The Wisconsin Badgers football program has struggled to compete in the NIL era.
No one is asking head coach Luke Fickell to win a National Championship this season, but they're at least looking for a stronger performance now that the team's roster budget has been revealed.
The Athletic's Justin Williams broke things down as Fickell now has a roster "north of $25 million" to work with here in 2026.
For reference, that's "more than double what it was in 2025, according to people briefed on the budget who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss it publicly."
Prominent Badgers booster and UW Hall of Famer Ted Kellner said, to his understanding, the Badgers "were in the bottom third, bottom 40 percent of the Big
Ten in NIL money" last season. When it comes to 2026, he's heard "we're in the top half."
To further put things into perspective, Wisconsin's football program had an estimated NIL budget of less than $4M in 2024. Ohio State had what many believe to have been a $20M roster that season. Here in 2026, one can only imagine what the Buckeyes' roster is worth, but it's great to see Wisconsin up over $20M in a two-season span.
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This article originally appeared on Badgers Wire: How Wisconsin football's $25 million roster compares to previous years
