College football finally has a spending limit, and Congress didn’t write it. The Big Ten NIL cap, approved Wednesday, limits what each school can pay or arrange for its athletes to about $49 million a year, The Associated Press reported. Notably, the rule took effect immediately.
Players’ lawyers are already threatening to fight it. Still, the conference did something Washington hasn’t managed to finish: it set a budget and said it would enforce it. Now the House should do its part and pass a federal standard, with one fix.
Key Takeaways
- The Big Ten NIL cap limits school-arranged third-party deals to $27.5 million per school, plus about $22 million in revenue sharing.
- The combined limit of roughly $49 million mirrors the Protect College Sports Act, which passed the Senate 77-22 in September.
- The House returns Nov. 9, and the bill dies if it is not law by Jan. 3, when a new Congress is sworn in.
- Plaintiffs’ attorneys in the $2.8 billion House settlement say they intend to fight any such limit.
- A federal audit found 94% of Division I athletic programs spent more than their athletics brought in during 2023-24.
What the Big Ten NIL Cap Actually Does
First, the mechanics. Under the 2025 House settlement, schools can already share revenue directly with athletes, up to $21.5 million this season. The new rule adds a second bucket. Each of the 18 Big Ten schools can arrange up to $27.5 million in third-party name, image and likeness deals, AP reported.
Why does that matter? Many of those deals run through collectives and other “associated entities” tied to a school. Critics have long seen them as a way around the revenue-sharing cap. So the Big Ten NIL cap brings that money inside the rules and puts a ceiling on it. Also, violations will bring escalating financial penalties and other discipline.
Importantly, the rule does not stop a player from earning money on his own. Athletes can still sign deals with any business they choose, as long as the school or its partners are not brokering them. In other words, the free market for a player’s own name stays open. What gets capped is the school’s checkbook.
The conference was clear about its goal. “While we await the passage of the Protect College Sports Act, which has our full support, it is imperative our member institutions can begin to plan, budget and build their rosters approximating the act’s economic structure,” the Big Ten council of chancellors said, according to CBS Sports.
Why Fiscal Conservatives Should Like This
We argued recently that baseball does not need a salary cap, and that still holds. Baseball owners risk their own money. College sports is different. Sixteen of the Big Ten’s 18 members are public universities, and many of their athletic departments are deep in the red.
For example, UCLA’s athletic department carries a deficit of $241.1 million after seven straight years of spending more than it earned, Higher Ed Dive reported, citing the Los Angeles Daily News. In fact, its chancellor admitted the department’s “current path is not sustainable.” Likewise, Minnesota faces a second straight year of a roughly $9 million shortfall.
It is not just a few schools, either. According to a July report from the Government Accountability Office, 94% of Division I athletic programs spent more on athletics than the revenue they brought in during the 2023-24 year. Someone covers that gap. Schools are leaning on donors, game-day fees and even university reserves, Higher Ed Dive found. North Carolina, for example, is looking to tap a “quasi-endowment” fund.
Meanwhile, the bidding war keeps escalating. Oregon and Ohio State are each spending more than $40 million on football alone this year, CBS Sports reported. Against that backdrop, the Big Ten NIL cap of $49 million for an entire athletic program is not stingy. It is a guardrail.
The Lawyers Want No Big Ten NIL Cap at All
Not everyone is cheering. Steve Berman, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys in the House settlement, said his team intends to fight the rule. “Any cap that would keep schools from facilitating deals is a step in the wrong direction,” he told AP.
However, the Big Ten disagrees. It says the settlement mainly governs the NCAA and college sports as a whole, not what an individual conference can require of its own members. A court may have to settle that question.
Even so, the principle is simple. A group of schools that pays the bills should be allowed to set a budget. Families do it. Businesses do it. Washington should try it sometime. A system with no ceiling is not a system. It is a blank check.
Congress Can Make the Big Ten NIL Cap Stick
Still, the Big Ten NIL cap only covers one conference. That is why the Protect College Sports Act matters. The Senate passed it 77-22 on Sept. 28. It would let schools add a retention fund of up to $22.5 million, plus $5 million set aside for women’s and Olympic sports, CBS reported. Opportunities for female athletes matter, as we noted when Washington voters took up girls’ sports.
In addition, the bill limits athletes to one free transfer, caps eligibility at age 24 and five years, and gives the NCAA limited antitrust protection. However, time is short. The House is out until Nov. 9, after the midterm elections. If the bill is not law by Jan. 3, it dies and the process starts over.
Opponents like Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey are hoping a different Congress writes a different bill. “Democrats should have a chance to really author a bill that corrects for a lot of the failings in this bill,” Booker told CBS. That is exactly why the House should not wait.
The One Fix the House Should Make
House Republicans have a fair complaint. The Senate bill says nothing in it should be read as proof that players are or are not employees, Front Office Sports reported. Many House Republicans want a clear ban on employee status instead.
They are right, because once college athletes become employees, the door opens to unions, payroll taxes and labor disputes. That would turn a campus tradition into a minor league run by lawyers. As a result, the small programs Congress says it wants to protect would be the first to fold.
Meanwhile, some conservatives, like Rep. Michael Cloud of Texas, wonder why Congress is rushing to save college sports when college education “still needs saving.” That is a fair point. But a clear national rule with a firm spending limit is cheaper for families and schools than years of lawsuits.
Finally, critics have a point about coaches. The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel noted that the bill does nothing to cap coaches’ salaries, Higher Ed Dive reported. Colorado, for instance, pays its football coach more than $10 million a year, according to USA Today. After all, a spending limit that skips the sideline is only half a budget.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Big Ten NIL cap?
It is a Big Ten rule, approved Oct. 28, that limits each school to $27.5 million in school-arranged third-party NIL deals plus about $22 million in direct revenue sharing, for roughly $49 million total.
Can Big Ten athletes still sign their own NIL deals?
Yes. Athletes can still pursue NIL deals with any business on their own. The limit applies to deals that the school or its affiliated partners arrange.
What happens to the Protect College Sports Act now?
The Senate passed it 77-22 in September. The House returns Nov. 9, and any changes would send it back to the Senate. If it is not law by Jan. 3, it must start over.
What do you think? Should Congress lock in a spending limit for college sports, or let the market sort it out? Tell us in the comments.
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