The coming BIG disruption in college sports

[aucom96 1,618]

22 minutes ago, AURex said:

 

I don't know where this is going, 

 

If it doesn't change, it's going to a bad product and a bad product isn't going to make even the best 5 star QB recruit rich anywhere.

[JDUBB4AU 5,121]

23 hours ago, Mikey said:

Thanks to NIL and the current transfer rules I've already lost a great deal of my interest in college sports. I suppose I'll always want Auburn to do well but my thoughts and money are already going elsewhere. What I'm giving to AU is completely on the academic side.

AU sucks is why I lost interest in college sports lol

[NWALA Tiger 3,535]

On 2/6/2024 at 1:58 PM, Gowebb11 said:

And that will almost certainly happen. 

Saw a pic today of Carson Beck at the dealership getting his Lamborghini.  300k vehicle.... I can't wait till the IRS muddies all this up

[passthebiscuits 6,846]

We are quickly approaching a shared revenue model, which in my opinion is the ONLY way this current situation works. College sports as we knew it are sadly gone imo. 

[Swamp Eagle 5,136]

On 2/5/2024 at 9:06 PM, AURex said:

There is increasing pressure on universities to change the way college sports are treated. A recent ruling by the National Labor Relations Board in the New England area ruled that athletes are employees of the university, not amateur student athletes, and therefore they can unionize and can be paid for playing their sport.

 

The SEC and Big10 have joined up to draft new rules regarding college athletes in Power5 programs, especially in regards to NIL and athlete revenue sharing by the universities.

 

I think the old idea of student athletes and amateurism is going to completely disappear in the next few years. Schools with lots of money will pay athletes nice sums -- the better they perform, the more they earn. The schools with less money will have lower pay scales. But the one thing that NCAA and the federal government will require through Title IX is that athletes in all sports must receive a share of the money.

 

Gymnastics, golf, swimming, soccer, T&F, etc -- It's going to be complicated. And it will emphasize even more that college sports are a minor league prep ground for future pros in all sports.

 

I wonder how this would change the dynamic of sports on campuses over time. If the athletes are no longer invested with a university, able to jump from school to school at will, a constant churn of players who, from what I've seen, could play at the college level indefinitely, year after year after year after year at many different schools so long as they are taking classes -- this could be a real quagmire.

 

There would obviously need to be contracts involved, likely similar to pro sports, with base pay and performance incentives, buyouts for top athletes for changing schools, etc.

 

Would students, alumni and especially donors adjust to this new world of college athletics that is more like pro sports? I ask this because a lot of fans of college sports (including me) have little or no interest at all in pro sports. If your university baseball team is no different from your city minor league team, etc, will they be pumping dollars and excitement into the current team, which may be completelt different from last year's team and completely different from next year's team?

 

I don't know the answers to any of this stuff.

 

The way all of this sorts out is just speculation at this point, but there is one certainty. Change is coming and it is going to be disruptive. Just having a couple of new teams in the conference is nothing compared to what is coming down the road in the next few years.

 

 

I’ll ask this question:

Does anyone here DIRECTLY contribute to professional athlete’s salaries? 
 

I think we all know the answer.  I don’t and, with regard to college athletes, I won’t.  If they want the money and the benefits, let them fend for themselves to gain employment like the rest of the free world.  I have children and grand-children who’ll get my money; not some entitled athlete who I don’t know and who doesn’t know me. 

It’s just not important enough to me to bother with. I’ll get over the missing of college football soon enough.

 

Edited February 7 by Swamp Eagle

[FormerlySec38Row34 56]

I wonder if anyone has thought about the implications to the sports most important to the Olympics? If these athletes are paid employees, are they still amateurs? Will they still qualify for the Olympics? For those sports that don't carry a hefty pro career payday, the Olympics are the Apex of their sports life. What then?

[Mikey 16,598]

41 minutes ago, FormerlySec38Row34 said:

I wonder if anyone has thought about the implications to the sports most important to the Olympics? If these athletes are paid employees, are they still amateurs? Will they still qualify for the Olympics? For those sports that don't carry a hefty pro career payday, the Olympics are the Apex of their sports life. What then?

Well, NBA players are participating in Olympic basketball. I could be wrong, but hasn't the "amateur" requirement been gone from the Olympics for a long time now?

[Hank2020 3,199]

48 minutes ago, FormerlySec38Row34 said:

I wonder if anyone has thought about the implications to the sports most important to the Olympics? If these athletes are paid employees, are they still amateurs? Will they still qualify for the Olympics? For those sports that don't carry a hefty pro career payday, the Olympics are the Apex of their sports life. What then?

I thought they already allow professional athletes to play olympics in the same sport they make a living in (basketball for instance).

[meh130 1,043]

On 2/6/2024 at 1:07 PM, NWALA Tiger said:

So they getting 1099s and going and getting taxes filled out?

Yes, by law if you hire an independent contractor to work for you, you have to provide them a 1099.

Remember, what the NCAA calls "NIL" is what they call "endorsements" in pro sports. They are being paid to provide their fame to promote and sell a product. A "quid pro quo" of work for pay is a requirement for NIL. It cannot simply be paying an athlete for breathing. Of course, the NIL collectives are self-licking ice cream cones where the primary "work" is the athletes soliciting donations to the NIL collective.

[meh130 1,043]

On 2/9/2024 at 3:37 PM, FormerlySec38Row34 said:

I wonder if anyone has thought about the implications to the sports most important to the Olympics? If these athletes are paid employees, are they still amateurs? Will they still qualify for the Olympics? For those sports that don't carry a hefty pro career payday, the Olympics are the Apex of their sports life. What then?

Amateurism left he Olympics decades ago.

[aubiefifty 16,791]

On 2/7/2024 at 5:39 PM, Swamp Eagle said:

I’ll ask this question:

Does anyone here DIRECTLY contribute to professional athlete’s salaries? 
 

I think we all know the answer.  I don’t and, with regard to college athletes, I won’t.  If they want the money and the benefits, let them fend for themselves to gain employment like the rest of the free world.  I have children and grand-children who’ll get my money; not some entitled athlete who I don’t know and who doesn’t know me. 

It’s just not important enough to me to bother with. I’ll get over the missing of college football soon enough.

 

i spent twenty bucks on auburn cards.............that is about it.

[nurbis 572]

On 2/7/2024 at 5:39 PM, Swamp Eagle said:

I think we all know the answer.  I don’t and, with regard to college athletes, I won’t.  If they want the money and the benefits, let them fend for themselves to gain employment like the rest of the free world.  

This is the part of NIL I could not get my head around. The primary issue was that schools and networks make so much money from the players but the players could not make any money for themselves or get a share of the revenue. So somehow we end up with a system where the fans have to pay the players and the schools and networks are still not required to give a share of what they make directly to the players? 

The fans are the source of the revenue for schools and networks as it is, how did it also become our responsibility to pay the players? 

[passthebiscuits 6,846]

There’s money to go around and everyone wants a piece now. It’s the wild Wild West. No oversight and no transparency.

may i add that what Bama just did with their OC leaving right after portal closes is dog poo. If I was a player on O, I would sue bama for breach of contract. 

[Swamp Eagle 5,136]

16 minutes ago, nurbis said:

This is the part of NIL I could not get my head around. The primary issue was that schools and networks make so much money from the players but the players could not make any money for themselves or get a share of the revenue. So somehow we end up with a system where the fans have to pay the players and the schools and networks are still not required to give a share of what they make directly to the players? 

The fans are the source of the revenue for schools and networks as it is, how did it also become our responsibility to pay the players? 

The way NIL is *supposed* to work is a high school prospect OR college player can market themselves to endorsements and such.  But, lo and behold, the boosters jump in before any rules are in place and form "collectives" that basically exist as a Go-Fund-Me account to go out and buy players.  It's absurd, and it will get ugly before they get a handle on it.  

I'm sorry, but I won't contribute a personal dime to it.

[aujohnson 299]

16 minutes ago, Swamp Eagle said:

The way NIL is *supposed* to work is a high school prospect OR college player can market themselves to endorsements and such.  But, lo and behold, the boosters jump in before any rules are in place and form "collectives" that basically exist as a Go-Fund-Me account to go out and buy players.  It's absurd, and it will get ugly before they get a handle on it.  

I'm sorry, but I won't contribute a personal dime to it.

The go-fund-me analogy is about as good of one as I can think of. 👍🏼

[Win4AU 4,052]

Whatever rule prohibits kids going straight to the NFL and requires them to attend college for at least 2 years will need to go away.  This may ultimately help the XFL/USFL league because kids should also be allowed to join those leagues out of high school.  I could also see the Top Tier of College athletics programs split off (Power 5) and have a new Division of Group of 5 and lower teams that compete for their own championship.  Maybe have teams move in between the 2 divisions similar to soccer.  
 

It worked out last time when Auburn had to out bid another school for a top QB.

[mustache eagle 2,402]

4 hours ago, nurbis said:

This is the part of NIL I could not get my head around. The primary issue was that schools and networks make so much money from the players but the players could not make any money for themselves or get a share of the revenue. So somehow we end up with a system where the fans have to pay the players and the schools and networks are still not required to give a share of what they make directly to the players? 

The fans are the source of the revenue for schools and networks as it is, how did it also become our responsibility to pay the players? 

All the while a college education continues to get more expensive and have less value.  I tell anyone who will listen, if your kid isn’t interested in Greek life, college sports or 4 years of “the college experience “, then go 3 semesters to community college at a fraction of the cost and all 3 semesters will transfer to your preferred 4 year college and then you can have 2.5 years of the college experience 

[FormerlySec38Row34 56]

On 2/9/2024 at 3:21 PM, Mikey said:

Well, NBA players are participating in Olympic basketball. I could be wrong, but hasn't the "amateur" requirement been gone from the Olympics for a long time now?

I was referring to some of the less popular sports like track and swimming. The Olympics hasn't yet had pros in those individual sports. If they do, then there are no more amateur sports.

Without amateur status, there's no more need for the NCAA.

[Mikey 16,598]

12 hours ago, FormerlySec38Row34 said:

Without amateur status, there's no more need for the NCAA.

Doesn't the current NIL situation remove amateur status anyway? It's a mess and it's going to take somebody smarter than me to figure out a solution.