When the Ohio State football program spent $20 million to win the 2024 national championship, that was a shock for a lot of college football fans. Now, that roster cost seems like a bargain. After IU donors came out in droves to help the Hoosiers win a national title, all of the big programs are spending.
The Buckeyes are still spending a lot of money to keep themselves competitive. However, it's almost impossible to narrow down how much money each program is spending on its roster. The approximate amount of how much NIL money the Buckeyes are spending has been revealed.
Ohio State is spending close to the most money in the country on its roster
According to Chris Hummer and John Talty of CBS Sports, the Ohio State Buckeyes are spending more than $40 million on the roster this season. The exact figure remains a mystery. What isn't a mystery is the fact that Jeremiah Smith is the player who is getting paid the most.
Smith claims that he turned down a $10 million NIL offer from another team to get into the Transfer Portal. The exact amount of money he is making isn't known, but it is less than the $10 million offer he got from somewhere else. Still, the Buckeyes have the funds to make it all work.
This spending spree is now necessary in order for the Buckeyes to compete for a national championship. They are not the only team spending that much money on its roster this year. LSU, Miami, Oregon, Notre Dame, Texas, and Texas A&M are all spending more than $40 million.
However, the Buckeyes are not spending the most money of any college football program. That crown goes to LSU, which Hummer and Talty reveal is spending close to $50 million. Ohio State doesn't need to needlessly throw around that kind of money in order to compete.
Ohio State will continue to approach NIL spending differently than other programs
Ryan Day and the Buckeyes have set a standard of how they operate when it comes to NIL spending. They will not deviate from that. They believe what they are doing is working. They have increased their spending a bit in recruiting, but they aren't shelling out for every five-star recruit out there.
The 2026 recruiting class finished with the fourth-best ranking in the country. A lot of that was due to increased spending from the 2025 class. Day has said that he would rather pay a premium for proven production than for untested recruits, so he is willing to pay more for guys in the Transfer Portal.
Day would also rather pay up to keep the guys in the program from exploring the portal. He still wants to build his program from high school recruits as much as possible, and this NIL spending amount is the cost of doing business in today's college football.
Winning a national championship would make all of the money spent well worth it, just as it was back in 2024.
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