Texas Longhorns Blowing Away SEC Competition on NIL Front

Heading into its third season in the Southeastern Conference, The Texas Longhorns have dusted everyone else in the NIL race.

Sep 9, 2023; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian talks with UT Athletic Director Chris Del Conte before the game with Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby Jr. -Imagn Images | Gary Cosby Jr.-Imagn Images

The Longhorns led all SEC programs in total athletic donations for the 2024-25 fiscal year, pulling in $167,786,462 — the only school in the conference to crack the $150 million threshold, according to data compiled by On3.

It's a number that reflects both the program's massive donor base and its aggressive posture heading into a new era of college athletics.

On the football side, Texas brought in $59.5 million in donations specifically tied to the sport — also tops in the SEC and nearly $5 million more than Oklahoma’s $52.5 million, which ranked second among conference programs in football.

For context on just how wide the gap is at the top: Texas collected roughly $57 million more in total donations than the next-closest SEC program, Tennessee, which checked in at $110,626,678. Oklahoma ranked third at $92,923,040.

Traditional heavyweights Alabama ($66,791,497) and Georgia ($52,123,526) fell well behind Texas in the overall rankings, a striking data point given that both programs have dominated the sport over the past decade.

Texas A&M, which once went on a roughly $30 million dollar spending spree to land the No. 1 recruiting class back in 2022, came in ninth at $50,013,894, with just $17.2 million tied specifically to football.

The Longhorns' first full SEC season in 2024 provided both the backdrop and the motivation for that level of investment. Texas went 13-3, advanced to the College Football Playoff semifinal and fell to Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl — a run that energized an already passionate fan base and proved the program can compete at the sport's highest level.

That momentum appears to be translating directly into donor commitments.

Texas leads all SEC programs in both football and total donations.

Nov 28, 2025; Austin, Texas, USA; Actors Woody Harrelson (left) and Matthew McConaughey (center) stands beside Texas Longhorns Athletic Director Chris Del Conte during the first half against the Texas A&M Aggies at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Across the SEC, total athletic contributions exceeded $950 million for the fiscal year — a figure that underscores how dramatically the financial landscape of college sports has shifted since the NIL era began and revenue sharing moved to the forefront following the House v. NCAA settlement.

Three programs — Arkansas, Kentucky and Mississippi State — reported no football-specific contributions in the data, highlighting the wide variance in how schools are approaching the new financial reality.

For Texas, there's no variance. The Longhorns have made clear that winning in the SEC requires spending at the top of the SEC, and the numbers back that up.

With Steve Sarkisian entering his fifth season in Austin and the program firmly re-established among college football's elite, the donor base isn't showing any signs of pulling back.

If anything, the expectation is the opposite.

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