Just when you thought you’d seen it all with the college sports money grab, we give you Ohio State University.
The Roman Empire, everyone, needs more cash.
Ohio State president Ted Carter told USA TODAY that revenue sharing in the Big Ten – more cash for elite television properties – is ‘going to be a conversation that will be had over time.”
To this I say, the team that spent $41 million in 2024 to buy a national championship, the athletic program that generates more money than any other with the exception of Texas, is apparently bleeding cash.
Pray for them.
“There’s only a couple of schools that really represent the biggest brands in the Big Ten,” Carter said.
The two schools: Ohio State and Michigan. Who cares about the other 16 in the conference, they’re inconsequential.
Now before we go further with this nonsensical garbage, let’s run over last year’s win at all cost balance sheet at Ohio State, shall we?
Coach Ryan Day: $10 million.
Assistant coaching staff: $11.4 million.
Player NIL salaries: $20 million.
That $41.4 million investment included paying a nucleus of upperclassmen enough money to skip the NFL, and four impact starters from the transfer portal.
Ohio State doesn’t win the national title last year without signing a conference championship quarterback (Will Howard), the best running back (Quinshon Judkins) and defensive player (Caleb Downs) in the best conference in college football, and an All-SEC offensive lineman (Seth McLaughlin).
That all-in moment set the foundation for the future of player procurement, and by proxy, finding revenue streams. There’s no greater, no more easily accessible revenue stream, than television money.
And now we see just how far Ohio State will go to get it, including joining hands with – hold on to your bucknuts – That School Up North.
But there’s a teeny-weeny problem with this we deserve the cash and they don’t philosophy at Ohio State: there’s no leverage. To take a stand and demand more, there must be leverage.
What are Ohio State and Michigan going to do? Threaten to leave for the SEC? Go it alone as independents? Please.
Imagine the stones it takes to demand more money from a century-old conference of like minds and philosophies, of strict solidarity, with absolutely zero leverage.
You want more money because you’re Ohio State (and Michigan), and they’re not.
It’s bad enough that the Big Ten made Maryland and Rutgers wait several years before receiving a full revenue share. Or that Washington and Oregon, who joined the Big Ten last year, won’t receive a full share until 2030.
It’s worse that Ohio State (and Michigan) believes the rest of the Big Ten should supplement their athletic coffers — at the expense of their own ability to compete.
The value isn’t in specific teams, it’s in the conference. The Big Ten has shown some recognition of the need to help schools with smaller football stadiums through a ticket revenue sharing arrangement.
But you know why the SEC has been so popular, so successful over the last three decades?
Because it’s not every man for himself, it’s every man for all — and we’re going to compete like hell to see who wins.
That’s why Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU and Tennessee have combined to win 16 national titles since 1995. Ohio State and Michigan – and no other Big Ten schools – have won four.
The Big 12 nearly imploded in the early 2000s when Texas and Oklahoma demanded revenue sharing, and eventually did when the Longhorns and Sooners left for the SEC. Now the Big 12 is a watered-down version of the American Conference.
The Pac-12 imploded after Southern California and UCLA demanded more money. Now the Pac-12 is the Mountain West.
I’m not saying the Big Ten will eventually destabilize if it adopts revenue sharing that favors Ohio State and Michigan. I’m saying Ohio State and Michigan want the rest of the Big Ten to make sure the two largest television properties will have a guaranteed competitive advantage.
That’s dangerous.
And then there’s the Roman Empire.
Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.
