Just look at all the money that flows to Badgers coaches and officials. It’s time to share more of the university’s revenue from extremely lucrative television contracts with the players who make it possible.

University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin last month approved a 41% raise to $1.45 million per year for athletic director Chris McIntosh. University of Wisconsin football coach Luke Fickell makes about $7.5 million per year, more than the $5 million the Green Bay Packers reportedly pay their head coach Matt LaFleur annually.

The athletic department has even paid coaches not to coach. McIntosh spent $11 million in 2022 to buy out the contract of then-Wisconsin football coach Paul Chryst, whom he fired. Fickell’s long-term deal comes with similar guarantees.

Such extravagance suggests that UW’s $170 million athletic budget is anything but tight.

If a judge approves, the NCAA, Big Ten and other major associations have agreed to pay $2.8 billion over 10 years to about 14,000 former and current college athletes who have historically been denied the benefit of their name, image and likeness. The antitrust agreement also allows individual universities to distribute about $20 million annually to the athletes, an amount that can increase as revenue increases.

Much remains to be seen as to which players will qualify for which services, including women on increasingly popular college teams like volleyball and hockey. But this much is clear: Many players deserve more than they currently get, even if they are student-athletes receiving a free education.

The UW’s lavish coaching salaries do not come from Wisconsin state taxpayers. The UW athletic department makes most of its money from its fans through the entertainment it provides.

Still, it is a public university, and taxpayers help pay for some of the expenses. For example, in the last state budget, they donated $50 million for a $285 million indoor football training facility. The University of Wisconsin-Madison also has a rich history of academic and research facilities and a reputation for excellence that benefits its athletic teams.

We sympathize with Mnookin, McIntosh and other UW officials as they navigate a rapidly changing world of college sports. Star players have been allowed to profit from jersey sales and endorsements in recent years, which is complicated. They also have more freedom to transfer to other universities for more playing time, fame and private endorsement deals.

To its credit, the University of Madison pays athletes for good grades. Qualified athletes can earn $1,000 a year, plus a graduation bonus of up to $25,000. And for generations, many of the university’s athletes have received scholarships that cover room and board, tuition, health insurance, and tutoring. They essentially get a free education, which is very important.

But scholarships don’t pay players any money. And because college athletes are so busy training, competing and traveling, many of them don’t have time for college jobs like other students do. Being on the team is their job. And their employer makes a lot of money from that performance. The Big Ten’s latest television contract is worth over a billion dollars a year.

Sharing more with players, most of whom don’t make it to the pro leagues, could mean coaches have to accept less money and fewer perks. That’s only fair, because the market for college coaches is skewed in their favor by the lack of player salaries.

We love Badgers sports and are happy to see UW coaches and teams have been so successful, but the players deserve a bigger piece of the fast-growing college sports pie.