Oregon coach Dan Lanning watches his team's game against Michigan at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Surprising List Of Biggest NIL Spenders In College Football

Originally posted on Oregon Ducks on SI | By Ally Osborne | Last updated Jul 16, 2025 10:11 AM ET

It's a well known assumption from college football fans that the Oregon Ducks are in the upper echelon of name, image, and likeness (NIL) investment.

Through Nike founder Phil Knight creating Oregon's NIL group Division Street, to the massive recent opportunities coming from institutions being able to share their revenue directly with athletes, the Ducks are capitalizing off this new frontier in order to bring in the top talent.

Now, according to a new poll conducted by On3 of 17 stakeholders across college football (think coaches, NIL collectives, general managers, agents, and administration members) the Ducks are once again in the spotlight for spending.

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Top Spenders in College Football (According to On3 Poll):

1. Texas Longhorns

2. Texas Tech
3. Ohio State
4. Oregon
5. Texas A&M & Miami
7. Michigan & USC
9. Tennessee
10. Auburn

The Ducks hit their No. 4 spot with 14 votes. Oregon and Arizona State are the only two West Coast teams to receive votes from this polling group, with the Sun Devils ultimately not making the list with two votes. Though Penn State did receive three votes, Michigan, USC, and Ohio State were ultimately the other Big Ten teams to join Oregon on the list.

It is important to note that On3 claims some polled stakeholders only opted to vote for a top five list, as they believed the cut off from the top five to the rest of the big spenders in college football was too vast.

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When looking at On3's current NIL Valuations of players, Senior wide receiver Evan Stewart (who is likely to miss a chunk of the 2025 season due to a knee injury) clocks in at No. 37 in the country overall for NIL evaluations regardless of sport played at an estimated $1.7 million. He's the only Oregon athlete listed, which could very well be a case of student athletes and universities only supplying the NCAA with deidentified data, and do not need to publicly unveil NIL values & payments.

Back in December of 2024, a report from CNBC placed Oregon out of their top ten most valuable college football team countdown with an estimated $780 million in value and $151 million in revenue.

The Oregonian also reported that the Ducks upped their spending across the athletic department by $18 million to accommodate the move from the PAC-12 to the Big Ten. The Oregonian also reported that they found projected expenses for the Ducks' 2025 fiscal year count up to $162.8 million.

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With highly valued transfer portal additions over the 2025 offseason like offensive tackle Isaiah World, interior offensive lineman Emmanuel Pregnon, running back Makhi Hughes, and safety Dillon Thieneman, the Ducks have their hands full with paying their current personell.

Looking to the future, the Ducks are topping the list of class of 2026 targets. Rival's 2026 Industry Ranking Football Team Recruiting Rankings put the Ducks at No. 1 for spenders with an estimated $241,000 average per player.