Jon DeAndrade

Curt Cignetti will soon sign a new contract with Indiana that pays him at least $12.5 million per year. But after digging into the numbers, Cignetti might still be the most undervalued coach in college football (and not for the reason you might think). We all know what Cignetti has done at IU is remarkable — he turned a perennial cellar-dweller into the national championship favorite just two years after his arrival. This has transformed IU's athletic department: • Before the 2025 season even kicked off, ticket revenue for IU's football team had surpassed $13 million. • Indiana announced a $50 million stadium naming rights deal with Merchants Bank. • Fundraising has hit a record high, with billionaire IU alum Mark Cuban donating to the athletic department for the first time ever. But that's the obvious stuff; Cignetti's real impact comes in the admissions office. IU's football team is essentially a marketing vehicle for the university — 24 million people watched them win the Rose Bowl, 18 million watched them win the Big Ten Championship, and when College Gameday visited Indiana's campus last year, more than 2 million people watched a 3-hour commercial about the school. This publicity is worth hundreds of millions of dollars and is having a real impact on Indiana's finances. In 2025 alone, Indiana University set school records for total enrollment (48,626 students), freshman class size (10,127 students), first-year out-of-state students (4,697), and application volume (73,400). Indiana University Applicants • 2019-20: 44,178 • 2020-21: 46,623 • 2021-22: 50,159 • 2022-23: 54,345 • 2023-24: 67,731 • 2024-25: 73,400 But since IU can only admit so many students each year, they leverage the additional demand to 1) rotate the composition of their student body toward out-of-state students, and 2) become more selective academically. Out-of-state students now account for about 50% of IU's total enrollment, with the school admitting a total of 4,697 new out-of-state students in 2025 — roughly 500 more out-of-state students than IU's previous record. This is an important distinction because out-of-state students pay $30,000 more in annual tuition – $12,000 for Indiana residents versus $42,000 for non-residents. 500 new out-of-state students x $30,000 tuition difference ––––––––– = $15 million annually If you multiply that by a four-year degree, these out-of-state students are worth $60 million more to IU than their in-state counterparts. And since football success attracts more applicants, IU's admissions office can be more selective. Indiana's Fall 2025 class had a median high school GPA of 3.94 — the highest in IU admissions history. This creates a virtuous cycle. Better sports → more applicants → better students → higher rankings. Higher rankings then lead to even more applicants, and, eventually, higher tuition revenues. This is exactly what happened at Alabama with Nick Saban, and it's a big reason why Indiana is completely comfortable giving Cignetti new contracts every year. P.S. If you enjoyed this breakdown, join 135,000 others who learn about the business and money behind sports by reading my 3x weekly newsletter: huddleup.substack.com/