Stoops Believes UK is on Equal Ground Revenue-Wise Now

UK Athletics Photo

Despite recent speculation that Kentucky football was not going to get as much revenue sharing money as other Southeastern Conference schools would from their athletics departments, UK coach Mark Stoops tried to make it clear Monday that was not the case.

Schools can now directly pay players but UK has not announced how it will divide the revenue-sharing money among various sports even though a CBS Sports story indicated UK basketball would get 45 percent of the money — a much larger chunk than other SEC basketball teams would. That would also mean UK football would get less than any SEC schools if the report is true.

Stoops was asked Monday if the Kentucky football program will receive enough revenue-sharing money to be able to be competitive with other SEC teams. He gave a quick answer.

“It is. It excites me, because I feel like for the first time, I just feel like we’re going to be in a position to hopefully be on equal playing ground with everybody. That hasn’t always happened. I’m not throwing any shade anywhere, it’s just true, right?” Stoops said.

Doesn’t sound like a coach worried about other schools having way more money than his program.

“I don’t have to feel funny talking about money anymore. I mean, it’s just part of it, a part of all college sports. It’s been a tough time, but I don’t like talking about that, because it feels like an excuse. It just is what it is. Man, it’s gone,” the UK coach said.

“But I do feel like, as we move forward, with the support of the administration, in particular as we guided through this year, and where we’re going in the future, I really feel like we could be put in a position to be on really good ground.

“I haven’t always felt that way, so that excites me. I feel like we, as we move forward, these past two, three years have been rough. I really feel like we’re in a position for the next two, three years to really be in a good position.”

Stoops likes how his 2026 recruiting class is coming together and he had the No. 10 transfer portal class this season.

“I’ve been very optimistic, because I feel like now you’re somewhat — we feel like there’s some outliers out there — but you’re working within a cap. You have a fighting chance, if there’s some semblance of a cap, if you will,” Stoops said. “And so I feel like that has given us a good fighting chance, and I’m very pleased with the way this cycle is going for recruiting. When we sign ’em (recruits) in December, I love the way that’s going.”

Stoops likes that Kentucky’s administration does not want to leave football behind while making sure basketball has all it needs.

“I do feel like as we move forward with the support of the administration, in particular as we got it going through this year and where we’re going in the future, I really feel like we could be in a position to be on a really good ground,” Stoops said. “I haven’t always felt that way.

“So, that excites me. These past two-three years have been rough. As we move forward, I really feel we’re in a position the next two-three years to really be in a good position.”