Jackson State University Head Football Coach Deion Sanders has never shied away from sharing his thoughts. Recently, Sanders expressed his frustrations regarding how much historically Black colleges and universities are paid to play “Power 5” programs. To articulate his frustrations, he compared how much predominantly white institutions were paid to play “Power 5” programs in comparison to HBCU programs.
“I’m looking at the numbers that they gave me. Marshall got $1.25 million to play Notre Dame. Appalachian State got $1.5 million to play against Texas A&M. Georgia Southern got $1.4 million to play against Nebraska,” Sanders said.
“Now, let’s get to us. Florida A&M got $450,000 to play against North Carolina. Southern, thank God! You got $760,000 to play against LSU. I like that. Alabama State got $590,00 from UCLA. You probably exhausted that in the flight going across the country. Bethune-Cookman, I don’t even know what their payout is. We’re still trying to find out. Alabama got $390,000 to play against UAB.”
Frustrated with the amount of money being offered to HBCU athletic programs, Sanders is calling on “Power 5” programs to offer more money to Black educational institutions.
“If we gone get our butt kicked, shouldn’t it be worth it?” Sanders asked.
“How in the world are we settling for the peanuts and the little minute droppings that they’re giving us when everybody’s darn near $500,000-$600,000?”
