Texas Tech Among Richest Teams in College Football: Report

In the rapidly evolving era of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL), Texas Tech has emerged as one of the most forward-thinking and financially robust programs in college football, earning the Red Raiders recognition as one of the sport’s “richest” teams, according to a recent report.

While headlines often focus on programs like Ohio State, Texas, or Oregon using multi-million NIL deals to land the top transfer portal targets, Texas Tech is setting a different — and arguably more sustainable — standard.

Through The Matador Club—a nonprofit collective headed up by Cody Campbell—the Red Raiders implemented one of the most comprehensive NIL systems in the country, and according to Indiana head football coach Curt Cignetti, it’s one of the richest, too.

“This is an unprecedented couple days, weeks, where everybody’s waiting on this rev share,” Cignetti told CBS Sports. “There’s five or six (programs) out there that have unlimited NIL resources. It’s kind of scary for everybody else. Our little pot of gold (at Indiana) is pretty nice, but we’re not at $40 million. Or $30 million. Or even $25 million.”

Some of the biggest spenders in the transfer portal are spending way more than a few million dollars, and TTU is one of them.

“Right now, I would say yes,” Cignetti responded when asked if roster spending has reached $40 million for other programs. “If you want to be the best, you got to be able to compete against the best. Right now, I understand that is Oregon, Ohio State, Texas. … Texas Tech because of their oil money. I think Notre Dame’s up there pretty good right now, too. Miami, of course.”

The Red Raiders have dominated the team transfer portal rankings across virtually all recruiting sites, with 12 of their 18 additions in this cycle ranking as four-star prospects.

“Those people are kind of playing their own game, but you’ve got to be in that next tier,” Cignetti said. “There are enough good ones out there. You’ve got to be able to retain your good ones and then go get what you need.” 

The scramble to add talent in this cycle is something the Red Raiders, and many other programs have made a priority. The reason for that lies with the House vs. NCAA settlement, which is set to be implemented before the 2025 season.

The House settlement will allow schools to pay players directly on July 1, 2025, but it will provide a standard of guidelines that schools have to abide by. Each school’s revenue-sharing limit will be capped at $20.5 million, with a 4% annual increase over a 10-year agreement. So, the Red Raiders are capitalizing on the current opportunity, and in theory, are setting themselves up for greater success moving forward.