Great news. Weāre just getting our athletic department back on track & now the only thing that can keep college athletics from imploding is Congress. Weāre so screwed!
I hate to walk away from college athletics, but itās a distinct possibility if the balance tilts even further against schools like us.
The only hope I have is that Congress & some other outsiders start looking at the system & realize that the system is very unfair to anyone outside of the P5. But I can also see it going the other way because of the P5āS money & lobbying power. I would assume Congress is full of P5 Alumni.
Guess I hadnāt thought of NIL as a P5 vs G5 issue but instead one of the student-athlete regardless of division, conference, etc. Guess that could be a danger of Congress - and apparently now the White House - getting involved and things going in a different direction than the original intention.
Just canāt see any scenario where P5ās wonāt use their money & influence to help players secure endorsements & work other loopholes that most G5ās wonāt be able to compete with. They wonāt be directly paying players but they they will do everything they can to help them get paid just like they already do. The only difference is it will be out in the open instead of behind closed doors. Iām all for players being able to profit off of their likeness but the NCAA canāt police it when itās completely against the rules. I just donāt know how they will be able to police all the ways this change could be exploited. Will just be one more way for the P5ās to get a leg up on everyone else.
Also this article says that some states are trying to pass laws that would include paying athletes 15% of ticket revenues. 15% of ticket sales from Clemson is a lot more money than 15% of our ticket sales. That is no longer being paid for name & likeness. That is straight up paying student athletes & definitely an advantage for P5ās.
The only way player comps works is the NCAA handling it all and handing out equal amounts to all D1 athletes in all sports. Anything in the hands of individual schools or conferences will end up heavily tilted not only to P5 schools but the top 20-25 P5 schools.
To me that will be the travesty with this. In a bid to compensate players from the top programs we are risking wrecking the entire collegiate athletic model and the possibility of losing thousands of scholarships for athletes when donors and boosters walk away.
I really do think that the most talented kids, the superstar level ones playing college are being taken advantage of. That said, the average college athlete, which is basically the 99% across all sports at all levels, doesnāt live in that world, and getting to play sports and get free food, housing, travel, etc., is a pretty good deal.
What is really aggravating is even if they are being taken advantage of no one is forcing them into these agreements. With the exception of football these athletes could take other paths. They CHOOSE to enter the model we are operating under. Zion didnāt have to go to Duke he could have gone to the G League or over seas or soon right to the league.
As I have been saying for years, all name and likeness revenues need to go into one pool for each division. I think it should also be per sport, but that may be a Title IX battle (though it shouldnāt be). Those funds should be distributed to every player in that division (& sport) on an equal basis to maintain the competitive model.
Anything less equal than that will ruin college athletics forever.
I definitely agree with this for the players & doubt it would ever happen but I wish there was a way for television revenue to be split the same way between schools. It is such an unfair advantage when everyone is supposed to be competing for the same championship & in the same division & some schools start out with $50 million more dollars in their pockets just from a television deal negotiated by their conference. How can we ever compete with that.
I get the title IX stuff may become a factor, but this is now an issue because cases have been won over video games, and the only college sports featured in video games are manās basketball and football.
Putting all funds into a pot and splitting evenly doesnāt solve for this. If Zion, for example, was the cover for EAās game last season, heād damn sure deserve more than Dukeās tennis teamās best player. I think that would end up right back in court.
clt says think of how much money clempson and bama will give croots.
No need to get NCAA involved with this. Let the athletes and their agents negotiate deals to use their NIL. Zion could negotiate with EA sports or Nike on his own.
NCAA is a failure as is.
I agree, quite honestly. And maybe a little too optimistic here, but if players just got to market themselves and make money as they see fit, I can see how that could be good for non-P5.
Think about it. Jahmir Young could be getting minimal playing time at a larger school, or he could be FOTY and the shining example of Charlotteās resurgence.
Only one of those scenarios provides an opportunity for some kind of local endorsements.