Mark Stoops shoots down reports that Kentucky Football is being shortchanged with revenue-sharing

According to Mark Stoops, Kentucky football will not be at a disadvantage when it comes to revenue-sharing. In an interview on Kentucky Sports Radio at Media Day, Stoops said the reports that Kentucky’s football program is getting less money than its SEC counterparts are false.

“That’s not true. Simply not true,” Stoops said. “I’m very pleased with where we’re at, and I feel like, because of some of the things we’ve done with this cap, if you will, with this settlement. If everybody abides by these rules and we have some governance for this, then I feel like we’ll be in the best position we’ve been in for a while, especially the next couple of years.”

Last month, Matt Norlander reported that Kentucky’s men’s basketball program will get 45% of the $20.5 million revenue-sharing budget for the 2025-26 season, compared to the 15% most SEC schools are setting aside for men’s basketball. That would imply that football is getting considerably less. During his press conference, Barnhart declined to give specifics on how much each of the six programs Kentucky has chosen for revenue sharing — football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, baseball, softball, and volleyball — will get, so as not to tip his hand to Kentucky’s competitors.

“I think that not only do the fans want to know, but our opponents want to know. And so I think we’re going to sort of keep it fluid with us and keep it inside our framework.”

Barnhart did point out that $2.5 million of the $20.5 million cap for the 2025-26 season must be used on scholarships, leaving $18 million for the six programs to split (that amount will go up by four percent each year). During his interview on KSR, Matt Jones pressed Barnhart for specific amounts per sport, but Barnhart stood his ground.

“It will be fluid from moment to moment. It could change from moment to moment,” Barnhart said, suggesting that even if all of the schools came together and agreed to release the details of their revenue-sharing plans, he would want to keep Kentucky’s private.

For now, Kentucky’s plans are good enough for Stoops.

“Yes,” Stoops said when Jones asked if the football team has enough to be competitive in the SEC. “And in particular, Matt, with the settlement and with basically, like a salary cap, if we could adhere to this nationwide, and then I think we’ll be in the best position we’ve been in a long time. These last two or three years have just been rough. I don’t even care to go back. You know, I don’t like making excuses. It was just rough. You know what I mean?”