Most college football players outside the Power Four make almost nothing from NIL. The median third-party NIL figure for non-Power Four players is between $1,500 and $1,570 at every position, according to College Sports Commission data, which is about what EA Sports paid each player to appear in its college football game. In the Power Four, the real money comes from schools through revenue sharing, and it goes heavily to quarterbacks and linemen.
For the first time there's official data instead of rumors. It tells a less glamorous story than the headlines.
What the College Sports Commission pay data includes
The College Sports Commission, the enforcement body created by the House v. NCAA settlement, released anonymized pay data from its two reporting systems at the end of October. CAPS tracks revenue share paid directly by schools. NIL Go is the clearinghouse for third-party NIL deals.
For football, the revenue share numbers cover payments made or scheduled for 2026 rosters during the 2026 calendar year. Most performance incentives are counted as if they'll be paid. The NIL numbers cover third-party deals cleared between January 1 and September 30, 2026.
One caveat matters. In July, the commission said deals worth $600 to $15,000 wouldn't get its full pay-range review until an athlete hits $50,000 in associated deals in a school year, according to Business of College Sports. So the NIL data doesn't capture every small deal.
The totals are big. Schools paid $1.77 billion in revenue share across all sports from June 2025 through June 2026, and NIL Go cleared 46,478 deals worth $582.49 million through August 31, according to the commission.
Why the non-Power Four NIL median is $1,500
Here's the number I can't stop looking at. Outside the Power Four, the median NIL figure is $1,500 to $1,570 at all 11 positions, and at most positions the 10th, 25th and 50th percentiles are exactly $1,500, Kristi Dosh of Business of College Sports found in the commission's tables.
The most likely explanation is EA Sports College Football, which paid every participating player $1,500. If that's right, the "NIL market" for most non-Power Four players is one video game check. That's not a market. That's a licensing fee.
Even quarterbacks barely clear it. The non-Power Four quarterback median for NIL is $1,570, with the 90th percentile at $21,805, according to the commission.
How much Power Four quarterbacks make from revenue sharing and NIL
The Power Four is a different world. Among Power Four quarterbacks with a revenue share deal, the median for 2026 is $230,000 and the 90th percentile is $1.611 million, according to the commission. Their median NIL figure is $65,550, with the 90th percentile at $996,049.
Put the top numbers together and a 90th-percentile Power Four quarterback is looking at roughly $2.6 million. That's a real salary for a 20-year-old, and a big line item for the school.
Not every Power Four quarterback gets paid, though. About 30% get no revenue share at all, according to Dosh's breakdown. Backups are still mostly playing for a scholarship.
Schools pay offensive linemen while NIL pays skill players
The most interesting finding is who each source of money values. Schools and outside sponsors aren't paying for the same thing.
Offensive linemen rank sixth in NIL but third in revenue share, and their revenue share 90th percentile is $512,000, the highest outside quarterback, Dosh found. Defensive linemen are the best-paid position after quarterback, with a Power Four median of $150,000 for players who get revenue share. Running backs go the other way, from fourth in NIL to seventh of eight in revenue share.
That makes sense. Sponsors pay for the guys fans recognize. Coaches pay for the guys who win games. A left tackle doesn't sell car dealership ads, but he protects the quarterback who does.
Most players outside the Power Four get no revenue share
Here's the gap in one line. Three out of four Power Four football players on 2026 rosters are getting revenue share. Outside the Power Four, it's 29%, according to Dosh's count of the commission's roster data.
That's 5,817 paid players out of 7,743 in the Power Four, and 5,502 paid players out of 18,755 everywhere else. For non-Power Four players who do get paid, the median runs from $10,000 to $31,000 depending on position, with quarterbacks at the top.
The reason is budgets. The revenue share cap was about $20.5 million per school in the first year, but nothing requires a school to spend it. Power Four schools have the TV money to get near it. Most Group of Six schools don't, and they're putting what they have into a handful of players.
NIL won't pay the bills for most college football players
For players outside the Power Four, the takeaway is blunt. NIL isn't going to pay the bills. The best money comes from a school's revenue share budget, and you have to be a starter at a key position to get much of it.
For schools, the data shows where the payroll goes. It goes to quarterbacks and the lines first. For sponsors and collectives, it shows how little the outside market adds for most players.
And for anyone who thought NIL made every college football player rich, this should end that idea. A small group at the top is getting paid like pros. Most players outside the Power Four got a video game check.
