If you were in charge, how would you divvy up $21M?
- Thread starter Sheffielder
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That reminds of a bank here in Alaska during the gold rush days. A would be robber walked in with sticks of dynamite and laid them in front of the teller demanding a large sum of cash. The teller walked away and hid behind a barrier. The frustrated robber started shooting his gun and one of the bullets hit a stick of dynamite and blew up the bank including himself. A customer had just come into the bank with a stash of gold dust to deposit. The gold dust went everywhere and the customer was blown out the door but survived.
In the aftermath the charred floor boards were burned to recover the gold. When all was said and done there was more gold recovered than the customer had brought into the bank. It resulted from all the gold dust that had accumulated in the floor boards over the years.
I am guessing under your scenario silver eagles and NU bullion coins may eventually be found years later just like a friend of ours who has an Easter egg hunt in her house each year ended up with more eggs found this year than she had hid. (Fortunately they were the plastic ones.)
See, I naively thought that some schools who make a bunch of money in tv contracts use some of that money for the actual academic mission of the university. I think that would be totally justifiable. Why do college sports generate so much revenue? Is it because these are great athletes competing or is it because they are great athletes competing for my beloved alma mater? If you're not sure the answer for that one, ask how many tv dollars minor league baseball is generating or the G League in basketball or whatever alternate pro football league is trying to make it this time. These are stocked with incredible athletes competing at a high level, but very few people give a crap.
So.... bottom line.... this system is nothing without the university behind it and so I wish a large chunk of that change would go back into the academic programs.
Along these lines, I've seen Youtube videos where people recover fine gold from the sidewalks in the Manhattan jewelry district. For a while I was watching all kinds of gold recovery videos. I enjoy the "crack suckers" who suck out the cracks in rocks for gold flake and flower with strong knives and large syringes.
As you know, the athletic department pays the University for all the scholarships, facilities, and student fees.
Sports also gives the university recognition. Applications for enrollment and alumni donations to the University (not just the athletic department) jumped after the 1995 team went to the Rose Bowl. Better playing led to increase revenue and better alumni relations. So, the athletic department contributes by being competitive. If you take the 21 million and divert some to the University while all other big ten teams use it for sports, you will start losing that competitiveness.
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There is no argument about whether the $21M should be used first for sports purposes. That can be for scholarships to a wide variety of other sports besides football, it can be for improving facilities, or other sports related purposes.
But nothing in that context requires it go to specific individuals on the football team regardless of how exceptionally well they play. And if there is still money left over after all of the sports related distribution is done, then the remainder should revert back to the university to use for whatever purpose they want.
The university is not obligated to payout the $21 million and I think it is mostly meant to give to all athletes who play team sports, not just those in scholarships. But, again, we need to do what other schools will do to stay competitive. I believe the star athletes will still get NIL from TrueNU, so addition sums above others should not be needed from the University. The only exception may be those who already received their bachelor’s. A special compensation would be a nice incentive for them to stay if they have eligibility.
The reason this development will hasten the transition to professional minor leagues is due to the fact that university revenues are already under extreme pressure. With the reduction in government funding, colleges are reliant on tuition dollars for operations. Administrative bloat has further increased tuition pressures.
Colleges do not ultimately have the cash to pay players what will be costs that accelerate faster than revenues. Now that the gates have been flung open, colleges will seek affiliates who will be willing to pay to gain access to their talent. Enter the NFL and NBA.
Imagine the ratings increases for November and December NFL games after teams are able to call up players from their college affiliates. Bowl games will disappear and, instead, elite college players will join their NFL affiliates much like the 40-man rosters in MLB. Same will happen in the NBA after March Madness ends. Watch this years Heisman winner on a special Thursday night game! Watch the Final Four MVP in the NBA playoffs! More lucrative NFL and NBA TV contracts will fund this.
There is only space in this game for 30 or so colleges. The rest, like NU, better start planning for a different future. Maybe one based on generating revenues from concerts and playing before MAC-sized crowds…
Colleges do not ultimately have the cash to pay players what will be costs that accelerate faster than revenues. Now that the gates have been flung open, colleges will seek affiliates who will be willing to pay to gain access to their talent. Enter the NFL and NBA.
Imagine the ratings increases for November and December NFL games after teams are able to call up players from their college affiliates. Bowl games will disappear and, instead, elite college players will join their NFL affiliates much like the 40-man rosters in MLB. Same will happen in the NBA after March Madness ends. Watch this years Heisman winner on a special Thursday night game! Watch the Final Four MVP in the NBA playoffs! More lucrative NFL and NBA TV contracts will fund this.
There is only space in this game for 30 or so colleges. The rest, like NU, better start planning for a different future. Maybe one based on generating revenues from concerts and playing before MAC-sized crowds…
None of this seems to jive with rest of this thread.
What has been presented so far is that under the newly proposed system some colleges are about to receive 21 million dollars per year. The source of that money being primarily payments to the conference for broadcast by the TV networks. And the discussion has been about how that money will be allocated out, particularly to players.
Now you are saying that the colleges will not have any money to pay players. Both arguments can't be right.
CMcCat is thinking about the future. I would say about a hundred years in the future but he is a forward thinker.
Or maybe he is thinking about what happens in parallel universes. I’m not quite sure but it is out of this world.
Quite the fantasy world you’ve contrived for yourself there (then rail against constantly).
(1) There will not be any appeals of the settlement - that is why cases settle.
(2) Title IX will apply and will require schools to share the wealth between men and women.
(3) NIL collectives are dead under the settlements - no more direct pay.
(4) My understanding is that the $21 million is the collective bargaining number under the agreement in the settlement. Ohio State cannot spend $200 million a year on football.
The NFL is never going to pay colleges for the rights to their players. Never. They have gotten it for free forever, they are the most popular professional league by far, and even most "elite college players" fail in the NFL because it is an entirely different game. Not to mention that the NFLPA will not in any way agree to bring in more and cheaper players that will take away from their playing time. It is a complete fantasy devoid of any attachment to reality.
This reminds me of the quotes from 5 or 10 years ago that colleges would never pay their players.
Max:
1) I was in err here. Thanks. My main point was that the agreement still needs to be finalized and executed, and there is still time for some party to balk.
2) While it is clear Title IX will still govern regarding equal participation and equivalent scholarship allocation based on participation, several articles I have read indicate it may not apply to direct compensation, and would need to be litigated to determine if it does.
3) Multiple states passed their own NIL legislation; I can imagine a collective operating in one of those states suing to continue operation to give an advantage to its favored school, arguing that the settlement does not bind it under state law.
4) My understanding is the $21 million is a cap, and any school can decide to allocate less. NU May decide to allocate ant amount from 0 to the full allocation. The trustees might decide because of the messiness of administering the payments to use the zero option.
The long and short is that before a dollar is paid, there seems to be a lot to clarify, and that any specific strategy of allocation is speculative at this time.
I was going to ask Max where he got his intel for bullet 2. I also read what you pointed out that it is likely direct compensation will NOT need to be split evenly by gender as the scholarship balancing mandated by Title IX. This is important in that the revenues generated are not even close to balanced between Men and Women’s sports!
I have thought about this a little more in light of the new transfer rules, and while I’d still prioritize hoops, within football I’d strongly prioritize upperclassmen who actually play and returning starters. I’d probably hire a management or HR consultant to help design a tier system with a top goal of retention of key players. Developing underclassmen would get far less. Upperclassmen who didn’t play would only get a nominal bump, we can’t afford to be incentivizing them to stick around. Guys who play a lot or start would get very nice bumps but the top pay would be reserved for returning starters. A guy like Priebe who we know is in demand gets far more than a projected new starter the same age or a sophomore hoping to step into a starting role who hasn’t proved anything yet. I’d probably look to have pools of money to distribute throughout the year to settle up for guys who moved up roles. Key transfers could come in at a higher tier at coach discretion. Probably have a totally separate set of rules for QBs but try to use NIL to organize big special paydays for QB and WRs.
The system has to be based on incentivizing guys who develop to stay rather than incentivizing the guys who don’t play to stick around taking up space and the guys who develop to leave.
The system has to be based on incentivizing guys who develop to stay rather than incentivizing the guys who don’t play to stick around taking up space and the guys who develop to leave.
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