SIAP: my worst NIL fear has come true…

[Midnighter]

Since the horse has left the barn - and there's no going back at this point - the NCAA should recognized the athletes as professionals.

• Classes / progress towards a degree are encouraged, but no longer required.
• NIL payments run directly through the university athletic department. However the school chooses to raise those funds, through donors or otherwise, is up to them.
• An annual salary cap is established so schools are playing on the same level. Raise funds in excess of the salary cap? Great. Use those funds to build NIL reserves or to invest in facilities.
• Players sign contracts. Contracts would not limit players from transferring, but would require a "buyout" of that player from the school he/she transfers to. Maybe equal to the remaining salary of that player's NIL deal through the school.

As college football is now a professional league(s), then treat it as such.

NCAA could also have a 2nd tier amateur league for students who actually want to get a college degree, and also play sports while doing so.

Love this. Was listening to The Athletic's college football podcast with Mandel and Feldman and they were talking about university presidents wanting the NCAA to somehow unring the NIL bell. The big issue isn't paying players on the team, it's using NIL to recruit a HS or portal player. But, like Mandel noted, he's seen the NIL contracts and even though everyone knows these collectives coordinate with coaching staffs to identify/recruit players, none of the contracts mention enrolling at any specific school and do not have performance goals. And the NCAA isn't going to punish players and can't punish collectives, so the schools will be the ones hit. Mandel and Feldman think the NCAA will try to make an example of a program clearly violating the spirit of NIL, likely Tennessee. But, do they want Tennessee to take them to court and have Brett 'Brewski' Kavanaugh unload on them again?

 

[FrontierLion]

"the NCAA will try to make an example of a program clearly violating the spirit of NIL,"

I think this is the main problem with the whole situation. What is the "spirit" of NIL? I assume it's to allow college players to reap some benefit of their own names. But - like most everything in life - some names are worth more than others. Those names demand more money. And more money requires bigger checkbooks. The bigger checkbooks are held by a select few in the college football ranks.

What started as a good intention to get players their cut of the pie, NIL has unintended consequences and has now spiraled out of control. Not sure how the powers-that-be couldn't see this coming, though.

I keep coming back to the Jordan Addison situation. Let's say under my scenario, he's worth $1 million / year. No matter where he ends up (Texas, Alabama, USC), I'm sure getting a check from one of those schools would soften the blow to Pitt somewhat. They'd now have $1 million to go spend somewhere else on another player's NIL deal. Not to mention Texas, Bama or USC would have to have $1 million in "cap space" before they could even consider tampering.

 

[Liontown]

Alabama football coach Nick Saban says Texas A&M 'bought every player,' questions whether current NIL model is sustainable​

Alabama coach Nick Saban singled out Texas A&M for "buying" its top-ranked signing class and threw a spotlight on the unintended effect of name, image and likeness rights on recruiting during an event with local business leaders on Wednesday night in Birmingham.

"I mean, we were second in recruiting last year," Saban told the audience. "A&M was first. A&M bought every player on their team -- made a deal for name, image likeness. We didn't buy one player. All right? But I don't know if we're gonna be able to sustain that in the future because more and more people are doing it. It's tough."

https://www.espn.com/college-footba...estions-whether-current-nil-model-sustainable

 

[Tom McAndrew]