NIL - The Death Knell of College Football

[tennesseecoyote]

I see a European futbol kinda situation where PSG (Paris), Barcelona, Man City & United, etc… just outspend all the runts to dominate their leagues year after year, decade after decade. But perhaps it may jiggle things up, especially since BAMA, OSU, GA, Clemson sorta have a lock on it now In a similar way. Either way, I think colleges should have the choice to option out. I just find it hard to root for ”students” getting paid fortunes. Cupcakes and cookies are one thing, million dollar checks are another.

 

[GAVol]

I agree with this bit.

The question becomes whether every program besides Bama & their ilk decides to get together and do anything about it.

Unregulated markets trend towards monopolistic clusterf*cks in general. If we agree we should level the playing field (and not everyone does) how to we do that and to whom should we submit?

The monopoly has been the NCAA and it’s conferences. Funny how people think the world is ending because of NIL but have been fine with schools earning 8 figure checks while effectively giving the players peanuts.

 

[VolDaddy61]

Elite level talent are still going to go to elite level schools, they are just going to be able to legally get paid, don't overthink this. I don't care how big poly state tech's coffers are, they aren't pulling kids away from bama..Ohio St..etc, it's not going to happen.

 

[Other_Guy]

Relax guys when Saban retires we'll be happy again.

 

[Volatility]

I’m happy players finally get compensated for bringing millions to universities. If you’re not happy about players getting paid, go watch HS football.

 

[kcvols1]

The monopoly has been the NCAA and it’s conferences. Funny how people think the world is ending because of NIL but have been fine with schools earning 8 figure checks while effectively giving the players peanuts.

Putting aside the false equivalency here, NCAA represented the old way of doing things that schools had agreed to for decades.

Does the law of the jungle govern going forward? What consensus emerges on how to govern all this? Is anyone going to enforce that payments to athletes actually go to market rate NIL, or do we just turn a blind eye to any transaction carrying that label regardless of whether it’s just payola?

 

[Flathead75]

Honesty the coaches salaries should have been capped years ago. Now we're at 10/12 mill a year, 100 million dollar contracts. .
The athletes see this and want a piece of the pie and rightly so.
It's college, amateur sports. Professors who've worked years to get to their level of expertise now making peanuts compared to a fellow employee who might be dumb as a rock but can coach ball.
People poked fun at NDs coach salary. Take a step back and understand Kelly etc were paid a very comfortable wage that was not off the charts stupid money.
Yes the NIL and easy transfer change will kill it.

But the biology department doesn't bring in $100 million year like football does! The SEC TV contract is why coaches salaries and facilities have exploded.

 

[DeepSpringsVol]

It was clear with the gaudy bling that one of those players last night at Heisman presentation has been getting paid. Stroud looked like a rapper. The others was in better taste.

 

[lilesrt]

Relax guys when Saban retires we'll be happy again.

He’ll be coaching from a wheelchair.

 

[kcvols1]

The answer is the control the NBA/NFL has, which is virtually none, over the outside endorsements and businesses of players they actually employ.

The NCAA and universities will lose trying to control the business deals of students because that's not how America works.

Does your employer or your church or your lodge or whatever club you choose to be a part of control what businesses you can have outside of work or church or whatever? Of course not.

Why are you trying to make student athletes a "special class" of American who can be controlled?

Doing get me wrong, I’m in favor of NIL. None of us wants to see it abused though, which I think it’s trending toward. NCAA athletes are already an odd group because, unlike NBA or NFL players, they don’t draw salary. The NBA and NFL have salary caps, free agency procedures, and other rules designed to organize things and provide parity in those leagues. NBA and especially NFL players’ conduct are controlled by those rules.

At present, the NIL contracts themselves govern athlete conduct, but being paid market rate for your likeness is not the same as getting paid to play. How do you determine which contacts are legit, and which are only lip service?

I’m certainly not going to stop watching college football anytime soon, but I’m certainly tired of the same teams making the playoff year in and year out. It seems that is the most prevalent complaint among college football fans in general. It certainly raises a lot of questions if NIL perpetuates a lack of parity, but who knows whether that’s going to happen or not at this point?

Just posing open ended questions on a lazy Sunday, I guess.

 

[kcvols1]

I see a European futbol kinda situation where PSG (Paris), Barcelona, Man City & United, etc… .

Yeesh, how BORING.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

He’ll be coaching from a wheelchair.

Actual picture of Saban coaching, Star Date 3031.

 

[DougVol]

NIL may be the end of college football (and all athletics) as we know it.

Enjoy watching TN compete for 5* and 4* football recruits? Bad news. If we don't have the deep, deep pockets of our big boosters compared to other schools, we won't be able to compete.

Consider: Jeff Bezos. Princeton graduate. Let's say our buddy Jeff decides that he's sick and tired of his Alma Mater being a total crap school for football. To fix this, Jeff donates 5 BILLION dollars to the BOOSTERS supporting the school.

The boosters then create a massive NIL program that provides EVERY football player on the team with one million dollars per year in NIL compensation. Guess what... completely legal.

Not enough to attract every 5* athlete in the US to Princeton? No worries... Bezos says raise the NIL deal to 5 million per player per year. Still not enough? No worries, 10 million per football player per year. No big whoop... it's only money right?

Now apply this Jeff Bezos / Princeton situation to ANY school and ANY rich person who wants to wag the dog.

Illegal? Nope. Possible? Absolutely.

End result: Game over for TN and/or any traditional football school without the wherewithal to compete FINANCIALLY with other schools.

NIL is a giant, unregulated clusterf*ck that effectively creates "NFL Junior". Worse yet, unlike the NFL there's no "salary cap" on NIL money directed towards these kids.

College football is done.

Money, alone, will drive which schools will attract and retain the best players in the country.

In the age of Kardashian and soon to be 40 trillion in debt, what do you expect. Tomorrow you’re homeless but tonight it’s a blast.

 

[kcvols1]

Actual picture of Saban coaching, Star Date 3031.
View attachment 419881

Poor Captain Pike…

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Doing get me wrong, I’m in favor of NIL. None of us wants to see it abused though, which I think it’s trending toward. NCAA athletes are already an odd group because, unlike NBA or NFL players, they don’t draw salary. The NBA and NFL have salary caps, free agency procedures, and other rules designed to organize things and provide parity in those leagues. NBA and especially NFL players’ conduct are controlled by those rules.

At present, the NIL contracts themselves govern athlete conduct, but being paid market rate for your likeness is not the same as getting paid to play. How do you determine which contacts are legit, and which are only lip service?

I’m certainly not going to stop watching college football anytime soon, but I’m certainly tired of the same teams making the playoff year in and year out. It seems that is the most prevalent complaint among college football fans in general. It certainly raises a lot of questions if NIL perpetuates a lack of parity, but who knows whether that’s going to happen or not at this point?

Just posing open ended questions on a lazy Sunday, I guess.

Because NIL is outside the NCAA, there's not a good control procedure. For instance, Micheal Dell started Dell computers as a student, from his dorm room, and became rich from his efforts.

His business had nothing to do with his status as a student and TX couldn't have legally said "Nope. You can't be a student and a businessman. We forbid it."

You're not going to convince me a university can control a student starting a business and being successful. That they happen to play football isn't relevant. Americans are entrepreneurs, the absolute best in the world at creating money from hard work and ingenuity.

It does amaze me that Vols fans, ultra conservative.... get govt out of my life..... America First folks aren't 100% behind govt and the schools keeping their grubby hands off these young Americans coming up with legal ways to make money.

It's astounding to see people calling for school and govt regulation of simple endorsement deals.

 

[Larkin]

NIL may be the end of college football (and all athletics) as we know it.

Enjoy watching TN compete for 5* and 4* football recruits? Bad news. If we don't have the deep, deep pockets of our big boosters compared to other schools, we won't be able to compete.

Consider: Jeff Bezos. Princeton graduate. Let's say our buddy Jeff decides that he's sick and tired of his Alma Mater being a total crap school for football. To fix this, Jeff donates 5 BILLION dollars to the BOOSTERS supporting the school.

The boosters then create a massive NIL program that provides EVERY football player on the team with one million dollars per year in NIL compensation. Guess what... completely legal.

Not enough to attract every 5* athlete in the US to Princeton? No worries... Bezos says raise the NIL deal to 5 million per player per year. Still not enough? No worries, 10 million per football player per year. No big whoop... it's only money right?

Now apply this Jeff Bezos / Princeton situation to ANY school and ANY rich person who wants to wag the dog.

Illegal? Nope. Possible? Absolutely.

End result: Game over for TN and/or any traditional football school without the wherewithal to compete FINANCIALLY with other schools.

NIL is a giant, unregulated clusterf*ck that effectively creates "NFL Junior". Worse yet, unlike the NFL there's no "salary cap" on NIL money directed towards these kids.

College football is done.

Money, alone, will drive which schools will attract and retain the best players in the country.

Oregon is basically financed by every other school that uses Nike...
Agree on the OP's post 1000000 percent

Also consider this will destroy programs like MTSU, App State and other directional schools because the major programs will poach their best Junior and Senior players with $$$... you know it is going to happen.

This post could also be titled "The death knell of the NCAA"

 

[Freiwillige]

The love of money is the root of all sorts of evil.

I expect that, as the payrolls skyrocket for coaches, players, and athletic departments, some people will not be as interested. I can't imagine why a non-alumni would care enough to spend money on a university sports team.

Recognizing that the veneer of amateurism has been getting thinner and thinner long before NIL.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Oregon is basically financed by every other school that uses Nike...
Agree on the OP's post 1000000 percent

Also consider this will destroy programs like MTSU, App State and other directional schools because the major programs will poach their best Junior and Senior players with $$$... you know it is going to happen.

This post could also be titled "The death knell of the NCAA"

You're assuming elite schools ever wanted and will want MTSU talent. Make no mistake, if a major school wanted an MTSU player, they'd have never been an MTSU player.

College ball will survive at smaller schools but most SEC and B1G schools are eventually going to be NFL developmental pro teams. The money is too big, the management required is beyond what school admins can handle correctly, and the separation between college and pro will blur to non-existent.

College ball will be there but at MTSU, etc for guys who lack pro potential.

Elite young men WILL get paid to play football, as they should, and if teams like Bama, TN, etc want to be part of the massive money involved (and they do) they'll find a way to transition to pro teams.

 

[Zues1]

But the biology department doesn't bring in $100 million year like football does! The SEC TV contract is why coaches salaries and facilities have exploded.

Of course not, but the monies are out of control.
Why even pretend the teams are part of the university any longer. It's the minor league.

 

[kcvols1]

Because NIL is outside the NCAA, there's not a good control procedure. For instance, Micheal Dell started Dell computers as a student, from his dorm room, and became rich from his efforts.

His business had nothing to do with his status as a student and TX couldn't have legally said "Nope. You can't be a student and a businessman. We forbid it."

You're not going to convince me a university can control a student starting a business and being successful. That they happen to play football isn't relevant. Americans are entrepreneurs, the absolute best in the world at creating money from hard work and ingenuity.

It does amaze me that Vols fans, ultra conservative.... get govt out of my life..... America First folks aren't 100% behind govt and the schools keeping their grubby hands off these young Americans coming up with legal ways to make money.

It's astounding to see people calling for school and govt regulation of simple endorsement deals.

Not everything is a question of capitalism or communism. Those are the two extremes.

I don’t think most fans begrudge players being able to sign simple endorsement deals, if the deals are at arms’ length and the payments are legitimately for endorsements.

Trouble is, you can’t tell when that’s the case and when it isn’t. I’ll use Bryce Young as an example. Dude reportedly had a seven figure “endorsement deal” in place before he logged a single snap as a starter. There’s an argument that there’s no way that’s market value for an unproven freshman QB.

Of course that would be nearly impossible to prove, given the market’s novelty, but it begs interesting questions going forward.

Chief among those at the moment is “When will Bryce renegotiate his NIL deal?”

Heck, at this point we don’t even know whether it will be good or bad for parity.

That and the transfer window certainly appears to be helping UT football complete sooner rather than later!

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Not everything is a question of capitalism or communism. Those are the two extremes.

I don’t think most fans begrudge players being able to sign simple endorsement deals, if the deals are at arms’ length and the payments are legitimately for endorsements.

Trouble is, you can’t tell when that’s the case and when it isn’t. I’ll use Bryce Young as an example. Dude reportedly had a seven figure “endorsement deal” in place before he logged a single snap as a starter. There’s an argument that there’s no way that’s market value for an unproven freshman QB.

Of course that would be nearly impossible to prove, given the market’s novelty, but it begs interesting questions going forward. At this point we don’t even know whether it will be good or bad for parity.

That and the transfer window certainly appears to be helping UT football complete sooner rather than later!

The key is: "that would be nearly impossible to prove." America runs on being able to prove something is happening before you regulate or charge someone with wrongdoing.

Again, all these folks who wanted ironclad proof when athletes were not caught (charges dropped) doing this or that....... suddenly want to regulate something they cannot prove is happening.

It's a nope from me. These are pro athletes and have been for decades. Rip the band-aid off, establish relationships with the NFL, pay the players upfront and THEN you can establish some draft parity, free agency parity, etc.

Unless the players are actually employees, regulation is impossible. You cannot legally control a student from being a businessman.

 

[onecrazytj]

NIL may be the end of college football (and all athletics) as we know it.

Enjoy watching TN compete for 5* and 4* football recruits? Bad news. If we don't have the deep, deep pockets of our big boosters compared to other schools, we won't be able to compete.

Consider: Jeff Bezos. Princeton graduate. Let's say our buddy Jeff decides that he's sick and tired of his Alma Mater being a total crap school for football. To fix this, Jeff donates 5 BILLION dollars to the BOOSTERS supporting the school.

The boosters then create a massive NIL program that provides EVERY football player on the team with one million dollars per year in NIL compensation. Guess what... completely legal.

Not enough to attract every 5* athlete in the US to Princeton? No worries... Bezos says raise the NIL deal to 5 million per player per year. Still not enough? No worries, 10 million per football player per year. No big whoop... it's only money right?

Now apply this Jeff Bezos / Princeton situation to ANY school and ANY rich person who wants to wag the dog.

Illegal? Nope. Possible? Absolutely.

End result: Game over for TN and/or any traditional football school without the wherewithal to compete FINANCIALLY with other schools.

NIL is a giant, unregulated clusterf*ck that effectively creates "NFL Junior". Worse yet, unlike the NFL there's no "salary cap" on NIL money directed towards these kids.

College football is done.

Money, alone, will drive which schools will attract and retain the best players in the country.

Correct. It’s not exactly new news.

 

[tnlizard]

NIL may be the end of college football (and all athletics) as we know it.

Enjoy watching TN compete for 5* and 4* football recruits? Bad news. If we don't have the deep, deep pockets of our big boosters compared to other schools, we won't be able to compete.

Consider: Jeff Bezos. Princeton graduate. Let's say our buddy Jeff decides that he's sick and tired of his Alma Mater being a total crap school for football. To fix this, Jeff donates 5 BILLION dollars to the BOOSTERS supporting the school.

The boosters then create a massive NIL program that provides EVERY football player on the team with one million dollars per year in NIL compensation. Guess what... completely legal.

Not enough to attract every 5* athlete in the US to Princeton? No worries... Bezos says raise the NIL deal to 5 million per player per year. Still not enough? No worries, 10 million per football player per year. No big whoop... it's only money right?

Now apply this Jeff Bezos / Princeton situation to ANY school and ANY rich person who wants to wag the dog.

Illegal? Nope. Possible? Absolutely.

End result: Game over for TN and/or any traditional football school without the wherewithal to compete FINANCIALLY with other schools.

NIL is a giant, unregulated clusterf*ck that effectively creates "NFL Junior". Worse yet, unlike the NFL there's no "salary cap" on NIL money directed towards these kids.

College football is done.

Money, alone, will drive which schools will attract and retain the best players in the country.

Reduce scholarships for the successful programs like the NFL cc hanges draft order.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Reduce scholarships for the successful programs like the NFL cc hanges draft order.

Interesting thought but a kid getting $1M in NIL money doesn't need a scholarship to "walk on" and pay tuition. After they make the team, they get all the benefits..... facilities, training, etc teammates get and tuition is cheap, relatively speaking.

 

[VolBallGuy]

The guy with the money wins. Welcome to America.