A colloquial saying says that money cannot buy happiness. Ohio State fans may disagree. The Buckeyes, who won the College Football Playoff national championship over Notre Dame on Monday night 34-23, used about $20 million in NIL (name, image and likeness) funds to build its championship-capable squad. It is believed that Ohio State has one of the highest NIL “payrolls” in all of college sports this year, offering more money to their football players than most other schools distribute NIL income to all of their athletic departments combined.

Among their big guns: “THE Foundation,” a collective of supporters and donors with both nonprofit and for-profit arms, as well as the 1870 Society. A representative of the previous athletic department This declined Front Office Sports’ request for comment on the collective strategy surrounding the school, but head coach Ryan Day is said to be deeply involved in fundraising. The combination of an unregulated transfer portal and NIL earnings has created a new era of “unrestricted free agency” in college football this year, which many teams utilize to completely rebuild their squad. Ohio State certainly did that: quarterback Will Howard transferred from Kansas State, and star wide receiver Jeremiah Smith arrived right out of high school. But the Buckeyes also have a lot of returning players, some of whom chose to stay in Columbus instead of transferring or declaring for the NFL Draft.