How much does Illinois pay players (revenue share / NIL budget)?
The House revenue-share cap is $20.5M in 2025–26 and $21.58M ($21,583,913) in 2026–27. Illinois hasn't released how much of that it has actually paid out.
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Public Cap
What can your team actually afford?
Power 4 only · House share · capacity · booked NIL. Pending stays empty.
Illinois
Common questions
Illinois: NIL budget, collective payout, football revenue, and head coach salary.
How much does Illinois football make and spend?
FY2025 football spending for Illinois is $48,001,399. That figure is spending, not football revenue. We don't have a reported football revenue figure for Illinois yet.
What does Illinois pay its coach, and what's the buyout?
Bret Bielema's pay at Illinois is $7,700,000 as of May 22, 2025. The buyout is $49,491,667 as of December 1, 2025. Source: USA TODAY coaches salary database, buyout as of Dec. 1, 2025.