With their recent move to the SEC, the University of Oklahoma has fully embraced the new era of NIL and revenue-sharing. Recently, Oklahoma’s collective, 1Oklahoma, distributed around $32 million to their athletes, making Oklahoma one of the most ambitious NIL programs in the country[1]. The collective made this move in order to maximize the support for their athletes, fully leaning into their transition from the Big 12 to the SEC[2].
In order to help support Oklahoma’s revenue sharing initiative, head football coach Brent Venables signed a new contract for the upcoming 2025 season, voluntarily agreeing to take a $1 million pay cut[3]. Venables initiated this as a one-time give back in order to help contribute to Oklahoma’s revenue-sharing efforts[4]. Oklahoma’s Athletic Director, Joe Castiglione praised Venables, stating that this shows his leadership and commitment to Oklahoma’s success[5]. Additionally, this move highlights Venables’s willingness to support the broader financial stability of Oklahoma’s athletic program in response to their move to the SEC and sends the message that NIL is central to the foundation of the athletic program[6].
Venables’s pay cut comes at a time when football rosters are now regularly costing more than $20 million dollars and competition within the major conferences across college athletics are now stiffer than ever. Venables is not the only coach to divert some salary towards rev-share initiatives. Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy saw his salary reduced by $1 million in order to help with their rev-share, while Florida State coach Mike Norvell is reportedly planning to contribute $4.5 million of his own salary to FSU’s revenue sharing efforts[7]. Additionally, LSU’s head football coach Brian Kelly announced last December that he would be matching $1 million in donations given to LSU’s collective[8]. It is likely that we will start to see much more of these types of contributions from coaches, as programs are starting to operate in a new financial tier, and coaches and collectives need to work together to stay competitive.
[1] Matt De Lima, SEC powerhouse NIL distributes $32M in athlete payments as football coach takes $1M pay cut, Sports Illustrated (September 8, 2025).
[2] Id.
[3] Steve Berkowitz, Oklahoma football coach Brent Venables takes $1 million pay cut for 2025 season, USA Today (August 29, 2025).
[4] Id.
[5] Nick Schultz, Report: Brent Venables to take $1 million pay cut for 2025 season, On3 (August 29, 2025).
[6] De Lima, supra note 1.
[7] Schultz, supra note 5.
[8] Berkowitz, supra note 3.
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