Montana Football Budget vs. Alabama: The Huge Spending Gap

College football is an expensive sport to operate for a university—coach salaries, employee wages, equipment, recruiting travel, game travel, etc.

Now that teams are opting into the House Settlement, players' salaries could be placed on the books, too.

Some schools' football teams make money to justify costs, but many small schools across the country don't.

Sam Herder with HERO Sports, who has been on The Daily Drive with Ace Sauerwein, wrote a piece about FCS operating budgets.

Montana ranks 4th with a budget of $8.7 million, trailing only Montana State ($8.8 million), Stony Brook ($8.9 million) and South Dakota State ($9.6 million).

The information stemmed from a piece written by Matt Brown with Extra Points.

The numbers provided were derived from the 2024 fiscal year, so I am curious to see how the numbers will change moving forward.

How does Montana stack up against some of the biggest budgets?

If you think $8.7 million is a staggering amount to dump onto college football, oh boy, just you wait to see how Montana stacks up against some of the biggest boys in college football.

Let's check in at Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide, even after a few years of not winning national championships, loves football.

Emphasis on LOVES.

Alabama spends a whopping $113.8 million, the largest in college football.

As Brent Musberger would say, Al-uh-Bama! Credit: Jason Clark (Getty)

Even a school like Washington budgets $87.5 million.

The most surprising of the big FBS budgets was Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights budget $64.4 million.

It's a good reminder for those who want the Griz to move up to the Mountain West Conference.

The University will have to ramp up its operating costs.