The Most Interesting Testimony From That Senate College Sports Hearing
Yeah, yeah, yeah, a big bill to govern college sports. But did you catch the part where Nick Saban recited Bama's roster budgets under oath?
Welcome to the College Football Newsletter, where Congress has finally produced something that everyone in college sports can agree is interesting. No, it’s not a comprehensive bipartisan law or anything like that, though we might be getting closer to that with the introduction of the Protect College Sports Act, the subject of this week’s Sports Business Hour with Extra Points’ Matt Brown.
What I’m actually referring to is NIL data from the tail end of the last college football dynasty. Under oath on Wednesday in front of the Senate Commerce Committee, Nick Saban revealed Alabama’s NIL budgets going back to 2021, including the changeover period from Saban to Kalen DeBoer.
Let me give you the history. My first year we had a collective at Alabama: $2.7 million. Next year, 7 million. Next year, $10 million. I retired. Next year $17 million. Next year, $24 million. Now you have schools that have close to $40 million rosters.
This mostly matches the rumors around Alabama’s rough level of spending the past few years. But in a space with little transparency, it was striking to get someone as public as Saban giving specific, year-by-year numbers. And doing it under oath!
Saban’s goal was to demonstrate how high the bill has become to run a successful college program, and to explain what he sees as the resulting threat to other sports. And that argument might work for the committee members sitting at the hearing. But you, the reader, know that money is just a piece of what makes a good team on the field.
For example, we can now compare 2025 Alabama to another school with a similar budget. Luckily for us, we don’t have to look far to find the Indiana Hoosiers, which Alex and Richard have reported had a budget pretty close to that same $24 million last year. These teams faced each other in the Rose Bowl. How did that turn out for the Crimson Tide? 38-3.
The difference was coaching and player development, but you probably won’t hear anything about payments in those departments being too high — not even if a head coach is the highest paid public employee in the entire state. I wonder why that is.
Because it’s the “wild west,” at least according to the people at those congressional hearings, the amount of money for players will go up. Will Alabama’s player development follow? We have to wait until the players hit the field in a few months. Until then:
Here’s what Alex and Richard dropped into your podcast feeds this week
For subscribers, the crew has a vibe check for Year 2 coaches. Who is already on the hot seat and why is it Bill Belichick?
A new Sports Business Hour with Matt Brown went live on Thursday. They talk about the new bill that aims to regulate college player payments, the troubles with staging international games, Utah’s private equity deal, and of course, the latest Brendan Sorsby news.
Some recommended reading
On the topic of Alabama player development, Richard wrote about Ryan Coleman-Williams and his expectations in his third year as Crimson Tide receiver.
Over at Slate, Alex interviewed LA voters who are supporting reality star Spencer Pratt for mayor.
For The Athletic, Michael Silver talked to Maurice Jones-Drew about the NAACP’s boycott and how we shouldn’t underestimate player collective action.
Some college hoops venue news: rather than playing at Madison Square Garden, Michigan and Duke will now play … at the Miami Marlins’ stadium?
Thanks for reading, and we’ll talk to you next week.