With the first year of the House settlement in the books, one of the biggest questions HBCU fans are asking is simple: how much did their school spend on NIL? Rumors have swirled about what was spent, as most Division I HBCUs opted into the House settlement in 2025. Now that Grambling State’s numbers are public, we have our first glimpse of what those budgets look like.
For Grambling, the answer is $426,686. That is what the athletic department spent on NIL and revenue-sharing payments during the 2025-26 school year, and the school budgeted $460,000 for year two in 2026-27. The 2025-26 figure appears as its own line in the athletic department’s actual 2025-26 results, which the University of Louisiana System included in its 2026-27 operating budget documents for the Aug. 27 UL Board of Supervisors meeting.
Those payments came in a year when Grambling athletics spent more than it brought in for the second consecutive year. The department closed 2025-26 with a $3,731,475 deficit. Its 2026-27 budget projects breaking even.
A second straight deficit, and a break-even budget
Grambling reported $11,599,775 in total athletics revenue for 2025-26 against $15,331,250 in total athletic expenses. That follows a 2024-25 year in which the department’s NCAA financial report showed $9,271,491 in revenue and $14,243,193 in expenses, a gap of $4,971,702. A Louisiana Legislative Auditor review of that year put the deficit at $5.08 million.
| Year | Revenue | Expenses | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 (NCAA financial report) | $9,271,491 | $14,243,193 | ($4,971,702) |
| 2025-26 actual | $11,599,775 | $15,331,250 | ($3,731,475) |
| 2026-27 budget | $13,000,000 | $13,000,000 | $0 |
The 2024-25 figures come from a different report with different categories than the budget the UL System submitted to its board, so the years are not a direct line-by-line comparison. Both reports, however, show expenses exceeding revenue. The full 2024-25 picture is on our Grambling State financial dashboard, including multiyear revenue and expense trends.
To reach break-even in 2026-27, the budget projects $1.4 million more in revenue than Grambling brought in during 2025-26 and $2.33 million less in spending. On the revenue side, it counts on higher ticket sales and $725,000 in private gifts, a line that was blank in the 2025-26 actuals. On the spending side, travel is budgeted at $1,896,000, compared to $3,361,668 spent in 2025-26. Equipment, operating services, and other expenses are also budgeted well below 2025-26 levels. Salaries, benefits, athletic scholarships, and the NIL and revenue sharing line are all budgeted higher.
Public money, department-level reporting
Louisiana law treats all self-generated revenue at state college campuses as public money that requires legislative approval for how it is spent. Earlier this year, lawmakers passed Act 818, which lets universities keep how much they pay individual athletes and individual teams confidential. The law requires disclosure only of total spending across all teams. It applies to athletic department revenue that Division I schools can use to pay players directly, separate from private NIL sponsorship deals.
Several UL System schools broke their revenue-sharing budgets out by sport in the board documents. Grambling did not. In both the 2025-26 actual figures and the 2026-27 budget, the entire NIL and revenue sharing amount sits in the All Athletic Admin/General column, with nothing assigned to football, men’s basketball, baseball, other men’s sports, or women’s athletics.
| Line item | 2025-26 actual | 2026-27 budget |
|---|---|---|
| NIL/Revenue Sharing Expenses | $426,686 | $460,000 |
| Athletic Scholarships | $3,618,655 | $3,950,000 |
| All Athletic Admin/General (includes NIL/revenue sharing) | $3,820,069 | $2,386,126 |
| Total Athletic Expenses | $15,331,250 | $13,000,000 |
| NIL/revenue sharing share of total expenses | 2.8% | 3.5% |
The 2026-27 amount is $33,314 more than what Grambling spent in 2025-26, a 7.8% increase. Athletic scholarships remain a much larger commitment. Grambling spent $3.62 million on athletic scholarships in 2025-26, about 8.5 times its NIL and revenue sharing total.
A matching revenue line
On the revenue side of the 2025-26 actuals, Grambling reported $426,685.64 under Other Auxiliary Profits. That is the same amount, to the cent, as the NIL/Revenue Sharing Expenses line. The 2026-27 budget repeats the pattern, with $460,000 on both lines. The budget documents do not explain the relationship between the two entries.
Where the rest of the 2025-26 money came from
Most of Grambling’s $11.6 million in 2025-26 athletics revenue came from sources outside of ticket sales and game guarantees.
| Revenue source | 2025-26 actual | 2026-27 budget |
|---|---|---|
| SPORT Fund (sports wagering) | $2,170,909 | $2,200,000 |
| Ticket Sales | $1,937,578 | $2,799,500 |
| Transfers from Unrestricted Education and General Funds | $1,750,132 | $1,750,132 |
| Game Guarantees | $1,607,426 | $1,215,000 |
| Conference Distributions | $1,307,812 | $1,250,000 |
| Transfers from Other Funds | $1,100,000 | $1,100,000 |
| Student Athletic Fees | $1,053,196 | $1,175,368 |
| Foundations/Clubs (Other Private Gifts) | $0 | $725,000 |
| Other Auxiliary Profits | $426,686 | $460,000 |
| Gender Equity | $125,000 | $125,000 |
| Parking, Other Income, Corporate Sponsorships | $121,036 | $200,000 |
| Total Revenue for Athletics | $11,599,775 | $13,000,000 |
The single largest source in 2025-26 was the state’s SPORT Fund, which Louisiana created by raising the online sports wagering tax and dedicating a share of that revenue to athletic departments at public universities. Sin Tax or Student Tax takes a deeper look at what that money means for Grambling and Southern.
How Grambling compares within the UL System
Grambling is one of eight UL System schools. Among them, Louisiana Tech budgeted the most public money to pay players in 2026-27. McNeese State, Nicholls State, and UL Monroe will not use public money to pay players. UL Monroe’s athletic program has a private NIL budget of approximately $2 million, which the school said meant it did not need to rely on public money for its athletes. The table below includes that figure for reference, but it comes from private sources, not the public budget.
| School | Total | Football | Men’s basketball | Baseball | All women’s sports |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louisiana Tech | $1.98 million | $1.2 million | Nearly $500,000 | $200,000 | $86,000 |
| UL Lafayette | $1,517,349 | $591,895 | $647,500 | $120,600 | $157,354 |
| Northwestern State | $750,000 | $300,000 | $350,000 | Not listed | $100,000 |
| Grambling State | $460,000 | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Southeastern Louisiana | $454,000 | Not listed | $404,500 | Not listed | $49,500 |
| McNeese State | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Nicholls State | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| UL Monroe (private NIL budget, no public money) | About $2 million | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
Louisiana Tech, UL Lafayette, and Northwestern State listed team-level amounts. Southeastern’s revenue sharing was reported in the wrong budget category in the board documents, and the school later clarified its $454,000 budget and team split in a written statement. Grambling’s $460,000 is reported only as a department total.
More on Grambling’s 2024-25 finances
Grambling appears throughout our 2024-25 rankings series:
- What Every HBCU D1 Football Program Spent in 2024-25
- What Every HBCU D1 Men’s Basketball Program Spent in 2024-25
- What Every HBCU D1 Women’s Basketball Program Spent in 2024-25
- Who’s Paying for HBCU Athletics: Student Fee Rankings for 2024-25
- How Each HBCU D1 Program Is Supported in 2024-25
The 2025-26 board documents add a new line to that picture: $426,686 paid out through NIL and revenue sharing in year one, during a second straight deficit year, and $460,000 budgeted for year two inside a budget built to break even.
