Michigan's Jim Harbaugh calls for revenue sharing, status quo is 'unacceptable'

As Jim Harbaugh prepares to serve his three-game suspension, he is making a point to call out the state of college sports.

In his press conference Monday ahead of Week 1 of the college football season, the former Michigan quarterback turned coach called for revenue sharing. He’s one of the first head coaches in the country to openly call for the move, which comes after his comments at 2022 Big Ten Media Days where he broached the topic.

“The big one, the one I first started mentioning back in 2020 and then again at 2022 Big Ten Media Days,” he said in his opening statement of Monday’s press conference. “I continue to advocate for that today. A system of revenue sharing with the student-athletes. I’m aware that when someone speaks out in defense of those without a voice, attempts are made to diminish the individual’s character and credibility. As a former player and current coach, mentoring many of these student-athletes, what I want to do is be a voice for the student-athletes. I want them to be treated with the respect and the dignity that they deserve.

“What I don’t understand is how the NCAA, television networks, conferences, universities and coaches can continue to pull in millions, and sometimes billions, of dollars in revenue off the efforts of college student-athletes across the country without providing enough opportunity to share in the ever-increasing revenues.”

At this year’s Big Ten Media Days back in July, Harbaugh called for the NCAA to give NIL a chance before reigning it in. NCAA president Charlie Baker has been joined by conference commissioners, athletic directors and coaches on Capitol Hill in recent months, pushing Congress to enact an NIL mandate.

Over the past few weeks, the landscape of college football has shifted again. Oregon and Washington are bound for the Big Ten. The Big 12 has welcomed Arizona, Arizona State and Utah.

Most of the moves have been fueled by TV dollars. And in the case of the Pac-12’s demise, lack thereof. The demise of the conference began a year ago when USC and UCLA took up the cash-rich Big Ten up on its offer.

Starting in 2024, the Big Ten, traditionally a conference based in the Midwest, will span coast to coast. The SEC and Big Ten each begin new TV contracts this year, with Big Ten programs expected to receive anywhere from $80 to $100 million per year. The current college sports model does not pay athletes a dollar from the contracts. Athletes were not able to profit off their name, image and likeness until July 2021.

Jim Harbaugh urged Monday that changes must come now.

“When student-athletes call the game, corporate types call it business. When student-athletes call it business, corporate types call it a game,” Harbaugh said. “I’m aware that Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said and I quote, ‘The decision making lost its way in terms of the focus of the student-athlete and what’s primarily best for them. But we are where we are. We have to try and make it work.’

“And we do, we have to try and make it work. We have to try and make it better, and right now. The current status quo is unacceptable and won’t survive.”

The Collective Association discussed the barebones of a revenue-sharing model with the NCAA and SEC in July. Now at 17 members, the founding group includes collectives from Tennessee, Georgia, Ole Miss, Florida State, USC, Michigan and Penn State.

The thought is a portion of TV revenue should be distributed by conferences to an “official” institution collective in equal shares. For example, an SEC collective could receive $5 to $10 million annually. This could theoretically relieve pressure for boosters to constantly produce more funds, as has been the case in the last 24 months. From there the collective distributes the money to athletes.

Employee status battle looming

The fight over employee status is also coming. The National Labor Relations Board’s Los Angeles office filed a complaint against the NCAA, Pac-12 Conference and USC for unfair labor practices in May, and a hearing with an NLRB Administrative Law Judge is set for Nov. 7 in Los Angeles. 

The plaintiffs in Johnson v. NCAA, former Villanova football player Trey Johnson and other Division I athletes, are asking that athletes be deemed employees subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act. Plus, while put on pause until next year, the College Athlete Protection Act would require institutions that fund major college sports to pay as much as $25,000 annually to athletes. The California bill passed the Assembly before being delayed until 2024, according to USA Today.