Has paying players legally changed your

[GetYouSomeofThat]

Excitement & desire to follow Tennessee football this coming season?

I'm all for reasonable amount given to athletes but the unlimited amount just ruins the feeling of college sports going forward. Turns it into who has the most money & best marketing programs for players

Which is the way its been for decades

 

[GetYouSomeofThat]

There must be a collective bargaining agreement, whether it be national or conference wide, there has to be a protection against exactly what you stated.

Otherwise athletes who run track, play softball, or play soccer and devote an equal amount of their time to being an athlete as well as a student won’t be compensated fairly for their time. And yes, college soccer players should get more than the federal minimum wage - there is plenty money to go around for this.

Makes me think that sports programs have operated at such a profit because they weren’t paying athletes, and if it isn’t a tax-free profit then how will the funding and budgeting of athletic departments change due to this. All questions that are looking for answers in the near future.

So
If i have a salesman on staff who kicks ass and makes me buckets of money in 30 hours per week and a secretary who works just as hard as him and provides a needed resource but certainly doesnt increase my wealth equally to him...should the secretary sit at the bargaining table with the salesman?


If i have an electrician on staff whose skills are in high demand...his salary negotiations should include the much needed janitor?

As a big fan of HS and collegiate wrestling i wish more people were involved and excited about the sport. However, until their sport is filling up seats and getting lucrative tv deals...they shouldn't get anywhere near the share that fb and bb athletes get.

 

[golfballs]

I marvel at the denial that many seem to be in about this. Whether it’s creative Pell Grants or under the table, it’s been happening since at least the 80s and probably longer.

I don't think that's comparable to "fair market value" relative to the money pulled in by the NCAA/member schools which is what was discussed in Supreme Court decision.

 

[Unimane]

Oh yes, the first thing I'll think of when we score a late TD to go ahead of Florida or whomever is "I just can't celebrate because I know he's getting a check for this.". People didn't give a damn about the personal lives of these kids before now, why start?

 

[TennesseeTarheel]

Probably a good time to legalize prostitution, too.

 

[golfballs]

Tennessee football brought in $71M in revenue in 2020. In the NFL, players can earn up to nearly 50% of revenue. We don't know what the system will look like in college, but even a small fraction of that still means a lot of money for the players. Say you took the entire athletic department revenue, took half of it and split it up across every single UT athlete on a roster; each one of them would be making ~$160k/yr. It's inevitable that a lawsuit will hit the courts and the issue of fair market value will come up, but using the NFL's CBA model for salary pool, it would leave a lot of money going to these kids. The university would be forced to cut non-revenue sports, significantly cut pay/positions in the athletic departments, cut student aid and athletic facility expenditures to offset those costs. If anything it should make fans more excited about the coming year as it could look a lot different in the years beyond...

 

[TennesseeTarheel]

So, when the subject of "equity" raises its ugly head, all college athletes will get an equal part of a shrinking pie. This could get interesting.

 

[Impossible Girl]

Excitement & desire to follow Tennessee football this coming season?

I'm all for reasonable amount given to athletes but the unlimited amount just ruins the feeling of college sports going forward. Turns it into who has the most money & best marketing programs for players

Will definitely affect watching other teams and games. Going to be hard to just check out on our Vols, but at some point, who knows.

Being empty nesters, we now have the time and resources to get season tickets. Gave them up several years ago because we knew the competition for time wouldn’t allow us to tie up entire Saturdays. This is the time of our life where, years ago, we envisioned ourselves going to games both home and away.

We both agreed we wouldn’t even consider getting season tickets again. Granted, it’s not all the paying players thing, but it certainly hurts the cause.

 

[golfballs]

College sports as a business only makes sense when the business model relies on paying basically nothing for labor. Title IX effectively becomes a tax... a very steep cost of doing business. The pro ranks will be even more enticing for coaches as the salaries in college will be forced significantly lower. The product on the field will suffer as a result. Colleges won't be able to afford lavish facilities and it will hurt the fan experience. What will that do to peoples willingness to donate to the universities athletic departments? Will those gifts even be tax deductible at all? Seems odd to award a scholarship that was paid for with tax-exempt funds to an 18 year old making 6 figures. Revenues start to decline due to the changing dynamics, salaries are cut further. It's basically a huge bubble that has popped and goes through a painful unwinding.

 

[Tin Man]

In Alabama, everything will take a backseat to college football. Expect more potholes, failing infrastructure, failing fundamental services. “Roll Tide” and “War Eagle” will have layers of implied meaning.

 

[Voltopia]

It's not about them getting paid. It's about the continual decline of college football into becoming just another professional sports league dominated by money and greed and television - which was certainly already true, but this is just the acceleration into the trash heap. I can cheer for kids who identify with the state of Tennessee, who choose to live in Knoxville, who come to Rocky Top, who are going to college, and who dig the Vols. That's something I have a connection to. I won't be able to relate or root for a kid who makes 250k a year and is worried more about his brand and his social media numbers than playing football. Or a kid who could give a crap if Tennessee loses so long as he gets paid -- and can transfer out in a heartbeat if they don't think they're making enough. But that's where this is all going. Transfers, payments, it's just going to be the NFL with younger players, and I already don't care about the NFL So why would I care more about those others? It's not hate. I don't care that they're wanting to get paid. I'm just not going to feel all that much about 'em.

 

[LSU-SIU]

It's basically a huge bubble that has popped and goes through a painful unwinding.

Basically how I see it. What is a disaster is they haven't even spoken about a new business model, they are still trying to fix the other one. It just doesn't exist anymore.

 

[Mose Phillip's Watch]

Only a matter of time before players organize.

Social media gave them a voice

 

[golfballs]

Basically how I see it. What is a disaster is they haven't even spoken about a new business model, they are still trying to fix the other one. It just doesn't exist anymore.

Im sure they’re trying to figure out what will pass legal muster now that the Supreme Court has shown where they stand on this. Will probably be the subject of litigation to come so will be a while before we get a better idea of what it means long term

 

[SayNoToJorts]

IMO this levels the field for UT. Am I crazy or were we not #2 on the most profitable programs list a couple of years back? About time we were legally able to throw around some of that money and build a damn football team

 

[Devo182]

They've been (legally) paying players since 2015...

And illegally since forever.

 

[Devo182]

I think it'll bankrupt a lot of schools and ruin college sports forever before it's all said and done. This is just the beginning.

NiL isn't being paid by schools. It is private enterprise.

 

[robow]

Regardless of how messy it gets the players should be paid. A free education stopped being enough in my opinion when they started paying coaches 5 to 10 million a year to do something they would do for free. Athletic directors owning yachts and having beach front properties mainly from the work of football players. It would be different if these guys made a good living and the rest of those millions went back to the schools. But that's not the case yes the schools get some money spreaded out but these coaches and administrators pocket entirely too much money.

Jealousy is a savage mistress!

 

[Dudleys87]

If anything at all it’ll show who’s been paying already and who the AA letting get away with it.

As far as changing the title picture it won’t it’ll just make it harder for anyone else to keep pace

 

[Devo182]

Oh yes, the first thing I'll think of when we score a late TD to go ahead of Florida or whomever is "I just can't celebrate because I know he's getting a check for this.". People didn't give a damn about the personal lives of these kids before now, why start?

It's laughable. No one is mad about the "amateur coach" making $10mm a year. Why is it only when the players get paid people seen to be mad or jealous?

What is the obsession for some to need the players they root for to do it for well-below FMV compensation? I truly don't get it. And if that is your #1 "thing" there are always university intramural teams. Go see how fun it is when all money is extracted from a system and full of true amateurs.

 

[Dudleys87]

I believe this will turn the transfer portal into more of a free agent market open to the highest bidder. Big boosters will dangle advertising contracts to players in smaller markets that have "blossomed" leading to a larger drain on the smaller schools. To the point of the thread, this will lead to college football at the upper levels being even more of a minor league pro football league.

Sounds about right.

Kids running around with more money than they’ve ever had…. What could possibly go wrong….

 

[Devo182]

Regardless of how messy it gets the players should be paid. A free education stopped being enough in my opinion when they started paying coaches 5 to 10 million a year to do something they would do for free. Athletic directors owning yachts and having beach front properties mainly from the work of football players. It would be different if these guys made a good living and the rest of those millions went back to the schools. But that's not the case yes the schools get some money spreaded out but these coaches and administrators pocket entirely too much money.

All of this.

Amateur coaches don't make $10mm. Nor do amateur sports bring in billion dollar tv contracts. Pure hogwash and the NCAA (the universities in reality) are the only ones trying to hold up this facade.

Strangely, many of the same people that appear to hate the NCAA also don't seem to realize this. Take away the university member-association (NCAA) and it becomes a semi-pro league reeeal fast.

 

[OneVolNation]

Turns it into who has the most money & best marketing programs for players

In my opinion, it already was. It was just behind the scenes and now it's thrust into a more obvious spotlight.

Hopefully this will be the incentive (read "kick in the pants/wake up call") the Big Orange Marketing Machine capitalizes on and finally invests enough resources (behind the scenes and otherwise as needed for a successful result) to bring us home a Heisman Trophy finalist winner. If we make it a priority and start working towards that end now, it greatly increases the possibility of securing one in the next few years. If we remain so naive as to think it's just all about who the most deserving player is, then don't expect to see one in the trophy cabinent. The choice is clear. If Tennessee is to get one, it must be on purpose. [/rant]

 

[Johnnyreb#VFL]

Not really. I mean something had to happen eventually. These guys bring in millions for their university and don’t see a single dime of it. Yes, they get a free education and housing/food for a few years on a meal plan, but it wasn’t nearly proportional for some of the top named guys. I just hope they bring back NCAA for gaming systems if they haven’t already.

 

[Godfatha]

In Alabama, everything will take a backseat to college football. Expect more potholes, failing infrastructure, failing fundamental services. “Roll Tide” and “War Eagle” will have layers of implied meaning.

It’s not like that already? Lol