It provides the final piece to beg the question: Why are institutions of higher learning sponsors of professional athletics? It seems to be a uniquely American phenomenon. Our Canadian neighbors watch us but view that piece with considerable curiosity.
3 Likes
It is a uniquely American phenomenon. But I would argue the NCAA model actually makes sense to generate interest in minor league sports. Generally speaking, no one gives a shit about minor league sports. The reason the NCAA model of minor leagues sports works is because of school pride.
Not sure I agree about facilities. Ego of looking and pointing at 30,000 square feet with your name on it is a major carrot that is both quite possibly a tax write off and a permanent monument to your success as an individual. Giving 5mil to a kid who may or may not help the school win and is a totally unproven commodity seems like burning your money in a trash can. At least to me.
3 Likes
How about 10,000 of a schoolâs most rabid fans pitching in an average of $1000 each to create a $10 million NIL collective? A $10 million payroll for a big time college football team seems pretty damn cheap when most pro teams are spending $100+ million on payroll.
1 Like
Other things have destroyed college sports, NIL will definitely quicken its demise
3 Likes
Seems more plausible. There are more minnows than whales out there, right? But, in the world of fundraising thereâs a thing called minnow burnout. Rabid or not, asking minnows to ping up 1k a year every year isnât sustainable either. People eventually feel the pinch. This is why it canât last at the current rate.
Minnows could give a few hundred. Whales could give tens or hundreds of thousands. Hence the $1000 average across the most rabid fans. If the team wins, people will keep paying. Maybe NIL will be refined, but itâs not going away.
I would argue NIL is overall a good thing. Sure there are some negatives to it, as many on this board have poured out. Its not a perfect system as nothing in life ever is. But itâs good for the players. Itâs bringing more attention to the sport. Chuck Martin made that point in a recent press conference. People are buzzing about college football right now.
What is Miami doing to compete? And Iâm talking about competing with our rivals and other mid majors. OU has a collective. Duquesne stole our best basketball player in the past 10 years because they are taking NIL seriously. Not a peep from Miami.
2 Likes
I think the better way to do this horse trading schema is to compensate schools for players. Leading rusher gets snagged by a P5? They should have to pay MU. Ha! That would change the game, no?
2 Likes
Iâm not absolutely sure it works. Most programs are losing money on sports sponsorship.
We might not have 10,000 rabid fans anymore.
1 Like
We absolutely do not and not sure if we ever did. I was more talking about the big boys and how easy it is for them to raise $10 million for a âpayroll.â My argument was that NIL is sustainable for the big boys.
The G5 canât compete, but we havenât really been competing with the P5 for a long time.
2 Likes
Hawkattack06âbit late seeing your note. They are, in effect getting paid. Maybe you havenât had to put your kids thru college yet (that is if you have any) but what youâll find is if you want to have your kids go to Miami today and youâre in state youâll need to make about $55,000 of your yearly earnings before taxes to pay for their school. If youâre out of state youâll need about $79,000 to pay their bills. That doesnât include transportation and any spending money. For their spending money scholarship players also get a monthly stipend of about $250-300/month.
To me this is damn near close a job that pays $55,000 or $79,000 a year. Not bad. When you were in school did you have a job that made that much? Iâd bet to say itâs $55,000 or $79,000 more than any other kid at Miami is getting paid while in school. They get free medical, would bet the get free tutoring if needed and they graduate debt free!!! How many kids did you know that were paying off student loans, along with their parents, for 10 or 15 years after they graduate? Football players arenât. Basketball players arenât.
An athletic scholarship is a gift and a high value one at that. Itâs a square dealâthey get a high value scholarship and opportunity most would dream about. If theyâre really good they get a shot at the pros and more money than most will ever make in a lifetime.
Think about itâŚ
5 Likes
But youâre okay with the Ohio States, Alabamas, and Texas-es of the world making millions of tax free dollars off the labors of athletes?
Tax free? Who cares. And yes, are coaches overpaid. Thatâs the job of the school admin to grow a pair.
Just imagine youâre some kid delivering pizza to have date and gas money and taking out school loans that will haunt your next 10 years after you graduate. In the room next to you in Morris is a football player, full ride and $250 a month to boot. Some sizeable part of the $1000/semester student activity fee youâre paying is going to keep him in pizza. Now the athletic department wants to fund a $125,000/year job to go out and get NIL deals for athletes. SerioiuslyâŚ?
And not so much at Miami Iâd imagine, but at the big dick P5 schools theyâre whining they want more. Whatâs his face here in Columbus is driving around in a Mercedes G5 and some are seemingly set to make more than our entire assistant coaching staff? Unless youâre one of the kids getting the money whatâs so great about that? You want the whole ship to go down so a very few can profit?
Lots of people (smart people!) on this board and elsewhere are saying between NIL and to portal it will lead to the ruination of college sports and youâre saying NIL is âall that?â Poor kids, theyâre being taken advantage of when they âonlyâ get a scholarship. (Remember 55k/79k)
These kids are being handed a (Coach Martin speak) âcrazyâ opportunity and most will never get anything like it anywhere else. I donât know, I think thatâs just about enough.
As to coaches etc thatâs another discussion.
4 Likes
Something I learned today from an article on The Athletic. Looks like the dominoes will fall pretty rapidly the next few days.
âThe NCAA dead period begins on Dec. 19. Once that kicks in, transfers wonât be able to take more official visits until Jan. 4. That makes this upcoming weekend extremely important. These midyear transfers donât have time to mess around and visit schools theyâre not seriously interested in attendingâ
Thereâs always so much white noise in the NIL discussion on this board. At the end of the day, just let the kids get paid market value for their services. If that market value is $0, then so be it. If that value is free tuition, then so be it. If that value is free tuition plus $1 million, then so be it. None of us gets to decide what these players are worth. The free market will decide. This is America after all.
4 Likes
Jesus Christ Dave, you sound like a birkenstock wearing hippie professor at Cal- Berkeley ranting about capitalism. And no, i donât fault anyone who makes more than I do. The question is why do you? BTW, your tuition, room, and board numbers for Miami are way off.
1 Like
Sportswriter Max Olson reports UCLA is actively recruiting Kentâs Colin Schlee. UCLA is one of just a few P5 schools - along with Wake Forest and Utah - that havenât utilized NIL.
Amazing how much interest there is in second team All MAC skill players. Excerpt below is from current Max Olson article:
â## Western Michigan departures have been coveted
One truism with the transfer portal that has become more real every year: If you fire your head coach, you risk losing a bunch of your best players. And thatâs especially true at the Group of 5 level.
Look at Western Michigan. Tim Lester was pushed out in late November after going 5-7 in his sixth season. While he didnât reach the MAC title game during his tenure, Lester did go 8-5 with a bowl win last year and never had a losing season until this fall.
âI didnât know it was coming at all, honestly,â receiver Corey Crooms said. âWith this being his first losing season, I honestly thought he had more time. It for sure shocked me and a bunch of the other players on the team.â
Crooms was a second-team All-MAC selection this season after catching 57 passes for 814 yards and five TDs. The senior wideout entered the portal one day after Lesterâs firing and immediately got calls from Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Cincinnati and Pitt among others. He figured heâd be hearing from the Gophers because their tight ends coach, Greg Harbaugh Jr., was Western Michiganâs receivers coach in 2020 and 2021. Crooms was overwhelmed by all the Power 5 interest and wanted his recruitment to move quickly. By the end of his sit-down with Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck on his official visit, Crooms told him he was ready to get this thing done.
âRight when they reached out, I honestly felt it,â Crooms said. âI was talking to my parents and Iâm like, âYeah, this could be home.â Itâs just based on the impact that Coach Harbaugh had on me, honestly itâs a testament to him and how much he developed me and changed me, not only as a football player but as a man. When I went down there, I got a feel for Coach Fleck and Coach (Matt) Simon and the rest of the staff, and I got to be around the players. It just felt right.â
Crooms announced his commitment on Saturday. Western Michigan running back Sean Tyler, another second-team All-MAC honoree, committed to Oklahoma State on Monday. Theyâre roommates and had lots of long talks about whether to move on and where they should go next. Like Crooms, Tyler was ready to lock in a commitment right after his official visit.â
2 Likes
Devin Leary has transferred from NC State to Kentucky and Kentâs Schlee to UCLA
1 Like