That is not the difference though, not at all. That might be the difference at Oregon, or at Texas A&M (where they just flat outspent FSU). It isn't at Alabama.
I do mention this on occasion, but I dug into endowments and athletic department revenue. That's why I was here, over a year before it happened saying Texas A&M would be a good addition. I'm not trying to be condescending, but I for years went and dug up the athletic department revenue and this was also why I ranted and raved about UAB and South Alabama wasting money, because the finances tell a story. I will preface this by saying luck is a factor. The biggest difference between Alabama, LSU and Auburn (though lets not kid ourselves, Auburn even with Nick Saban would not have the revenue Alabama has because they simply lack the sheer number of dedicated fans) remains the fact that Nick Saban is here and not there, but it's far from the only difference.
With Alabama, the story isn't of high powered boosters at all. It's actually two things coming together. It's the fact that Alabama actually had some very knowledgeable, talented people involved with the program that have generally steered it in the right direction. I speak particularly of football. This combined with the other thing that Alabama has, which is a fanbase that per capita spends as well as any in the country! So, when you combine a larger than average fanbase, with one of the most loyal, hardest hitting pound for pound group of fans, you get Alabama's financial situation. Year after year Alabama has been in the top 5 in revenue, often only behind Texas and generally only behind another school because of boosters. The problem is, as often as not boosters at other schools have steered them astray. Alabama has managed to rely more heavily on their more knowledgeable and competent people.
That means something. When you remove boosters from the equation, Alabama would usually be #1! I don't say this to discount Alabama boosters, they're important, they're still some of the best in college sports, but they're well behind the top boosters in the country. Where Alabama gets out ahead, year after year, has been the fact that the average Alabama fan is more dedicated. They buy more merch, they buy more tickets, they watch more games (Birmingham is one of, if not the top market for college football), and this is Alabama's advantage. That's the story the revenue tells, that's the story attendance tells (something else I've kept an eye on over the years), that's the story merch sales tell (another thing I've watched), that's the story ratings tell (yup, that to).