Surprising Big 12 School Believed to Have Most Expensive Budget for Paying Players

It's a new era in college athletics, and Texas Tech is pulling no punches.

Texas Tech football coach Joey McGuire will have plenty of funding at his disposal next season. / Nathan Giese/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The House v. NCAA court case was settled late last week, allowing schools across the country to begin directly paying student-athletes for the first time.

It's a new frontier across college athletics, unlike anything we have ever seen. How schools manage to navigate directly compensating players will have a significant impact on the field.

With the new era upon us, the schools that have the most expensive rosters in the sport may not be who fans would expect. According to a new report from Brandon Marcello of CBS Sports, the most expensive athletic program next season may hail from Lubbock.

Per Marcello, Texas Tech's fundraising arm, the Red Raider Club, will be responsible for generating $14 million annually to help fund its $20.5 million revenue-sharing model. When adding in NIL, Texas Tech is expected to pay $55 million across all of its programs in the upcoming school year, making it "perhaps" the highest-paying college athletics program in the country.

It’s believed Texas Tech will pay its players $55 million (revenue sharing + NIL) among all its programs this year, making the Red Raiders perhaps the highest-paying college athletics program in the country, sources tell @CBSSports. https://t.co/Kw7KdwJCzA

— Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) June 9, 2025

The Red Raiders have one of the nation's top basketball programs, and feel that they're on the rise in football as well. Now they'll have plenty of money to spend as they look to take both programs, and the athletic department as a whole, to the next level.

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