Where is all the college sports money going? #CollegeFootball #Money

2 Sept 2026 · 1 min

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1:20

In this solo commentary, TJ Walker critiques the growing influence of private equity and financial engineering in American college sports. He notes that major universities can now pay athletes directly through Name‑Image‑Likeness (NIL) deals, with a potential total of about $21 million per school for the academic year. While acknowledging that athletes generate the product, Walker argues that schools simultaneously pour money into exorbitant coaching salaries—highlighting Georgia’s Kirby Smart’s $13 million contract—recruiting operations, and opulent facilities. He contrasts these expenditures with the modest compensation of adjunct faculty, who earn roughly $4,000 per three‑credit course, amounting to about $16,000 annually. Walker frames taxpayer‑funded stadium projects as a form of venture capital for the wealthy, while suggesting that when professors need health insurance, the same fiscal responsibility is suddenly recognized. The overall message is a critical view of how college sports prioritize spectacle and profit over academic values.

Chapters

Private equity is coming for college sports. Because apparently college football was the one part of American life that could look at $13 million coaches, palace-sized stadiums, and students gambling on their phones and say, what this needs is more financial engineering. Major colleges can now pay athletes directly, up to about $21 million per school this academic year. Good. The athletes create the product and deserve some of the money. But schools also want expensive coaches, recruiting armies, and locker room waterfalls that make ancient Rome look underfunded. Meanwhile, the average adjunct professor gets about $4,000 for teaching a 3-credit course. Teach 4 courses across an entire year, and that's roughly $16,000. Georgia football coach Kirby Smart received more than $13 million. That equals about 800 of those annual adjunct teaching loads. Not a faculty, an academic zip code. American sports economics is beautiful. When a billionaire wants a stadium, taxpayers become venture capitalists with no equity. When a professor wants health insurance, everybody suddenly discovers fiscal responsibility. Ultimize.