In this era of college football, the cash a program has from one year to the next is how teams win over time. However, for a program like Notre Dame, it matters even more how it spends its money.
According to CBS Sports, the Fighting Irish are one of the country’s most resource-rich programs. Chris Hummer and John Talty report that Marcus Freeman’s team is one of a handful with a roster worth more than $40 million. Alongside LSU, Texas, Miami, Ohio State, Oregon, and Texas A&M, Notre Dame has one of the most valuable rosters in college football.
Almost every program with Notre Dame’s kind of money has similar spending habits. Still, their monetary approaches differ slightly. One can argue which approach works best in building toward a national championship, but no one can argue that the Golden Domers’ spending is best for their program. Freeman and Athletic Director Pete Bevacqua have a formula that keeps them near the top of the sport. Better yet, it’s a formula that should keep them near the top for years.
“It's harder to get transfers, at least non-freshmen or graduates, into Notre Dame,” Talty and Hummer wrote. “So most of the money on the roster is dumped into high school investment. There's been a bigger push in recent years, as evidenced by a top five class in 2026 and another on the way in 2027.”
Big Ten executive says Notre Dame football is spending ‘like crazy’ on 2027 class
More important than targeting younger players over veteran transfers, the Irish put even more money into roster retention. That has been especially evident from 2024 to 2026, when Freeman’s squad hasn’t lost many key contributors or players they think will be deeply impactful in future seasons.
CJ Carr is a prime example of how Notre Dame is doing business these days. The CBS Sports analysts believe he carries the heftiest price tag on the team. He could have left after the 2024 season, and no one would have been surprised. Instead, he stuck around and won the job, almost certainly bringing in even more cash.
The best part is that by first investing heavily in high school talent and then working on roster retention, one approach benefits the other in ways schools that dip heavily into the Transfer Portal every year won’t see. That’s likely why much of the more than $40 million this year is being dropped hard on the 2027 class. "I know they are spending like crazy on their high school class," a Big Ten GM told the analysts. "Like crazy, crazy. They got a s___ ton of money."
If Notre Dame wins the national title this year, as so many experts believe, it could even change how other programs use their own assets. The good news is that the Fighting Irish already have a head start in that department.
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