CHICAGO – Wisconsin football, like its peers across the Big Ten, has kept its cards close to its vest when it comes to how much money the program has for roster construction.
One national report gave an idea of how much the Badgers might have spent to assemble their 2026 roster, however.
The Athletic’s Justin Williams reported that Wisconsin’s roster budget was “north of $25 million” in 2026 and more than twice what it was in 2025. The article cited “people briefed on the budget who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss it publicly.”
“I don’t know where they got all their numbers,” Fickell said.
The article also quoted prominent UW booster Ted Kellner, who said his understanding was that the Badgers were in the “bottom third, bottom 40 percent of the Big Ten in terms of NIL money” in 2025.
It also said that Wisconsin’s NIL budget was less than $4 million in 2024 – the same year when Ohio State won with a self-described $20 million roster – citing “industry sources.”
Fickell said that one of UW’s sports information directors briefed him on what the article said. A sports information director chimed in during the interview and mentioned “industry sources.”
“Some industry sources, when I look some of that up, aren’t very good,” Fickell told local reporters who made the trip to Chicago for the Big Ten’s football media days. “I don’t know.”
Pressed by the Journal Sentinel on whether the reported roster budget numbers are accurate, Fickell reiterated that he did not know where The Athletic got them.
“I’m not going to lie to you guys,” Fickell said. “I would never say. I don’t know that there’s any coach that really would. If a coach said that’s an accurate number, I wouldn’t believe it. Nobody wants to divulge because there’s no transparency. And so I always try to say, even to the former players, ‘Look, I’ll be honest with you guys; there’s certain things that you won’t be honest about.’”
Fickell noted a general “greater investment in things,” and it feels like the Badgers are in a “much different place.” That followed a January transfer portal cycle where UW added 33 players, leading every Big Ten peer except UCLA and Penn State.
But the fourth-year Wisconsin coach is not comfortable making any comparative statements about how the Badgers stand financially versus their peers.
“I don’t know,” Fickell said. “Are you in the top 20% of the country? Are you in the top third of the Big Ten? Are you in the middle third? Are you in the bottom? … We weren’t in good shape. We’re in a hell of a lot better shape. Where that is with everybody, I don’t know.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Does Wisconsin football have $25 million roster? What Luke Fickell said
Reporting by John Steppe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By John Steppe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
