![Nick Saban, Alabama Football](http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/52a0cc7369bedd4f44c34048-1200-924/nick-saban-alabama-football-9.jpg?maxX=480)
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But can Alabama simply match any offer Texas makes? Maybe not.
Based on Alabama's 2012 athletic department revenue of $124.1 million (including donations), 4.5% of the school's entire athletic department budget goes to Saban's $5.55 million salary. That's a big chunk.
At the same time, the Texas athletic department brought in $163.3 million. If Texas offered Saban 4.5% of its revenue, it can give him a salary of $7.3 million per year, a raise of more than 30%.
In order for Alabama to match and pay Saban $7.3 million per year, it would have to increase its commitment to Saban to 5.9% of the entire budget. We may find out if that is reasonable for Alabama or too much.
Their is no doubt that college football is a money-making machine at big schools and the biggest benefactors are the head coaches. But the schools still have a finite amount of resources and Alabama's vault is smaller than the one at Texas.