NILnomics Data Series
Original research, visual analysis, and structural intelligence on the business systems reshaping college athletics — produced by Greg Chick of NILnomics for NILNewsstand Pro.
Data-driven analysis for the new era of college athletics.
NILnomics research goes beyond headlines to examine the infrastructure behind modern athletic departments: staffing models, General Managers, revenue generation, multimedia rights, NIL regulation, roster economics, social media audiences, and the growing divide between schools that are scaling aggressively and everyone trying to catch up.
Start With the Free Research
Most NILnomics research is reserved for NILNewsstand Pro members. Occasionally, we make a full piece available free so the broader college athletics industry can see the type of original analysis Greg produces inside NILNewsstand Pro.
Two Front Doors
Every Power 4 athletic department runs two major social media brands. One is roughly twice the size of the other, yet athletic department resources are often allocated as though the opposite were true.
Using Student Athlete Score data, Greg Chick examines the general athletics and football social media accounts across the Power 4 and asks a deceptively simple question: are athletic departments properly valuing the audiences they already own?
We Scraped Every Division I Staff Directory.
NILnomics developed an automated scraper that visited every Division I athletic department staff directory — 368 schools — and extracted more than 68,000 staff records. The result is a rare look inside the modern college athletics org chart.
- Football is operating as a company within a company.
- Power 4 administrative titles have exploded.
- Some schools have more administrators than other schools have total employees.
- The revenue arms race is increasingly being fought with headcount.
Explore the Pro Research
The full NILnomics Data Series is available to NILNewsstand Pro members, with new research examining the economics, organizational structure, commercial infrastructure, and decision-making reshaping college athletics.
The Seventeen
Seventeen of the 68 Power Four programs still employ the athletic director they had on January 1, 2020. Greg Chick examines what nearly seven years of leadership turnover reveals about who is being hired, where athletic directors come from, and how the executive pipeline is changing.
From Scholarship Cap to Roster Limit: The Hidden Economics Coming This Season
College athletics is moving from scholarship limits to roster limits, creating a new economic framework for how departments allocate athletes, scholarships, resources, and opportunities across sports.
The Cap Is $21.3 Million. The Bill Is $40 Million.
The revenue-sharing cap may be the headline number in the House settlement era, but it does not represent the true financial commitment required to compete at the highest levels of college athletics.
The Only Scoreboard in Town: Five Years of Opendorse Annual Reports, Audited
Every headline about the size of the NIL economy traces back to a single source: Opendorse's annual reports. Greg reviewed all five reports side by side to uncover how the industry's most cited market figures have evolved.
More NILnomics Research
A growing library of research examining how college athletics is professionalizing its front offices, commercial operations, staffing models, and regulatory infrastructure.
The Front Office Has Arrived on Campus
Five years ago, “General Manager” barely existed in college athletics. Now the role has become one of the clearest signs that athletic departments are professionalizing roster management.
Multimedia Rights, Explained
Multimedia rights companies have become some of the most important commercial partners in college athletics — and their role is expanding quickly in the NIL and revenue-sharing era.
The CSC's Paper Trail
The College Sports Commission’s NIL Deal Flow Reports are one of the few public windows into the emerging NIL enforcement system — but the numbers raise as many questions as they answer.
Don't miss Greg's next research piece.
Two Front Doors is a rare free release. NILNewsstand Pro members get the full NILnomics Data Series along with exclusive research, live discussions, premium interviews, networking, and deeper intelligence on the rapidly changing business of college athletics.