love to be wrong and I hope that I am but watching is lose starters to the portal n everyone around us is signing dudes out of the portal except us?? Somethings not right.

 

[volbound1700]

We are in the top 3?? What are we doing trying to save the NIL money and gain interest?? Because from my seat EVERY Team in the SEC outside of Vandy and maybe UK(Football) has literally BLOWN Tennessee out of the water in the portal if NIL $$ isn't the problem then what is? I predict we lose to UGA,AL,FL,OK at the least. Then wouldnt be surprised if we lost another game we shouldn't and finish at 7-5. I would love to be wrong and I hope that I am but watching is lose starters to the portal n everyone around us is signing dudes out of the portal except us?? Somethings not right.

It will be a down year but I think we win more games than you listed. I don't see the love for Oklahoma (especially since they have to go to Knoxville).

 

[Volfan76]

I have to tell you...this is fairly accurate. Don't think it is an accident that we suddenly are good at sports we have not consistently been that great at for decades before $$$$$$ to the players hit such grand numbers. Sports is important to us. Much more so than other areas of our lives versus the average person out there. We have a lot of fans that place a lot of self value on how UT sports does.

This fact makes the ineptitude of former administrations so much more egregious and depressing that they couldn't figure out a way to get it done with all of the resources available

 

[VolsnRavens]

You're telling me all the graduates from SC pumping gas can't give back to the university?

 

[VolCalls]

Yeah you aren’t my kind of fan. You sound like someone that leaves games early

Maybe on occasion. Depends on the score, weather, etc.

 

[VOLLeeann]

I have to tell you...this is fairly accurate. Don't think it is an accident that we suddenly are good at sports we have not consistently been that great at for decades before $$$$$$ to the players hit such grand numbers. Sports is important to us. Much more so than other areas of our lives versus the average person out there. We have a lot of fans that place a lot of self value on how UT sports does.

You are correct and that is sad as well.

 

[VOLLeeann]

I'm with you on that. I love Vol basketball and I'm happy that our baseball program is successful. That being said TN Football is my undying passion and has been for damn near 40 years. The outcome of a game can alter my mental health and mood for weeks. Hell I'm 44 and I cried like a baby girl when we beat Bama in 2022. There's few things in this world I want more than seeing my Vols win a Natty

ddunc...I understand your passion and your unwillingness to displace it but the matter is we are not in the age of football from whence your passion came. We are now in the age of Rent-a-Player. I don't even try to keep up with the roster until near season and even then I realize X player or Y player may hit the road at almost anytime. Do0d, it's time to reset. Take your mind of the sham that is.

Have a baby.

 

[Remy]

Some crazy takeaways: Mizzou at 10, Ole Miss at 6, Nebraska 8

Bama, Auburn. TAMU, UGA, LSU, UF not ranked

Tennessee is ranked number 2

I’m tickled our money is where our mouth is. Again if you’re not going run with the big dogs stay on the porch with granny and eat hush puppies.

 

[pimo1]

Some crazy takeaways: Mizzou at 10, Ole Miss at 6, Nebraska 8

Bama, Auburn. TAMU, UGA, LSU, UF not ranked

Tennessee is ranked number 2

TAMU, UGA and FL not being ranked is interesting... Bama, Auburn and LSU not so much. But all are explainable.

The first 3 are victims of saturation. In Texas there is a lot of money but also a college on every corner TAMU sits smack dab between Austin and Houston. Similar story in Florida. Its a situation of too far but not far enough away for UGA (the 3 biggest schools in Georgia are all in the same market). UTK is isolated on its own side of the state from 2 lesser schools. and is close enough to the border to tap into other good markets. There is no real football competition for hundreds of miles around Knoxville. Same is true for Missou, Kentucky and Oklahoma.

Bama, Auburn and LSU suffer from being podunk. Bama and Auburn both have their own markets but those markets are in Alabama. LSU is alone but its in the same situation there is no untapped money around them. Simply put there is a lot of competition for those dollars.


Below is a list of SEC states ranked by GDP I left in CA for sense of scale.

	State or federal district	Nominal GDP at current prices 2024 (millions of U.S. dollars)[1]		Nominal GDP per capita
		2023​	2024​	2023​	2024​
1​	California	3,870,379​	4,103,124​	$100,038​	$104,916​
2​	Texas	2,583,866​	2,709,393​	$85,110​	$86,987​
4​	Florida	1,600,811​	1,705,565​	$70,557​	$73,784​
8​	Georgia	831,828​	882,535​	$73,558​	$78,754​
17​	Tennessee	523,032​	549,709​	$74,081​	$75,748​
22​	Missouri	430,114​	451,201​	$68,623​	$72,108​
24​	South Carolina	327,420​	349,965​	$60,550​	$63,711​
26​	Louisiana	314,989​	327,782​	$68,507​	$71,642​
27​	Alabama	304,936​	321,238​	$59,174​	$61,846​
29​	Kentucky	279,707​	293,021​	$61,961​	$64,110​
30​	Oklahoma	256,689​	265,779​	$63,390​	$64,719​
34​	Arkansas	178,606​	188,723​	$57,657​	$60,276​
37​	Mississippi	151,147​	157,491​	$49,911​	$53,061​

note North Carolina is 11th and Virginia this is semi-relevant because of proximity to Knoxville. If Duke or UNC can become relevant for an extended period it could cause some issues for UT.

Where these schools are located is very important. In a lot of SEC cities the school is the city....If UTK stopped, it would still be a fine as a city. Would it hurt sure...but the city would survive. Thats not true for most SEC cities. I know some folks are gonna look at the chart and say FL and Texas are ahead of TN in GDP by a lot but there is also the fact that Texas and FL have 5000 semi-relevant schools. UGA is as mentioned, boned by location and the fact that Atlanta is an enigma.... Most of the money in ATL is not local.

UT is an interesting brand. I have never been to a city of a decent size and not been able to find a UT bar...heck I have found UT bars in most major countries I went to. Japan has quite a few. It's uncanny. Not like a bar with a few posters up I mean full on UT themed. The brand is lowkey pervasive. The fact people mix us up with the other UT actually does not hurt things.

One last note I think people remember the old days when boosters ruled... and money flowed.. thing is the amount of money being passed around back then was more urban legend than anything else. It was mostly 'benefits'. With NIL the sheer amount of money out there is not even comparable and that money has to be accounted for because its in the light of day.

 

[UT97Vol]

I question the exclusion of Michigan from the Top 10.

And UGA and A&M. That list is garbage.

No one really knows what everyone is spending, because there's no formal reporting requirements.

 

[UT97Vol]

If I were to put a top 10 together just based on comments from officials associated with various universities, I would include these teams in no particular order.

Texas, Ohio St, Michigan, A&M, Oregon, UGA, Bama, Texas Tech, Notre Dame, LSU.

And I think Miami has or may be passing one of those going into '25. I don't think Tenn is in the top 10. Probably close but not with these other schools.

 

[hUTch2002]

Have you been to Nebraska? Nothing to do there except get drunk and watch football.

 

[hUTch2002]

ddunc...I understand your passion and your unwillingness to displace it but the matter is we are not in the age of football from whence your passion came. We are now in the age of Rent-a-Player. I don't even try to keep up with the roster until near season and even then I realize X player or Y player may hit the road at almost anytime. Do0d, it's time to reset. Take your mind of the sham that is.

Have a baby.

No matter the question, “have a baby” isn’t the answer.