The State of the SEC NIL Market
The SEC's name, image and likeness arms race entered a new phase this week, with Texas confirming a financial gap over the rest of the conference that few observers expected to see this quickly after the Longhorns' move from the Big 12. Updated school-by-school estimates released this week show Texas operating with roughly a $72 million NIL budget, with Texas A&M trailing at $61 million. Both figures dwarf the resources at every other program in the league and place seven SEC schools among the top 10 nationally in NIL funding, according to On3 and Sports Illustrated reporting.
The scale of the activity is no longer theoretical. The College Sports Commission disclosed in its May 7 report that more than 5,500 NIL deals worth $75.85 million were approved between March 1 and April 30, bringing total approved deal value to $115.14 million for the 2026 calendar year. SEC athletes account for a disproportionate share of that volume, and this week added several more notable line items to the ledger.
Biggest Deals of the Week
Arch Manning, Texas (QB). The Longhorns quarterback added a partnership with Google Gemini, the AI division of the tech giant, joining an endorsement portfolio that already includes Red Bull, Panini, Uber, Warby Parker, Vuori and Raising Canes. Manning's On3 NIL valuation sits at $5.4 million, the highest of any college athlete in any sport. He brought in more than $3.5 million in verified earnings in 2025 and is taking a revenue-share pay cut from Texas this year so the program can redistribute money across the roster.
Jared Curtis, Vanderbilt (QB). The 2026 cycle's top-ranked high school quarterback announced a social media partnership with Auto Pro Nashville this week, formalizing his first local-market deal since arriving on campus. Curtis carries a projected $1.7 million NIL valuation, a figure that vaults him into the top tier of SEC quarterbacks before he has taken a college snap.
Sam Leavitt, LSU (QB). Leavitt's $4 million valuation makes him the highest-valued SEC quarterback after Manning. While no new endorsement was announced this week, his profile continues to drive collective interest in Baton Rouge as LSU's NIL apparatus pushes deeper into the seven-figure-per-player tier.
Taylen Green, Arkansas (QB). Green's $2.1 million valuation reflects the SEC's broader trend of premium quarterback pricing. The Razorbacks have continued to invest heavily at the position, and Green's brand visibility climbed again this week off offseason content from Fayetteville.
Nico Iamaleava (QB). Iamaleava's $2 million valuation remains one of the most-discussed figures in the conference, anchoring the quarterback market alongside Manning, Leavitt and Green.
Rising Stock
Vanderbilt's Curtis is the clearest mover in the conference. The Auto Pro Nashville deal is small in dollar terms but signals what should be a steady accumulation of regional partnerships as the freshman's brand machine spins up.
Arkansas's Green has quietly climbed into the SEC's quarterback top five by valuation, and Razorback collective activity around him has accelerated. Sam Leavitt's $4 million figure has also held firm despite a crowded SEC quarterback market, suggesting LSU has succeeded in protecting its single biggest NIL investment.
On the team-building side, Tennessee's basketball program is the conference's biggest portal story of the week. The Volunteers landed five top-100 transfer prospects, including a commitment from former Wake Forest guard Juke Harris, and are reported to have pushed past the $20 million mark on roster construction. That spending is reshaping perceptions of Tennessee's basketball NIL ceiling.
School Spotlight
Texas continues to set the pace. The Texas One Fund, the collective that supports Longhorn athletes, has distributed more than $11.7 million to date and is now offering NIL contracts to every student-athlete on campus through its partnership with financial-services firm Ouro. The collective added a new wrinkle this week by tying donor contributions to Longhorn Foundation Loyalty Points, an integration that brings athletic-department giving and NIL fundraising closer together.
The numbers behind that infrastructure are eye-popping. Texas collected roughly $167 million in athletic donations for fiscal year 2024-25, about $57 million more than the next-closest SEC program. Tennessee finished second at $110.6 million, with Alabama at $66.8 million and Georgia at $52.1 million.
Mississippi made news of a different kind this week. The state legislature passed a bill excluding NIL earnings from state income tax, a measure that would directly benefit athletes at Ole Miss and Mississippi State if signed into law. It is the most aggressive state-level NIL incentive yet introduced inside the SEC footprint.
Market Trends
Three patterns are hardening across the conference. First, quarterbacks remain the dominant revenue driver, with Manning, Leavitt, Green, Iamaleava and Curtis all carrying valuations at or above $1.7 million. Second, collectives are increasingly the vehicle of choice for high-dollar deals, with the Texas One Fund's roster-wide contract model pointing toward where the rest of the conference is heading. Third, the largest national brands are concentrating their college spend on a small number of marquee names: Manning's stable of partners now reads like a blue-chip endorsement portfolio rather than a college NIL package.
Quarterback deals for the 2027 high school class are reportedly reaching $1.5 million, a sign that the front-end of the market is still climbing even as revenue sharing forces tighter planning.
Looking Ahead
Watch Mississippi's NIL tax bill. If it reaches the governor's desk and is signed, Ole Miss and Mississippi State will gain a real recruiting talking point heading into the summer evaluation period.
Keep an eye on LSU basketball's roster build, which sat at two officially announced players as of May 7 with another five to six commitments described as in the fold. Once those names become public, the collective dollars attached to them will follow.
Finally, Tennessee's basketball spending push past $20 million will draw an answer from Kentucky, Arkansas and Alabama, all of whom have the institutional resources to match. The next round of basketball portal NIL news in the SEC should arrive before the end of the month.
