The Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) era is here to stay, whether fans like it or not. This allows college collectives to legally pay players to play for their university.
Each season, the price for the top-tier rosters seems to be going up. So, that begs the question: where do the Oklahoma Sooners rank? According to data CBS Sports acquired from a survey of general managers at the 2026 Personnel Symposium, Power Four programs have an average roster cost of $22.5 millionfor the upcoming season.
CBS put every Power Four program into tiers. There are the above-$40 million, above-$30 million, above-$20 million and under-$20 million tiers. The SEC is the only conference without a team that spends less than $20 million on their roster. The LSU Tigers, Texas A&M Aggies and Texas Longhorns led the way, having the only SEC rosters over $40 million.
The Sooners came in that next tier of spending over $30 million, along with the Alabama Crimson Tide, Auburn Tigers, Florida Gators, Georgia Bulldogs, Ole Miss Rebels and Tennessee Volunteers. This might come as a surprise to some who tried to label Oklahoma as "brokelahoma." But the reality is the Sooners are very competitive in the NIL world.
No, they can't spend outrageous money like LSU, Texas, Oregon, Ohio State and Miami, but they can still be very competitive with the rest of college football. As we've seen, the best teams aren't always the ones who spend the most; they're the ones who invest in the right pieces and have the coaching staff in place to take them to the next level.
What matters most for Oklahoma is how it uses the resources available to it. The Sooners have targeted positions of need, added proven transfers and retained important contributors from last year's College Football Playoff team.
That approach could become even more important as the NIL market continues to mature. Simply spending more than everyone else doesn't guarantee success, particularly when the gap between the highest-spending programs continues to grow.
Oklahoma's position in the above-$30 million tier shows that the Sooners have resources to compete. The challenge for general manager Jim Nagy and head coach Brent Venables is making sure that money translates into production on the field.
For a program trying to establish itself as a consistent College Football Playoff contender, that's the real takeaway. Oklahoma may not be the biggest spender in the country, but it isn't operating from a position of weakness, either. The Sooners are spending at a level that gives them a legitimate chance to compete with the nation's best, and now they have to prove they can turn that investment into championships.
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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: How much did Oklahoma spend on its 2026 football roster?