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Pretty insightful article. Glad players are getting paid but really don’t know how this is sustainable in the MAC.
How long can you ask people to “donate” to pay players? If the revenue money isn’t there, MAC sports just becomes who has the most rich guys that want a toy?
The whole concept of NIL was that players should share in the money they are making, but its turned into shaking down affluent donors who want a vanity project.
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In a way, isn’t “shaking down affluent donors who want a vanity project” what big time college athletics has always been? That has now arrived on our doorstep.
That said, think there will be a market correction from the top down given the impending revenue sharing and the fact that people are going to think twice about paying Coleman Hawkins (reportedly) $2mil to be mediocre for Kansas State. It’s still going to be a tough environment for someone like us, but I don’t think it’s going to be completely unattainable to retain high level MAC players and build a roster around them.
In a way, yes, its always been like this. But its also different.
In the past, if you asked a donor for 500,000 or a million dollars, they were usually building something or upgrading some facility. Something tangible that would benefit the university and athletes at that university for years to come. Whether it be a cafeteria, a lounge, locker rooms, weights, etc. Even just covering scholarship/program costs.
Now, that 500k goes to a mercenary athlete who takes the money and then may run after that season to a bigger school?
I contribute to Red Brick Legacy, but I cringe a bit every time I see us or any other NIL group use to the term “donate”. I’m not donating to Sony when I buy a PS5 or donating to a general contractor when I hire them to redo my basement. There’s nothing “donate” about this.
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An NIL payment by a fan is not a tax-deductible event whereas donating to a school is.
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If there aren’t some concrete rules put in place, that include equal NIL payments to the school the athlete is leaving, almost all mid majors will cease to have any relevance in the near future.
You pay a kid $500k, the school they’re leaving also gets $500k for their NIL collective. We’ve discussed this before. I don’t see any other way for the G5 schools to remain at the level of competitiveness they’ve been, without something like this being implemented.
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I was thinking the same thing about donations toward investment in something permanent vs. temporary as in annual NIL payoffs.
Hasnt the impact already been felt. There were few upsets in the tournament- no mid majors even made the sweet 16- and Akron- Troy- Liberty-Grand Canyon all got hammered. Wilmington-Yale-Robert Morris were a little closer but not close to winning.
Drake (who was 31-3 from the MVC) was the only winner from a one bid conference right
Exactly … this is how the big boys have played the game for years, under the table. It’s all table stakes n ow for everybody. And the big boys will always be on top.
Kind of like our government these days.
(Sorry, couldn’t help myself).
McNeese St. as well.
Yeah it was a bad year for smaller schools, but I’m not ready to call it a trend yet based off of one year. There have been chalky tournaments before NIL.
Just look at the Final Four. Duke and Houston’s rosters were a little more traditional, but Auburn and Florida were loaded with mid major guys. Ten years those rosters don’t exist. Walter Clayton would have been at Iona, Alijah Martin would have been at Forida Atlantic, Will Richard would have been at Belmont, Johni Broome would’ve been at Morehead State, and Denver Jones would’ve been at Florida Atlantic. That’s Florida’s top three scorers and Auburn’s best player.
Yes, it started en masse a couple years ago, OU lost Sears to Alabama, along with the others already mentioned. I just think it’ll get worse.
A few MM could be okay, especially if they don’t play D1 football, but for how long?
I think that virtually any “rules” that would limit an athlete’s earning potential would be overturned by the courts. I am unable to envision a scenario that brings the Miamis of college sports back to their historic place in the college sports landscape.
Yes, the real challenge is that there are 365 D1 schools. I struggle to see how a universal contract type system would be enforced legally. And if the contracts can’t be required by the NCAA, why would a recruit choose to go to a school that required some sort of contract with transfer fees or a number of years to attend when there will always be schools willing to say “we’ll take you with no contract, no strings attached”.
The only way is to probably have all college players become part of a collective bargaining unit such is the case in the NFL.
That allows the NFL to enforce a team salary cap as part of that agreement.
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Good luck getting 300+ teams worth of players into a unit, especially when they are gone in 3-4 years (some even less)
Unfortunately, the ability for G5 schools to remain competitive is irrelevant. TV, the B1G, and the SEC don’t care, and quite frankly, that’s all that matters. I would guess that in the next 5 years, the B1G and SEC will take who they want from the Big 12, ACC, and ND. A few schools like Duke and Wake Forest will merge into the Big East. The CFP will be the AFC (B1G) vs. NFC (SEC), and no one else will be invited. It’s already starting down that path in 2026 when the playoffs expand to 14 or 16 with the B1G/SEC each getting 4 automatic bids.
It was enjoyable to see Penn State eliminated from the Frozen Four. See ya big 10.
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https://x.com/GoodmanHoops/status/1910739082654732396
PROJECTED ELITE GUYS (Top 10-15): $2.5 to 4 million
PROJECTED ALL-LEAGUE PLAYER: $1.5 to 2.5 million
PROJECTED STARTERS: $500K to 1.5 million
PROJECTED BENCH PLAYER: $200K to 700K
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McNeese