In an interview with CBS Sports earlier this week, Indiana head coach Curi Cignetti named Miami with Oregon, Ohio State, Texas, Texas Tech and Notre Dame, among the best programs producing money in the name, image and likeness era. Cignett discussed the impending decision on revenue sharing.
"This is an unprecedented couple days, weeks, where everybody's waiting on this rev share, and the five or six out there that have unlimited NIL resources, it's kind of scary for everybody else...I think our little pot of gold is pretty nice, but we're not at $40 million. Or $30 million. Or even $25 million."
Miami quarterback Carson Beck has the second-highest NIL evaluation per On3 at $4.3 million. John Talty of CBS Sports discussed Miami cornerback Xavier Lucas leaving Wisconsin after agreeing to a two-year revenue-sharing NIL in December. Wisconsin refused to enter Lucas' name into the transfer portal as he requested.
Per Talty, Lucas signed a "two-year deal that granted the school the non-exclusive rights to use his name, image and likeness." Lucas' attorney, Darren Heitner, planned to sue Wisconsin for not entering his name into the transfer portal. Ross Delenger of Yahoo Sports reported Wisconsin plans to pursue legal action over the buyout with Lucas.
Miami HC Mario Cristobal on holdouts following the Nico Iamaleava situation:
— On3 (@On3sports) April 13, 2025
“We’re not going to do it at Miami… If they wanna play holdout, they might as well play get out.”
(via @ClayWPLG)https://t.co/EkAaJimDTN pic.twitter.com/Ab7TZwYqIP
""I mean if you want to be the best, you got to be able to compete against the best...Right now I understand that is Oregon, Ohio State, Texas...Texas Tech because of their oil money. I think Notre Dame's up there pretty good right now, too. Miami, of course.""Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti
Miami has been one of the leaders during the NIL era, which will have its fourth anniversary on July 1. Mario Cristobal was hired as Miami head coach on December 8, 2021. USA Today published a list of expenses and revenue per athletic program in March 2024, but as a private school, Miami is not included.
Miami has been able to secure some of the most prominent names in college football because of its NIL. That includes Beck and Cam Ward, who were the top transfer QBs in the last two classes. Miami's NIL collaborative, Canes Connection, should continue leading the way in NIL.