BYU AD Tom Holmoe Says BYU Will 'Do Our Very Best' to Fully Participate in Athlete Revenue Sharing

Casey Lundquist | Jul 21, 2024

Brigham Young Cougars athletic director Tom Holmoe after a game against the Utah State Aggies at LaVell Edwards Stadium / Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports

Athlete revenue sharing is coming to college athletics. Back in May, the NCAA and the Power Four conferences agreed to allow schools to directly pay players. The agreement comes as part of a settlement for a handful of antitrust cases. The revenue-sharing plan will allow every Power Four school to share over $20 million per year with its athletes. A few of BYU's Big 12 peers, like TCU, have already pledged to full participate in athlete revenue sharing.

It's no secret that BYU is unique and the BYU athletic department has operated differently from its competitors. Over the years, some fans have gone to the extreme and speculated that BYU would drop athletics before participating in something like athlete revenue sharing. That won't be the case, but BYU will approach athlete revenue sharing a little bit differently. Similar to their approach with NIL.

In an interview with John Kurtz at Big 12 Media Days, BYU director of athletics Tom Holmoe said BYU would "do our very best to get there" when asked if BYU would fully participate in revenue sharing. "I think that every team, especially the power autonomy conferences, are saying that [they will fully participate in athlete revenue sharing]. I'll believe it when I see it," Holmoe said. "I think each team will have to go through that first year and maybe the second year of transition. I figure for BYU, we'll do our very best to get there."

Holmoe said BYU will at least "get off the blocks" and test the waters. "You've got to be careful not to react or overreact too fast and get yourself into something that you don't want," Holmoe said. " I think our take is gonna be to get out of the blocks. You've gotta be out there and see what's going on but try to move in a direction it's gonna be best for us."

Holmoe emphasized that this decision would go to the president of BYU and the Board of Trustees. It will also be a decision made at the conference level. "This is a decision that's gonna go way beyond me. To our president, the board of trustees and we're having discussions and trying to see what's gonna be best. It's a conference wide decision."

We know that BYU athletics is financially independent. They say as much on their website. "BYU Athletics is self-sustaining and receives no tithing or tax dollars to run its programs." Second, while we can't look at BYU's financials to confirm, it's pretty safe to assume that BYU does not spend more than they earn. That would go directly against the church's council to spend within your means. Athlete revenue sharing at BYU would have to fit within the budget. They would not be willing, like dozens of other P4 schools, to spend beyond their means to get to $20M in athlete revenue sharing.