NIL and Revenue Share in College Basketball

In 2021, college athletes started getting paid for their name, image, and likeness. In 2025, the House settlement made it legal for schools to pay them directly.

The headlines—seven-figure deals, school-direct contracts—capture a small slice of what’s actually happening across college basketball. For most college basketball recruits, the financial picture stays anchored in scholarships and academic aid; income from NIL and revenue share will be slim-to-none.

What NIL and revenue share are

NIL is effectively money paid to a college athlete by a third party—a brand, a sponsor, a local business, a fan-funded collective—in exchange for using the athlete’s name, image, or likeness (what the acronym stands for).

Schools can also pay athletes directly out of the school’s own revenue—this is called revenue sharing. There’s an annual cap (around $20.5 million per school in 2025-26, growing each year), and schools decide how to allocate that money across all of their varsity sports.

Despite what you might hear about college athletes making money, NIL deals at most levels are small—a few hundred dollars for a local sponsorship, free gear in exchange for a social post, or nothing at all. Revenue share concentrates at the high-major D1 level. The athletes who see meaningful NIL or revenue-share money are a small fraction of college basketball, even within high-major D1 itself.

NIL across the levels

NIL exists at every level of college basketball that allows it. Revenue share lives at D1 only, and only at schools that are opted into it. What it looks like in practice varies enormously.

• High-major D1. The biggest NIL deals and the largest revenue-share allocations both concentrate here. Top recruits at top programs can see seven-figure NIL packages, especially in men’s basketball. Revenue share at high-major programs goes heavily to football and basketball.
• Mid-major and low-major D1. NIL exists but runs smaller. Most deals come from local businesses, regional brands, or modest collectives. Revenue share at these levels is much smaller and often concentrated in a few priority athletes per program.
• D2. NIL is permitted, with a smaller market. Most D2 athletes don’t see significant NIL money, though local sponsorships and small-brand deals can happen.
• D3. NIL is permitted, but the financial picture for D3 athletes is dominated by academic, merit, and need-based aid. NIL deals are rare and typically small.
• NAIA. NAIA was actually the first governing body to allow NIL (October 2020, before the NCAA). NIL is permitted, though most deals are modest.
• JUCO. NJCAA permits NIL. Most deals at the JUCO level are smaller and local.

The numbers most families see in the news—seven-figure deals, school-direct revenue-share contracts—concentrate at the very top of high-major D1. Below that, NIL is typically smaller, more local, and more situational.

Men’s and women’s basketball

NIL has been one of the most transformative changes in women’s college basketball in particular. The financial picture for women’s basketball has expanded faster than almost anyone projected.

• Women’s basketball NIL is growing fastest. Star players in women’s college basketball can now earn millions in NIL—amounts that were unthinkable five years ago. The growth concentrates at the top 1% of high-major D1.
• Men’s basketball NIL is larger in total dollar volume. Across all of college basketball, men’s NIL still moves more money than women’s. The gap is shrinking, especially at the top.
• Revenue-share allocation looks different. Men’s basketball typically receives a larger share of school revenue-share dollars than women’s, though the allocation varies by program and conference.