The NCAA is pushing new rules that would allow schools to directly pay college athletes for the first time.
Why it matters: The changes would be revolutionary for an organization that has long fought tooth and nail to preserve the amateur nature of college sports.
The proposal — outlined in a letter to Division I colleges today — would allow schools to enter into name, image and likeness (NIL) deals directly with their students.
The NCAA lifted its ban on athletes profiting off NIL deals in 2021, allowing them to earn money from outside parties — but not with colleges.
The big picture: The NCAA — since its founding 117 years ago — has cherished and enforced the notion of amateurism among college athletes.
Students whoplay sports have been limited from receiving compensation beyond scholarships and some related costs of education.
The organization has struggled to keep up with changing public opinionaround compensating athletes.
Zoom in: Colleges that choose to take part in the new system — if it’s approved — would be required to invest at least $30,000 per year into a trust fund for athletes.
Schools with “the most financial resources and the biggest brands” would form a new subdivision that could set its own rules for roster size, recruitment and transfers.
Two competition divisions with a maximum of 64 teams per division. There will be four regions to create compactness for travel.
Promotion - Relegation system that rewards successful play to the premier division and relegated underachieving premier teams to the lower division. Both divisions will have a 16 team playoff to determine the league’s champion. 8 - 8 team “regions” create the feeder to the championship. Teams play all the teams in their region plus at least one team from each of the other 3 regions. Only division games count.
More like, they have struggled to ensure that they don’t break anti-trust and labor laws. Public opinion is a piece of this relative to Justice Kavanaugh’s famous words.
Once that happened, the NCAA hope to retain their power was slipping. It might be too little too late for the NCAA to hold whatever power they have left.
The big picture: The NCAA — since its founding 117 years ago — has cherished and enforced the notion of amateurism among college athletes.
Zoom in: Colleges that choose to take part in the new system — if it’s approved — would be required to invest at least $30,000 per year into a trust fund for athletes.