Rich Rodriguez Introduces Idea of Tourism Tax That Would Benefit WVU's NIL

The head football coach is looking for more ways to bring in NIL dollars.

Nov 29, 2025; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Rich Rodriguez along the sidelines during the first quarter against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Winning college football games isn't as simple as establishing relationships and development anymore. Sure, that's still a big part of the puzzle, but nowadays, if you don't have the money to pay players, you don't stand much of a chance.

WVU athletic director Wren Baker has done a phenomenal job of increasing the athletic department's budget and building out connections in the NIL space. They have made significant improvements over the past two to three years, but are still not exactly where they want to be. It's a never-ending game that they and everyone across the country have no choice but to participate in and execute effectively.

WVU head football coach Rich Rodriguez floated a creative idea during a recent radio interview that would see even more money flowing into the NIL pool for the Mountaineers.

“We are the big show in town, in the state of West Virginia. There is no other Power Four team, no NFL team, or any other pro organization, so we get a lot of attention in the state, and when we have a home game, Morgantown becomes the biggest city in the state, and the tourism is the No. 1 industry, or one of the top industries in the state of West Virginia. I’m trying to get maybe a little tourism tax that benefits our NIL and get some help. Our politicians in our state are great. They really want to do what’s best for the state, they want to do what’s best for WVU and having a great athletic program, which our administration does a great job, our president and our AD, really helps, But also, it helps to have the folks down in Charleston and in our political world to help us out financially because this is a big ask that they’re doing now with the revenue share and all that and it’s hard.

"You want to be able to fund all your sports so they can compete. And being a smaller state without a lot of large, major companies, Fortune 500 companies, we can still get enough to compete, but it takes more people involved. I really think our state and our political leaders are going to try to help us all they can. I’m not afraid to ask because if we want to win, we got to have money and we got to have NIL funds. If West Virginia football is doing well, everybody is doing well. And it’s always been that way, and so hopefully we can do our part to make it happen.”

While this is a great idea, it doesn't strike me as something that would happen anytime soon. And there is no guarantee that state lawmakers would approve such a proposal. But then again, it doesn't hurt to get politicians talking about it, and maybe at some point down the line a bill is introduced.