UT NIL Football Commitment

[kcvols1]

I believe that's correct. It's not a large amount for schools like UT that have multiple sports with successful programs in several sports.

The NCAA seems to hope the "clearinghouse" for non school NIL will rein in "pay to play" deals but I look for lawyers to get richer by having the courts again tell the NCAA that NIL deals aren't something they can regulate in any way.

I think the clearinghouse all comes out of the House settlement, which is itself the result of an antitrust class action suit by student athletes against the NCAA.

If I understand correctly, the clearinghouse is independent of the NCAA.

Here’s a great podcast on it. Gabe Feldman, a professor at Tulane (ROLL WAVE) has forgot more about NIL than most of us will ever know. He actually wrote a recommendation for the NCAA to allow NIL about 10 years ago that they pretty much ignored.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

I think the clearinghouse all comes out of the House settlement, which is itself the result of an antitrust class action suit against the NCAA.

Right and now the TN Attorney General and several other states are trying to petition for the schools not to have to sign on to whatever the Commission rules.

TN would prefer UT (and all TN colleges) not to agree to use the clearinghouse for outside NIL deals.

https://share.google/E9enckhFRml3MF0Pm

 

[kcvols1]

Right and now the TN Attorney General and several other states are trying to petition for the schools not to have to sign on to whatever the Commission rules.

TN would prefer UT (and all TN colleges) not to agree to use the clearinghouse for outside NIL deals.

Well then I think that might crater the House settlement, assuming that’s even procedurally possible.

Hell, just call them employees, pay em negotiated salary, then allow them to negotiate market value NIL deals.

It really would be so much easier to just apply the correct labels.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Well then I think that might crater the House settlement, assuming that’s even procedurally possible.

Hell, just call them employees, pay em negotiated salary, then allow them to negotiate market value NIL deals.

It really would be so much easier to just apply the correct labels.

They're just trying to legally erase the outside NIL regulation while keeping the in house $20.5M part intact.

It's an interesting strategy which appears to say: Hey look, this Commission is going to get sued into oblivion by players and if schools sign on, they will get caught up in the lawsuits so they shouldn't have to sign on to it.

As far as employee status goes, UT has A LOT of athletes who play for the school and paying all of them as employees isn't likely or even possible. UT would have to either pay the tennis team, etc or shutter those programs. It's not good.

 

[thehill98]

Well then I think that might crater the House settlement, assuming that’s even procedurally possible.

Hell, just call them employees, pay em negotiated salary, then allow them to negotiate market value NIL deals.

It really would be so much easier to just apply the correct labels.

“market value NIL deals”. This has always been the hang up. When the NCAA was actually able to stop that from happening, they did it simply because of this, they didn’t want boosters to pay kids to come to their schools. As much as everyone complained about giving the players benefits, that was always the reason it was not allowed. I’ve seen many people say they wanted NIL because it would be able to give players money for advertising/etc. but it never was going to be that on the whole. College is not like the pros in that aspect because they don’t have donors that don’t want anything for their money, college does. Yes some businesses legitimately want to pay players for their services, but by in large, colleges have donors that just want to give money for their team to win, not pay “value based NIL deals”. This is the reason it was against the rules for so long. College is never going to be exactly like the pros in that aspect. I don’t see any way that can be properly enforced anymore now that the courts have ruled that illegal. It is the Wild West and will probably have to stay that way and donors just have to decide themselves how much they will give based on their own opinions.

 

[Woodlawn VOL]

If the ncaa would have just said we cannot nor do we have the capacity to monitor boosters for helping athletes get jobs or giving them money, things wouldn’t be the way they are today. But they wanted to control it all, look away when they wanted to and throw the hammer down only when they wanted to. If they had spent their time not being obsessed with boosters and controlling every little thing in their monster sized rule book they would still be running things. Power trips and arrogance finally caught up with them.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

“market value NIL deals”. This has always been the hang up. When the NCAA was actually able to stop that from happening, they did it simply because of this, they didn’t want boosters to pay kids to come to their schools. As much as everyone complained about giving the players benefits, that was always the reason it was not allowed. I’ve seen many people say they wanted NIL because it would be able to give players money for advertising/etc. but it never was going to be that on the whole. College is not like the pros in that aspect because they don’t have donors that don’t want anything for their money, college does. Yes some businesses legitimately want to pay players for their services, but by in large, colleges have donors that just want to give money for their team to win, not pay “value based NIL deals”. This is the reason it was against the rules for so long. College is never going to be exactly like the pros in that aspect. I don’t see any way that can be properly enforced anymore now that the courts have ruled that illegal. It is the Wild West and will probably have to stay that way and donors just have to decide themselves how much they will give based on their own opinions.

And lots of people on VN drag the NCAA across the coals for not "doing something before to compensate the players" to avoid all this but there's nothing they could do that would keep teams from asking boosters to pay players BEYOND whatever "reasonable compensation" the NCAA could've set up.

The NCAA fought it to the death because there's not a way to control NIL once it's permitted. Once players COULD be legally compensated, it became "pay for play" and the NCAA knew all along that would be the end result.

There was never a "reasonable profit sharing compromise" that would've stopped some team from trying to entice a generational player to their team with more money. It wasn't there before it was permitted by the rules (bag men) and it certainly wasn't going to be there after after any form of compensation was permitted.

It's definitely a mess but I don't think the NCAA could've stopped by the "just the tip" method some people have suggested they should have used.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

If the ncaa would have just said we cannot nor do we have the capacity to monitor boosters for helping athletes get jobs or giving them money, things wouldn’t be the way they are today. But they wanted to control it all, look away when they wanted to and throw the hammer down only when they wanted to. If they had spent their time not being obsessed with boosters and controlling every little thing in their monster sized rule book they would still be running things. Power trips and arrogance finally caught up with them.

Booster rich schools like TX would've just bought all the talent they could year after year and dominated the sport.

That's why even pro sports have salary caps so large markets and rich teams don't hoard all the talent.

 

[thehill98]

If the ncaa would have just said we cannot nor do we have the capacity to monitor boosters for helping athletes get jobs or giving them money, things wouldn’t be the way they are today. But they wanted to control it all, look away when they wanted to and throw the hammer down only when they wanted to. If they had spent their time not being obsessed with boosters and controlling every little thing in their monster sized rule book they would still be running things. Power trips and arrogance finally caught up with them.

I agree, the NCAA handled it poorly at best. But at the heart of the rules was always to just keep boosters from buying teams. It’s kind of like every rule, law, regulation we have. Most of them start off with good intentions because somebody did something stupid or just bad, but they always end up with unintended consequences. Unfortunately, I think we as fans just have to live with it, and accept the biggest pockets are going to win.

 

[thehill98]

Booster rich schools like TX would've just bought all the talent they could year after year and dominated the sport.

That's why even pro sports have salary caps so large markets and rich teams don't hoard all the talent.

You’re right, there would’ve been no way to really stop it. So I don’t fault the NCAA for that part. But the enforcement and application of rules is what has been their biggest detriment IMO. Some schools got hammered while others got a slap on the wrist, and we all know that some coaches/schools managed their relationships to get what they wanted. It was similar to an organized crime situation, where there were obvious payoffs/favors being handed out.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

You’re right, there would’ve been no way to really stop it. So I don’t fault the NCAA for that part. But the enforcement and application of rules is what has been their biggest detriment IMO. Some schools got hammered while others got a slap on the wrist, and we all know that some coaches/schools managed their relationships to get what they wanted. It was similar to an organized crime situation, where there were obvious payoffs/favors being handed out.

That's true and, like Bob Dylan wrote "Money doesn't talk, it swears" and it kept some teams clean and some teams dirty.

I blame a lot of the roots of this on the media deals schools wanted and the media coverage the fans wanted. Big, big money started flowing and it stopped being just keeping up with the SEC when you could see a game live or listen on the radio, it became a nationwide business worth billions.

For the love of money is the root of all evil..... or something like that.

 

[Flipdaddy]

Makes me watch NFL more these days.

 

[kcvols1]

Booster rich schools like TX would've just bought all the talent they could year after year and dominated the sport.

That's why even pro sports have salary caps so large markets and rich teams don't hoard all the talent.

And for that reason the NFL has an antitrust exemption.

NCAA is lobbying for the same with the SCORE Act, but I’m not sure anyone trusts the NCAA enough to have that become reality.

 

[kcvols1]

They're just trying to legally erase the outside NIL regulation while keeping the in house $20.5M part intact.

It's an interesting strategy which appears to say: Hey look, this Commission is going to get sued into oblivion by players and if schools sign on, they will get caught up in the lawsuits so they shouldn't have to sign on to it.

As far as employee status goes, UT has A LOT of athletes who play for the school and paying all of them as employees isn't likely or even possible. UT would have to either pay the tennis team, etc or shutter those programs. It's not good.

A billion dollar enterprise with 9-figure affiliated entities can’t pay a varsity rower minimum wage + overtime?

IDK, I just get the sense we’ve made this infinitely more complex than it needs to be.

 

[90 Vol]

I hate to say this but we spend a crap ton more than Vandy and look how they are doing this year. It’s not always about the highest spender, it’s about who you get and how you coach them up too

I think player development is becoming a bigger deal and keeping and underperforming assistant on staff because they're an "ace" recruiter doesn't make much sense in the current landscape. With that being said, does anyone really know what Vandy is spending?

 

[Volbrando]

I think player development is becoming a bigger deal and keeping and underperforming assistant on staff because they're an "ace" recruiter doesn't make much sense in the current landscape. With that being said, does anyone really know what Vandy is spending?

I don't... but I've heard rumblings they are getting more donors... finally discovering some of that Nashville money I guess. We don't need to be competing with that

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

A billion dollar enterprise with 9-figure affiliated entities can’t pay a varsity rower minimum wage + overtime?

IDK, I just get the sense we’ve made this infinitely more complex than it needs to be.

Schools won't want to pay and insure hundreds of athletes AND deal with the player's union demands. Perhaps some can, but they probably won't. Most Athletic Departments are in the red.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

And for that reason the NFL has an antitrust exemption.

NCAA is lobbying for the same with the SCORE Act, but I’m not sure anyone trusts the NCAA enough to have that become reality.

SCORE was pulled, as you probably know, and all the college antitrust bills end up DOA.

Both the NCAA and Congress are useless.