Kansas football is sitting in a tough spot in the current NIL landscape, and a new report from The Athletic makes that plain.
The outlet’s latest look at roster spending found that eight of the top 10 teams in the AP Poll are pouring massive money into NIL, with figures ranging from $38 million for 11th-ranked Alabama to $54 million for 6th-ranked Ohio State. Other big spenders listed in the report include Oregon (21st), Texas (1st), LSU (7th), Texas A&M (9th), Miami (5th), Notre Dame (3rd), Tennessee (15th), Ole Miss (8th), and Texas Tech (13th).
According to the report, Kansas football has the sixth-lowest NIL payroll in the country when the three service academies - Army, Navy, and Air Force - are left out, since those schools do not pay athletes. Three other Big 12 programs - Cincinnati, Iowa State, and Arizona - are also in the bottom six, while Duke and Boston College spend the least on football through NIL.
For Kansas, that kind of gap creates an obvious problem. The Jayhawks are not operating in the same financial lane as the programs spending at the top of the market, and that makes landing difference-makers much harder.
The program is left hunting for undervalued players, hoping to find talent others missed. If those players break out, bigger spenders can still come calling.
The source article argues that facility upgrades and coaching alone won’t close that divide if the money never matches up. It points to Kansas’ recent results - 9-4, 5-7, and 5-7 over the last three seasons - as the kind of year-to-year reality schools in this position may face.
The broader criticism lands on the NCAA and the system that came before NIL. The article says the old setup, with athletes receiving tuition, books, room and board, and $25 per week, was never enough and that the NCAA spent too long defending an outdated amateur model while schools and conferences made major revenue.
Now, the piece says, the NCAA is weakened by repeated legal losses and is looking to the federal government for help. It argues the power conferences should break away, create their own structure, and set rules that work for athletes and schools alike.
The report also notes that this issue goes beyond football. Basketball NIL spending has to be accounted for as well, leaving less room for athletes in sports that do not bring in much revenue.
The bottom line from the article is blunt: unless something changes soon, the gap between the biggest spenders and everyone else will keep widening, and schools like Kansas will keep fighting an uphill battle.
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