The first official look at what players are paid

On Friday the College Sports Commission published something college sports has never had: what athletes are paid, by sport and by position. For football, its tables cover revenue share paid or scheduled for 2026 roster players across the calendar year, with incentive promises counted as if they will be earned, plus third-party deals cleared from January through September. They come as percentiles, not names.

Quarterbacks lead among players who are paid. Of the 367 Power 4 quarterbacks on rosters, 257 draw revenue share, at a median of $230,000 and a 90th percentile of $1.611 million. Among the 194 with a cleared third-party deal, the median contracted value is $65,550. The two kinds of pay sit in separate tables and can't be added into one player's total, because the player in the middle of one list isn't the player in the middle of the other. That makes this the first official yardstick for estimates like ours, and the number below is our first check against it.

The same week, the Big Ten set a ceiling of its own. On Oct 28 it limited each school to $27.5 million in third-party deals it helps arrange, on top of the $21.58 million revenue-sharing cap: $49.08 million in all, the total we worked out in No. 5 for the Senate's Protect College Sports Act, which the rule anticipates. Athletes can still sign deals on their own. The athletes' lawyers in the House settlement say the rule violates that settlement. The House of Representatives returns Nov 9 for a lame-duck session, the bill's last window before a new Congress starts over in January. CSC figures cover agreements through Sep 30, 2026.

One number

7x

the 90th-percentile Power 4 quarterback over the median, in the CSC's pay data and in our estimates

Among the 244 Power 4 plus Notre Dame quarterbacks we value, the 90th-percentile estimate, just over $2 million, is 7.3 times the median, about $280,000. The CSC's table for 257 paid Power 4 quarterbacks: $1.611 million against $230,000, 7.0 times. Our estimated market value covers more than revenue share, so our levels run higher; the ratio lands within 5% of theirs at receiver, tight end, offensive line and defensive back too. CSC figures through Sep 30; our estimates as of Nov 2, 2026.

From the site

Our top end runs steeper than the CSC's at running back and on the defensive line. Is that the market or our model? Reply to this email — we read everything.

Valuations are The NIL Standard's independent estimates.