Revenue & Player Compensation
Merit-Based Football is designed not only as a new competitive structure, but as one interconnected national football economy. Shared national commercial revenue would help support the 30-league pyramid, individual programs would retain meaningful local revenue, and players would receive standardized guaranteed cash compensation tied to the competitive level in which their team plays.
One System, Not 30 Separate Economies
The financial model depends on viewing the 30 leagues as competitive levels within one national football enterprise. The strongest shared commercial assets are pooled centrally, while programs retain substantial local revenue and the incentive to build their own fan support and commercial strength.
Shared National Revenue
The base model places the commercial rights that benefit most from national scale into the central system. These include:
- National media rights
- Streaming and digital rights
- National sponsorships
- Shared licensing and merchandise rights
- Other system-wide media and commercial rights
In the recommended planning case, centrally controlled revenue totals approximately $6.4 billion.
Locally Retained Revenue
Programs would continue to benefit directly from developing their own fan bases, facilities, donor relationships and local commercial value. Local revenue includes:
- Tickets and season-ticket revenue
- Premium seating, concessions and parking
- Local sponsorships
- Donations and booster support
- Local licensing and football-related commercial activity
Approximately $5.1 billion remains primarily with individual programs in the base model.
Where the $6.4 Billion Central Pool Goes
Players receive the largest portion of centrally controlled revenue. The remainder supports team operations, medical protection, financial stability, competitive balance, player development and the shared infrastructure required to operate a national football system.
A Compensation System That Rises With the Competition
Every player receives a standardized guaranteed cash base tied to the team's league. The complete League 1 through League 30 schedule produces approximately $3.184 billion in guaranteed annual base payroll. About $204 million of the central player allocation remains for governed supplements and related standardized player payments.
A Meaningful Floor
Lower-league increases are intentionally compressed to provide meaningful guaranteed compensation while preserving affordability and supporting player development.
Rewarding Advancement
Compensation rises more noticeably as teams advance while limiting extreme payroll shocks when a program moves from one level to the next.
Steeper Near the Top
The curve becomes substantially steeper where programs compete most directly for nationally valuable and elite football talent.
Promotion brings the higher league's standardized salary schedule beginning with the following football contract year. Relegation brings the lower league's schedule, subject to any individually guaranteed amount already earned for the completed year. The model does not recommend permanent parachute payments.
Base Compensation Is Not an Earnings Ceiling
Standard MBF compensation is intended to provide a predictable league-based foundation. It is not intended to force every athlete into the same total earnings profile.
Legitimate Individual NIL Remains Available
Players could continue earning outside income through genuine endorsements, appearances, social-media partnerships, autographs, camps, licensing and other bona fide commercial relationships.
At the same time, material NIL agreements should be disclosed, have a documented commercial purpose and remain reasonably connected to fair market value. Booster-controlled organizations should not be able to use nominal endorsements as unlimited direct pay-for-enrollment arrangements. Unusually large or structurally unusual agreements could be subject to independent review.
Why Every Team Is Limited to 85 Players
The 85-player limit is a true football roster maximum. Injured players remain part of the 85. There is no separate injured reserve with replacement rights, developmental roster, practice squad, taxi squad, redshirt group or walk-on group outside the cap.
Current MBF proposal
Illustrative larger-roster alternative
Cost Control
Twenty additional roster spots per program would increase direct payroll before accounting for the additional healthcare, insurance, equipment, travel, meals, training, academic support, staffing and administrative costs that accompany larger rosters.
Competitive Balance
The cap also limits talent warehousing. Elite programs cannot retain as many highly capable backups simply because they have greater resources, creating stronger incentives for players to seek meaningful opportunities elsewhere in the 426-team system.
Making the Entire Pyramid Sustainable
Promotion and relegation cannot function credibly if lower-resource programs are required to spend as though they already operate at the top of college football. The initial model therefore gives the bottom of the pyramid a compressed salary structure and makes central support increasingly important as local commercial revenue declines.
Support Beyond Salary
Lower-resource programs are supported through several parts of the central framework:
- Central team operating distributions
- Competitive-balance funding
- Medical and insurance support
- Stability reserves
- Shared central football operations
- Locally retained program revenue
The base distribution formula provides approximately $3.16 million per League 30 program before local football revenue.
Cash Salary Is Not the Entire Player Package
The quoted $30,000 to $300,000 figures represent guaranteed cash compensation. Educational and player benefits remain separate and continue to form part of the athlete's overall economic package and the program's operating cost.
- Tuition and fees
- Housing
- Meals
- Books
- Academic support
- Healthcare
- Training and rehabilitation
- Insurance
Built to Adjust When the Economics Change
The $11.5 billion base case is the recommended initial planning model. It is not a guarantee of future receipts. Media values, sponsorships, attendance, healthcare, insurance, travel expenses, player markets and other inputs can move materially over time.
Planning Model, Not a Prediction
The figures are estimates intended to demonstrate how Merit-Based Football could operate under a defined financial framework. They should not be read as guaranteed future revenue, guaranteed media contracts or forecasts for any particular university.
The Numbers Can Change. The Principles Should Not.
Merit-Based Football should be willing to change a salary figure, allocation percentage or financial mechanism when credible evidence shows that a better approach is available. Responsible revision does not require abandoning the larger purpose of the system. Financial policy exists to support the competition, its players and its programs, not to preserve a particular spreadsheet.
The durable objectives are a connected national pyramid, meaningful promotion and relegation, fair player compensation, competitive balance, financial sustainability, responsible roster management, player health and education, opportunities throughout the system, and an economic structure capable of attracting major programs and elite talent.
- Fair Player Compensation
- Financial Sustainability
- Competitive Balance
- Meaningful Advancement
- Player Health
- Educational Opportunity
- Responsible Revision
Want the Full Financial Model?
This page summarizes the major elements of the Merit-Based Football financial framework. The complete white paper includes the full 30-league compensation schedule, detailed revenue assumptions, allocation tables, representative team economics, stress testing, roster analysis, governance framework and supporting calculations.