Since college athletes began profiting off their Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) on July 1, 2021, Division I athletics — especially for Power 5 Big Ten schools like the University of Wisconsin-Madison — have been a “Wild West” of spending and competition.
Success in college athletics is now based on the ability of programs to innovate and generate revenue for their teams and players. For example, the Ohio State Buckeyes, reigning national champions in football, reportedly allocated around $20 million in NIL payouts to their roster last year.
With an estimated $2 billion for 2025, NIL spending has taken over college sports.
How is Wisconsin faring?
Wisconsin’s Athletic Director Chris McIntosh spoke to members of the House Judiciary Committee examining potential NIL and antitrust issues on March 11. “I think the combination of third-party NIL and permissibility of unlimited transfers has put our coaches in a really tough position and it’s created roster instability, which I think is not fair to teammates on those teams,” McIntosh said.
Although McIntosh has expressed concerns about the evolving landscape of college athletics, Wisconsin football has had to adapt after failing to make a bowl game for the first time since 2001 last year.
The highest-paid Wisconsin football player is Tanner Koziol, a tight end who transferred from Ball State. Koziol has a $640,000 NIL valuation, according to On3 Reports.
Maryland transfer Billy Edwards, one of the candidates for Wisconsin’s starting quarterback job for the 2025 season, has a NIL valuation of $420,000 and is the fourth-highest-paid player on the Badgers football team.
Koziol and Edwards are indicative of the new era of college sports where talent is brought in through the transfer portal and promises of NIL endorsements and sponsorship deals.
To fund this initiative, McIntosh and UW Athletics have pursued a variety of ways to generate more revenue for the program.
On Jan. 29, the Kohl Center unveiled a Culver’s logo on the court as part of a major corporate sponsorship deal.
For the first time in 28 years, concerts will be held at Camp Randall, with Morgan Wallen performing on June 28-29, followed by Coldplay on July 19.
But McIntosh also said, “The unstable environment that we are currently operating in is not sustainable to us. It’s been a challenge.”
Simply put, even with the recent efforts to raise money for the program, Wisconsin lacks the resources to compete with other high-level programs in acquiring and keeping talent.
For example, AJ Storr was Wisconsin’s stand-out basketball player during the 2023-24 season. After last year’s season, Storr entered the transfer portal, where he received $1 million in NIL deals from Kansas.
“Poaching is real,” men’s basketball head coach Greg Gard said following Storr’s departure. “There’s also business decisions to make in the portal. For [AJ], he’s in a category where those numbers are real. That’s just the business we're in right now.”
Gard and his staff then used the transfer portal to replace Storr and brought in Missouri forward John Tonje.
Tonje led Wisconsin in scoring and earned first-team all-Big Ten this year. However, Tonje had originally transferred to New Mexico State before he ultimately flipped to Wisconsin.
“I make my pick off of basketball,” Tonje said. “There’s so much going on and so much to worry about. At the end of the day, I just want to play basketball. I thought it was the best fit to play here at Wisconsin.”
The contrast between losing Storr to a lucrative NIL deal and gaining Tonje, who prioritized fit over financial incentives, illustrates a bright spot of how even without top-dollar resources, Wisconsin can succeed by recruiting and developing lower-cost talent.
What does the future hold?
The NCAA is currently facing a $2.78 billion class-action lawsuit that is on the verge of being granted approval for settlement. The lawsuit, rooted in back pay for former athletes who were denied the ability to profit from their NIL, signals a monumental shift in college athletics.
While some details are yet to be finalized, one outcome will be a salary cap for NIL payments, where in 2025-2026, programs will receive $20.5 million to directly pay out to their players.
Regarding the salary cap, McIntosh said, “I think it’s been long overdue that we can now share revenues directly with those athletes in a fair way, in a generous way. And that will, in turn, support the entire model, the entire ecosystem in which we've been successful in the past.”
Athletic Directors like McIntosh, along with the NCAA, hope these adjustments will restore a level playing field in recruiting and encourage more athletes to prioritize a program’s fit and culture rather than financial incentives.
In a world where athletes are paid equally, coaches, facilities and on-field success would reemerge as the pillars of recruiting — something Wisconsin has and will continue to prioritize as they are building a new $285 million football training facility.
The facility is supposed to open for the 2026 season and is the most expensive construction project ever done by UW Athletics.
While the focus of the building is on football, the space will also provide an indoor track and field facility, something Wisconsin currently doesn’t have.
There will also be a new weight room and dining area for all student-athletes to benefit from.
The Wisconsin athletic department’s decision to make the facility accessible and beneficial for a variety of sports shows that the department is committed to preserving a broad-based model of collegiate athletics — one that supports not just revenue-generating sports like football and basketball, but also Olympic and non-revenue sports that have helped define Wisconsin’s athletic excellence.
However, funding these teams through the salary cap could prove to be difficult.
With only $20.5 million available for all of a college’s athletes to be compensated with, Power 5 schools have to consider what teams deserve more funding than others.
As of now, there doesn’t seem to be any baseline percentage or legislation outlining the salary cap’s compliance with Title IX.
Women's teams and Olympic and non-revenue sports could have very little financial support, which would result in roster cuts, scholarship losses and the potential elimination of teams.
In response to the growing concerns, Wisconsin Congressman Thomas Tiffany said at an April 11 press conference at the Kohl Center, “I want to know what is happening in regards to Title IX. But also the non-revenue producing sports, which so many young people across America have been able to enjoy and have been able to participate in. I’ll be watching those two things real carefully as we craft legislation.”
With continued support from lawmakers and the development of clear federal guidelines, there is hope that a more balanced structure will emerge, and teams will receive the funding that is fair for their respective situations.
Wisconsin Athletics seem to be well-positioned moving forward with major investments in projects that can help develop all of their teams, but with upcoming rulings, out-of-control NIL spending, and well-heeled competition from other Big Ten schools, the Badgers need to continue to adapt and find an edge over other programs in order to carry out their championship aspirations.
