Mark Coyle wants the money to talk.
The Gophers have $20.5 million to spend via revenue-sharing payments to current players for the 2025-26 academic year, and the U’s athletics director has put what he believes to be a larger investment into Minnesota’s men’s basketball program, which hasn’t been to an NCAA tournament since 2019 — and has advanced to the Sweet 16 just once since 1998.
“Like our fans, I’m frustrated that we haven’t had more success with our men’s basketball program,” Coyle said in a Pioneer Press interview in September.
For competitive reasons — and because no organization is compelling them to do so — how much money being divvied up by schools to its sports programs remains in the dark. That’s true across the country.
One estimate is new head coach Niko Medved has roughly 15% of that $20.5 million to work this school year; that’s a little more than $3 million.
An industry-wide norm is for top-level football programs to receive approximately 75% of revenue sharing, so Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck would be getting in the ballpark of $15 million. Meanwhile, Gophers women’s basketball, volleyball and men’s hockey would be getting the remaining 10%, or roughly $2 million.
The U also is adding a few scholarships to football and other women’s sports — volleyball, hockey, soccer, softball and gymnastics, which will also come out of thew $20.5 million total.
After Coyle fired head coach Ben Johnson and courted Medved away from Colorado State in March, revenue sharing was discussed in the hiring process.
“Those conversations he and I had were very upfront, talking about that,” Coyle said. “We wanted to invest a little bit more in men’s basketball to help that program get jumpstarted.”
Medved’s first team at Minnesota will debut against Gardner-Webb on Monday night at Williams Arena. A Roseville native, U alum and former Minnesota assistant coach, the new coach was encouraged by what Coyle pitched him last spring.
“I felt good about the direction that they wanted to take men’s basketball,” Medved said Thursday. “’It’s kind of like, if not now, then when? And that it was a priority to get this program back up and running.”
The Gophers have yet to play an official game, but Coyle comes into Year 1 of Medved’s tenure encouraged by the roster build. Only two players from Ben Johnson’s last team remain, and nine transfers were brought in.
“I think by the kids he signed, that he brought in here, I think that (revenue sharing sum) helped us through that process,” Coyle said. “But we need to continue to, again, get information.”
Facts are few on how other Big Ten teams are dividing up their own revenue-sharing pies. Similar to Minnesota, Iowa has a brand new men’s basketball coach in Ben McCollum, who arrives from Drake, and the Hawkeyes also are believed to be trying to boost that program early in his tenure. A similar 15% or $3 million sum might be used there, too.
Nebraska and Wisconsin are believed to be distributing 75-80% to football, which also would leave a comparable sum for men’s basketball and its other programs.
Revenue started in July, and Coyle said he hasn’t heard startling anecdotes or intel from his coaches on what their competition is doing.
“I haven’t had coaches run in here and say, ‘Oh my gosh, we’re so far off. It’s not even close,’ ” Coyle said. “So, I feel like we’re very consistent with our peers in the Big Ten and (schools we are) recruiting against. But, again, we’ll continue to evaluate on a day-to-day basis.”
Revenue sharing payments, which came via the House vs. NCAA settlement, are set to increase 4% to a total of $21.3 million for next year. Coyle has said UMN leadership is currently determining how that money will be distributed for the 2026-27 school year.
“That ultimately is the administration and Mark Coyle’s decision,” Fleck said to the Pioneer Press this week. “Our job is to coach the football team and do everything we can to put the best product on the field. He’s got really hard decisions and tough decisions to make. But I don’t see it as jockeying for position. I don’t. I think that’s the athletic director’s job to disperse that money, how he feels fit and how they feel fit.”
The goal, or hope, is that some level of transparency will follow the advent of revenue sharing. Coyle said that could come in the form of raw data on, for example, what a men’s starting basketball point guard is expected to make.
“At some point, we’ve got to have some kind of national standards around what we’re doing with eligibility, transfer regulations, NIL regulations,” Medved said. “I hate to say this, but we’re still probably four or five years away (from) really finding where this lands.”
Medved has just joined the Big Ten’s coaching fraternity, but he’s been a college head coach for 12 years, making three NCAA tournament appearances across seven years at Colorado State. He’s been around the block.
“The culture among basketball coaches is different than football coaches. I figured that out,” Medved said. “We talk a lot, we’re probably a little bit more open with each other as far as what’s going on. … There’s still a little bit of gamesmanship, right? Not everybody’s putting all their cards on the table.”
One note on revenue sharing is how each sport must budget their lump annual sum. It must be distributed via contracts with current players, but another amount must be set aside to offer incoming players once each sport’s transfer portals open in 2026.
Revenue sharing constitutes a salary cap era for schools and players, who are still not considered university employees, while Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) represents de facto bonuses to players.
Along with revenue sharing, the College Sports Commission was created to handle regulation and enforcement of player compensation, including NIL. The commission set up the “NIL Go” portal to approve third-party deals for rules compliance.
In addition to revenue sharing, the Gophers’ NIL collective, Dinkytown Athletes, is working to boost those funds for each U sport.
“Are we where we need to be? No, not as far as where I want to take the program,” Medved said. “But we have come a long ways. Now, where we go from here, I think, will be the next step. But I feel like everybody understands the urgency behind that. I think we’re moving in the right direction.”
0 Comments