This thread is about NIL and the transfer portal- I am not saying I don’t like the thread. I am saying that I disagree with the assertion that NIL is a bad thing. It is new and the associated culture is still being worked out. New developments often have kinks along the way.
According to the Supreme Court of the United States the previous restrictions regarding college athletes were unconstitutional. The court ruled unanimously (9-0). I am not an attorney and would enjoy further clarification from some of the board attorneys if I have this wrong.
The previous rules were written to obligate and manipulate adults based on decisions they made while still in high school (sometimes while they were still children legally) for the benefit of Universities and the NCAA.
Recognizing that these rules were illegal restored rights to hard working young adults. This is a good thing.
Oh and it has been good for Utah football- we have gained far more from the transfer portal than we have lost. Tuttle over Rising anyone? Our best wide receiver may well be the player who is on his third school.
So for those who want to get rid of NIL and the transfer portal, I guess you will need a constitutional amendment to force this grown man back to Indiana’s football program. What would be the benefit of that?
Going devil’s advocate, the current free for all in the long run will lead to a “Group of six” teams that will see a concentration of the NIL wealth, with the rest picking up the scraps. It will benefit the players, no doubt, but for those who were complaining about the 4 team format for the CFP, well you will be complaining about the 12 team CFP soon enough. The reason? There will be a likely talent gap the size of the Pacific Ocean between the six teams and every one else that will result in a bloodbath for the lesser competition. Maybe the transfer portal will function as the great equalizer. Then again, maybe it won’t.
The truth is the whole thing could simply make college sports - all college sports - unwatchable and disinteresting. Like I said earlier, College sports have just experienced a seismic event in who these kids playing these sports are now. Maybe what we are seeing in the present was always just under the surface before - hidden in a network of back rooms and booster glad handing. I just hope the institutions get a handle on it so keep the money from becoming a light switch on the fans - turning them off. Consider the annual ticket, “donation” and “fee” increases we have seen over the last several seasons. Eventually something is going to give.
I’ll do the same. Because of NIL a 5* went to an HBCU for a season. Sure he left but he went to a bottom tier P5. The money has made some schools who were not typical NFL Pipelines more attractive. I agree though. I think this is a “Gold Rush” era of NIL that will calm down over time. I think we will go back to where we’ve been.
We always concentrate on football but as the link I put above shows women athletes are making some bank. This is a good thing. Considering those sports tend to be overlooked and have little opportunity post college for financial gain.
I don’t disagree with anything here. I just disagree with your conclusions.
It is natural for large-population cities with large amounts of wealth to have stronger resources than smaller cities. It would take a very unusual set of circumstances to make Boise (as nice as it is) competitive with Los Angeles or Seattle. LA >> Salt Lake City in terms of resources. Thems the facts.
USC can swing a frukton of incompetence for a decade and still have huge advantages over Utah. It has always been that way and it always will. For as much as so many want to complain about the current situation, Utah is more competitive with the LA schools than they have ever been. For my part I chose to be grateful for the current situation rather than bitter. What will the future bring? Who knows?
Now the next questions are- 1. Does the goal of making Utah football more competitive justify instituting illegal rules that violate the rights of some adults? 2. If you could fiat your rules into place, would you be successful at making Utah football more competitive?
As for question 1 my answer is clearly no. The propensity for humans who get power to work towards controlling other humans is one of our basest tendencies. We ought to strive against it and promote freedom of choice and personal responsibility.
As for question 2 my answer is probably not. I think this is Bama’s contention and I think he is right for two reasons. First it is unlikely to get USC, Ohio St., Georgia and the other top-tier programs to agree to your set of rules. What would their reasons be for giving up their advantages? Bama gets more first round picks every year than any NFL team. So you are going to have to force them into your rules. The NFL and NBA rules have been around for a long time and had agreements in place at the creation of their leagues to force stronger teams into things they don’t want. If those rules were not pre-existing, you would have a very hard time getting them into place now.
Secondly, those rules would still not level the playing field. The Jazz have never really been competitive on a consistent basis with the Lakers despite the salary cap etc. because of various reasons we are all familiar with.
The bottom line, for me, is that if you are going to try to level the playing field for universities, it ought not to be done by restricting rights of the athletes themselves- particularly if it is unconstitutional.
I doubt that the consensus would be that the NIL and portal are bad. The bad is the seemingly Wild West aspect of the 2 of them, especially the 2 of them together.
You make good points and reminders, especially about the SCOTUS decision. I think many, if not most of us, recognize that Utah as benefited nicely with the Portal.
What this thread has been about is creating thoughts and discussion about how to take some of the wilder aspects of the Portal and NIL out of play. I don’t recall anyone stating that the genie should, let alone could be put back in the bottle.
Some of us have advocated, myself included, that D-1 (P-5 especially) sort of divest itself from the schools and become a minor league so to speak. Within that framework the programs could use the school’s names, and send money back to schools. I’m sure that there are many other ideas that I’ve overlooked, but I think you get the idea.
This part is odd because many of these players are graduating. Alabama football is an 85% grad rate where the University at large is 71%. So in essence the football program is doing a better job educating and employing the football players from primarily low income areas than many other institutions. I’m not sure about other programs but I think I read Utah football had a higher grad rate than the University at large.
I think you are correct in the graduation rate being higher for the football team, and athletes in general at Utah. The whys can be discussed at another time, but I suspect that it has more to do with the athletes being more disciplined and learning how to use their time more wisely. I could be wrong, but that is just an observation from a long distance.
A regular old student has a significant amount of time to study and thrive academically. So, I am not sure your Hypothesis above is correct. In fact many University coaches prioritize their team over their academics.
Another reason that having athletes learn time management along with money management at the University is a good thing.
I think you underestimate the level of time and effort required to be a student athlete at a successful D1 football program. It is an all-consuming, full-time (and then some) job. Then stack a full collegiate course load on top of that.
I was a D2 athlete in a non-revenue sport at a small school and it was still almost entirely overwhelming. And I was a pretty good student who knew that I had no athletic future post-college and aligned my efforts accordingly.
Even with the advantages they have (tutors, adjusted course loads, etc) I’m frankly amazed the student athletes manage to graduate as often as they do.
Then there are us lazy bastards who did 2 years of JUCO, enlisted and served in the Army, then used the GI Bill and National Guard service to get to graduation.
I worked 40 hours a week as a TV News Producer for a local affiliate and had a part time job as a Janitor in college. It was easier for me than my friends who played hoops or football at P5 (I went to a nearby private college). Also, I was a rare breed of human who worked full time through school. So your newer scenario is assuming that a majority of students have full time jobs. They in fact do not.
Schools could just not give scholarships or offset by NIL money. If someone else is funding them to be recognized as an athlete at this level, why does the school need to pay for their education?
Why is it fine to require them to get credits and grades to qualify to play? SCOTUS ruled NFL can keep them out for 3 years (Clarett). So restrictions on ‘employment’ are allowed. I guess other leagues could form (USFL, XFL, CFL, Arean, breakaway super-SEC). This all could eventually turn into a collective bargaining agreement. Just not through the NCAA. They are toast.
As someone mentioned, NIL is esp. good for female athletes as their sports don’t get as much attention or money.
I fully agree that these kids should take what they can get. I just think what is being offered is idiotic and irresponsible, but some have money to burn on wasted projects to stroke their egos with 20 year kids playing a game to entertain us. Modern gladiators i guess. Everyone better be paying their taxes on these deals.
NIL - fine in principle, stupidly high for some until they’ve proven something (see 2022 TAMU). Still wish I could have received NIL for my nerd degrees, but i was totally content with my scholarships. I didn’t get any tutors or training tables though.
Transfer portal - ok and helped overcome when a coach left. Still think sitting a year would be good unless certain conditions existed. Eligibilty is still a thing and hasn’t been ruled illegal yet.
Together is when it basically becomes tampering to buy proven players.
I think this is where you get into labor laws issue. I could be wrong. I am more shocked there isn’t more litigation for medical expenses post playing days. Many players will sustain workplace (if we are treating it like a job) injuries that will take years of medical attention. That’s also why I don’t see the money as that crazy.
Yes, there have been court cases that all determined that players on scholarship are not employees. If they don’t have the scholie, then you have workman’s comp, union organizing, etc.
Also, I saw something today that it is against federal law for professional football to be played on Friday night after 6PM and on Saturday when HS and Colleges are playing.
Most D1 schools have entire teams dedicated to keeping athletes in compliance and progressing academically. The U has tutors, learning specialists, and academic coaches assigned to each student athlete. They have a dedicated study and tutoring space at the Burbidge Academic Center. In addition most of the sport facilities on campus have sport specific study spaces so athletes don’t have to compete with other students for spots in the library for example. And even with access to all those services and spaces some athletes don’t take advantage and struggle in school. The average student doesn’t have access to the same level of services and amenities that athletes do.