The Name, Image and Likeness era of college football has changed the game, and for many teams like Notre Dame, they’ve had to make major adjustments to how the program is ran.
Once viewed as a lower-top tier program, the Irish have erupted under head coach Marcus Freeman, changing with the times and making massive upgrades to facilities on campus. Recently, The Athletic accessed it sources who gave it estimated budgets of each program, as Notre Dame was just outside the top-5 as No. 7.
Their insiders gave the Irish a range of spending $41-$48 million on its roster, which isn’t far off the leader, Ohio State with an estimated cost being $49-$54 million. When looking at the top, its littered with team that have major expectations for this season,
but it doesn’t always work out that way.
Oregon is No. 2 on the list, but they’re off to a rocky 1-1 star, and could easily have been 0-2 if not for a late touchdown to fend off upset minded Boise State. Florida also has a pretty large budget, and there’s potential with a very difficult upcoming schedule that their 2-0 start could be fools gold.
Back to Notre Dame, the estimation makes plenty of sense, they’ve managed to keep the top players on its roster, which costs plenty, along with paying top-level recruits and transfers. By being able to stay close to the top of this estimated list, the Irish have positioned themselves to be a College Football Playoff contender every year.
College football’s most carefully guarded secret is the amount of money flowing to the players on each roster.
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) September 16, 2026
So we reached out to 70 sources across the sport.
Estimated budgets for all 68 teams: https://t.co/MFwc0s1Nzy pic.twitter.com/SGEfei8jWt
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This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: Report: Notre Dame among top roster spenders in college football
