Chicago City Wire

Cook County's 27 colleges invested $44,354,200 on their football teams in 2023, a 14.1% increase in funding from the previous year, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

This represents 17.2% of all money invested on sport teams at the 27 colleges in the county during 2023.

The average sports expenses at Cook County have grown 106.3% since 2010.

Northwestern University stood out as the university in Cook County which received the most football funding during 2023. The institution received $38,424,149 — or 86.6% of all the money destined to football teams.

College football is one of the biggest sports in the U.S., with some college teams eclipsing NFL teams in terms of attendance and profit.

In 2022, after a decades-long fight, student athletes nationwide gained the right to profit from their names, likenesses, and images as a result of a flurry of new state laws and an NCAA policy change.

Year	Football Team's Expenditures	% from grand total sport team expenditures
2023	$44,354,200	17.2%
2022	$38,876,660	16.6%
2021	$32,821,015	17%
2020	$36,189,435	16.3%
2019	$35,148,946	16.2%