The Big Ten Conference adopted a new rule on Oct. 28, establishing a $49 million cap on institutional involvement in Name, Image, and Likeness spending per school. The cap includes $27.5 million for third-party NIL agreements and $21.58 million for current revenue sharing, as outlined under the House settlement agreement. Conference presidents and chancellors gave their unanimous approval.
Ohio State coach Ryan Day expressed support for the framework during Big Ten media days in July, noting the prior maximum was $21.58 million from the House settlement.
"I think we all would like to see more structure when it comes to the salary cap and then how things are handled above the salary cap," Day said. "Do I think the cap should be higher? Absolutely. What does that mean in terms of parity and all that? I don't know. But I can tell you right now, we want to pay our players and we certainly would like to see that cap go much higher."
The rule directly impacts programs like Ohio State and Oregon, which are projected to have the two most expensive rosters in college football, each costing around $50 million. Both will need to re-evaluate spending for compliance.
