The first question asked to Penn State coach James Franklin Monday morning was how much it costs to put a College Football Playoff team together.
NIL and the transfer portal have revolutionized college football into becoming more and more like the NFL by the day.
Now more than ever, player acquisition and retention could be driven not solely on relationships and comfort, but ultimately by money.
Much was made of Ohio State’s reported $20 million dream roster assembled this season in hopes of beating Michigan and winning a national championship, one still up for grabs, and puts a microscope on the current economics of college football.
According to NIL estimates, Penn State sits third in the Big Ten in NIL funding with more than $13.7 million raised for football.
Indiana raising $13M in NIL funding in 2024 is wild. Same amount as Penn State.
Great work by @CCignettiIU.
Money = WINS! pic.twitter.com/R2QsCnfegm
— Adam Breneman (@AdamBreneman81) December 10, 2024
James Franklin wasn’t eager to provide details about the cost of putting together a College Football Playoff team.
“Great question (chuckles). I can’t really get into that, and it’s not that I would want to. It’s just hard. The way this system is set up right now, there’s no real way to track that,” Franklin said. “The information that you see out there or if an athletic director or somebody is willing to report it, there’s no real way to track it.”
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.NIL spending has morphed into the wild west and the NCAA doesn’t require a tracking system for payments or an NIL cap or floor to regulate spending.
“I think Boise’s situation is probably a little bit different, and I think you guys know our situation has been a little bit different in those areas,” Franklin said.
Franklin mentioned that he doesn’t have enough concrete credible information to further expand on NIL spending but called for Nick Saban to become college football’s first commissioner. Franklin is more focused on building and retaining relationships to bring and keep players at Penn State. The model has worked. Star quarterback Drew Allar and safety Zakee Wheatley both announced their return to Happy Valley for their senior seasons last week.
“I think there’s things that we see out there on social media. How credible that information is, I’m not sure. But I just spend a ton of time on our roster and our guys making sure they’re having a great experience,” Franklin said. “Giving ourselves the best chance to go out and win as many games as possible.”
Texas leads everyone with a projected $22.2 million, followed by Ohio State and LSU ($20.1). Boise State’s NIL funding did not register in the estimated database. Penn State faces Boise State in the 2024 Fiesta Bowl Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. from Phoenix, Arizona. The winner will play the winner of Notre Dame-Georgia in the Orange Bowl from Miami.
“We’re working hard at it and trying to raise as much money as we possibly can to put our program and our university in the best position to be successful,” Franklin said.
