It's been just over one year since the passing of the House v. NCAA settlement, which allows colleges to pay student-athletes directly for their name, image and likeness.
With six Kentucky schools opting into the settlement, the Louisville Courier-Journal requested records from all six schools to see how much money they had publicly paid out to their athletes. The University of Kentucky was the only school that did not provide its records, but it's safe to assume that UK would rank first or second. It was widely reported that the Wildcats' mens basketball team alone garnered $22 million.
Of the schools that did respond, the University of Louisville led by a wide margin, paying its athletes a total of $32.93 million during the 2025-2026 school year.
Western Kentucky was the only other school to top $1 million, coming in at $2.475 million.
Eastern Kentucky reported $865,338 worth of payments to student-athletes, while Northern Kentucky issued $389,414 to its student-athletes. Morehead State was a distant last place with just $99,941 in compensation.
Northern Kentucky recently named Mike Odom as its next athletic director. His first day on the job was Monday, Aug. 3.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Where does NKU rank among Kentucky colleges for NIL compensation?
