Either the Ohio State Buckeyes or the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will etch their names into college football history when they face off in the 2025 College Football Playoff National Championship Game.
Both teams will play for pride, legacy, and college football infamy. But how much does each school make by participating in the 2025 National Championship Game?
How Much Money Does the 2025 National Championship Winner Get?
There are millions of dollars floating around college football, so you would expect the college football national championship winner to be in for a big payday.
However, the 2025 College Football Playoff National Championship Game winner receives no extra money for winning the title. Both teams in the game receive the same revenue, $6 million plus expenses. However, due to the overall prize money available throughout the playoff, both Ohio State and Notre Dame will have earned considerably more in income.
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The College Football Playoff format has been significantly overhauled, and prize money allocation has also changed.
The Business of College Sports reports that each team that made the 12-team College Football Playoff format will receive $4 million, and the eight teams that progressed to the quarterfinal stage will receive an additional $4 million.
An extra $6 million was then issued to the four semifinalists, while the two College Football Playoff National Championship Game contenders each earn $6 million for their participation.
Furthermore, each playoff team received $3 million per round to cover expenses.
That means that by making the college football national championship game, each team will have accumulated $20 million in prize money and provided with a further $12 million in expenses.
However, there is a catch. Generally, prize money is given to corresponding conferences to be allocated as the conference leadership sees fit.
For example, Ohio State’s participation in the title game will benefit all teams in the Big Ten. Each conference also receives a further $300,000 for each team participating in postseason football and meeting the NCAA’s APR graduation rate.
Once the conferences receive the money, it is up to them how they redistribute the funds. Each conference uses a different formula, and the sole discretion of its distribution is with the conferences.
The difference here is for Notre Dame. As an independent school, the Fighting Irish will pocket every dollar of their $20 million payday. Meanwhile, the Buckeyes must share their earnings with their inter-conference foes.
Being independent from a conference has several benefits for Notre Dame. We can now add the prize money to that list.
It is also noteworthy that, despite the big payout, the prize money goes to the program and the administrators, while the players don’t see any prize money from this pot.
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