New data released by the College Sports Commission revealed the stark contrast between the earning potential of Power 4 college football players and those in lower conferences.

Since athletes have been able to get paid, beginning in 2021, fans have been critical over the lack of transparency over athlete salaries.

Now, with the schools cleared to pay athletes directly from their revenue share - which was agreed upon in the so-called 'House settlement' - a greater call for information has been made.

The College Sports Commission - the entity created by the House settlement to vet athlete compensation - launched a database revealing statistics for athlete payments. 

The data, compiled by Ben Portnoy of Fox Sports, revealed a deep contrast between those who play in the ACC, Big Ten, Big XII and SEC as opposed to those who don't.

Summarizing the data, it should come as no surprise that Power Four players earn between seven and nine times more than non-Power Four players at every position.

The average quarterback at the P4 level earns nearly $200,000 more in rev share compensation than non-P4 quarterbacks. On average, they also earn over 41 times the money in NIL than their lower league counterparts - and combined, they earn 9.1 times more.

While the difference is the most stark with the signal callers, other Power Four offensive skill positions out-pace the non-Power Four. Power Four running backs (9x more), wide receivers (8.5x) and tight ends (7.3x) lap the non-P4. 

Outside of the offense, the biggest difference is in defensive skill players like cornerbacks and safeties, who earn 8.5 times more at the P4 level.

It's key to note that these are average figures and not indicative of those at the top of the food chain.  

The On3 NIL Rankings list 14 quarterbacks earning $3million in NIL per year, with Miami quarterback Darian Mensah at the top with $6.5million.

Mensah's NIL earnings alone are nearly 20,000 percent greater than the average combined compensation of a non-Power Four quarterback and over 414,012 percent higher than just the NIL compensation of a non-P4 gunslinger. It's not clear what Mensah is earning in revenue sharing.

The highest earning non-QB in terms of NIL is Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, who earns over 30,000 percent more than the combined compensation of an average non-P4 wideout.

'Everyone to some degree or another has probably been flying blind as far as what the market is actually bearing,' CSC Head of Operations and Deputy General Counsel John Bramlette told Fox Sports. 

'People have tried to construct reports about that — and very, very valiantly. But we felt like if there was a way that was legal, equitable and under the various legal considerations where we could present information that would be useful to everybody — schools and student athletes — we felt like it was a good opportunity to do it.'