Will NiJaree Canady's Million-Dollar Deal Start Trend for Other Non-Rev Sports? Just a Minute

Whether or not Canady is able to secure the program's first national title, she has taken Texas Tech softball to a new level right away. Will other schools and boosters be willing to shell out top dollar if it can get their team a championship?

Jun 4, 2025; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Texas Tech Red Raiders pitcher NiJaree Canady (24) smiles and points to her catcher after a strikeout in the fifth inning against the Texas Longhorns during game one of the NCAA Softball Women's College World Series finals at Devon Park. | Brett Rojo-Imagn Images

Welcome to BamaCentral’s "Just a Minute," a daily video series featuring BamaCentral's Alabama beat writers. Multiple times a week, the writers will group up or film solo to provide their take on a topic concerning the Crimson Tide or the landscape of college sports.

Watch the above video as BamaCentral's Katie Windham discusses whether or not NiJaree Canady's $1 million will set a precedent for other non-revenue sports or programs in sports like baseball or softball for boosters and universities to spend high dollar amounts on individiual elite athletes in the hope of winning a national title.

There are still two games left to decide whether or not Texas Tech's NIL investment of more than $1 million in star pitcher NiJaree Canady will result in a national championship, which would be the program's first.

Canady started her career at Stanford and spent two seasons there as one of the best pitchers in the country. She tested the portal waters last offseason, and Alabama was one of the school's she was interested in. Texas Tech was able to land the ace with a well-documented NIL deal of over a million dollars.

In one season, Canady has helped take Texas Tech from a program with no wins in Supers history to a Women's College World Series championship series appearance. Alabama obviously has a much deeper softball history, but I think she could've taken the Crimson Tide to the same spot.

It seems like the investment in Canady has paid off from a success standpoint, but at the end of the day, softball is still a sport that doesn't make money. Most athletic departments aren't going to be willing to spend that kind of money on a softball player, but some individual boosters might for their favorite schools or sports.

Canady's deal was unprecedented for a female athlete in a non-revenue sport like softball, but if it results in a national title for the Lady Raiders, will other schools follow suit?

Would you pay $1 million for one athlete on your favorite non-revenue college team? Let us know in the comments on social media