Is Penn State Football Broke? NIL Struggles Raising Big Questions

Menace2Sports with Zach Smith

Menace 2 Sports with Zach Smith

Sports, Football

2.8 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 8 July 2025

⏱️ 77 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

💰 Is Penn State Football Falling Behind Financially? NIL Concerns Raising Red Flags 🔥

As the NIL (Name, Image & Likeness) era reshapes college football, Penn State Football may be in serious trouble. Reports and insider buzz suggest the program is not paying its players as competitively as other top schools, leading to growing concerns about recruiting, retention, and long-term success in the Big Ten and beyond.

In this episode, we break down:

What we’re hearing about Penn State’s current NIL situation
Why James Franklin’s program could be losing ground to schools like Ohio State, Michigan, and Texas
How NIL collectives and donor funding are impacting player decisions
The effect this could have on Penn State’s 2025 recruiting class and transfer portal strategy
What needs to happen for Penn State to stay competitive in the new era of college football

If you're a Penn State fan, a Big Ten follower, or tracking the real impact of NIL on major programs, this episode gives you the full picture of what's happening behind the scenes in Happy Valley.

👉 SUBSCRIBE for CFB updates, NIL breakdowns & Penn State recruiting coverage
👍 LIKE if you think Penn State needs to step it up in the NIL game
💬 COMMENT your take — Is Penn State falling behind financially in college football?

#PennStateFootball #NIL #CollegeFootball #PennStateNIL #CFB2025 #NILEra #PennStateNews #BigTenFootball #CFBRecruiting #PennStateProblems #CollegeFootballNews #TransferPortal #NameImageLikeness #JamesFranklin

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College football is a game of explosive plays, immense passion, and endless thrills. Every Saturday during the college football season, the spirit of competition and excitement take the field as the nation's top student-athletes battle for gridiron glory. The powerhouses in college football are teams like Alabama, LSU, Ohio State, Clemson, and Florida, all of whom compete in the fiercely contested NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision. Whether it's a hard-fought rivalry, chaotic scene in the stands, or an unbelievable touchdown grab, college football fans of all ages, backgrounds, and regions experience the same passion and intensity each week. From the blue-blooded programs to the rising stars, college football will always be the people's game.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	It is Taco Titty Tuesday.
0:04.0	Welcome to Menace to sports.
0:06.6	We have some things to discuss college football in July.
0:10.2	It's always so much going on.
0:12.4	So much.
0:13.4	So much.
0:14.0	But we did have an interesting article put out where the valuation of a commitment was studied and analyzed.
0:23.9	It's an interesting time with NIL because like Chris mentioned yesterday,
0:28.3	these agents are making these deals public because it's a feather in their cap, right?
0:33.1	It's how they market.
0:34.2	If they can get an athlete, a big NIL deal, more athletes will sign with them.
0:38.4	Correct. So we're now getting NIL reporting from agents. Could they be inflated? Absolutely.
0:43.2	Are they trying to make themselves look good? Sure. But you would think if they came out and said he's
0:47.6	getting $5 million, the kid would be like, yo, where's my $5 million? Five million. That's not $5 million. That's not five million. Exactly. It's hard for the agents to lie when it's like
0:55.0	this outward of a lie. Yes. Because the kid could easily say, no, this is not the case. And if you,
0:59.7	if I did sign a five million ordeal, why did I only get two? Right. Like where the other three go?
1:05.2	Yeah. Well, some's not a lot. And so they did they did a little study and they've put a valuation dollar amount on a commitment.
1:12.0	How much does it cost on average for a Notre Dame commit or an Ohio State
1:16.8	commit or a Penn State commit?
1:19.1	And so we want to talk about those numbers, kind of who's spending the most on a recruiting
1:24.2	class and why?
1:25.4	Penn State's a great example because they're not spending a lot on high school
	...

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