Can we stay competitive in the NIL era?

[CEB]

Who is going to take them out? It’s not illegal to give a private citizen money. Therefore, no government entity can take them out. The NCAA is a shell organization run by the bowl committee and ESPN so they won’t do anything. There is no savior out there. College football is the definition of the slippery slope. And here we are 50-60 years down that slope. Everyone should just go independent with no rules. That‘s the only way it will ever even out.

I don’t disagree with anything you say but this is where I HOPE you are wrong. I think the NCAA has a lot to lose here and putting their heads in the sand assures they lose it. I don’t think they’ll go directly after football for the reasons you mentioned but I suspect they will start pushing restrictions and punishments on men’s basketball. They’ll set the precedent there and hope it serves to temper the football chaos as schools realize they COULD be in trouble.
There’s a lot of hope and speculation in this post... I’m looking for a silver lining.

 

[RamblinRed]

Unlike every other sport, college athletics is now basically running as a pure free-market system and that is a bad thing. Anybody with a basic understanding of economics understands you do not want an completely unfettered free-market - that tends to be bad for a society. That's why every economic system is bot a pure free-market economy but has rules and regulations to follow. Right now college athletics is largely running without any rules or regulations. Until some guardrails are put in place that can stand legal scrutiny there will be the 10-20 teams that really are competing any everybody else is simply a feeder program.

 

[bobongo]

Unlike every other sport, college athletics is now basically running as a pure free-market system and that is a bad thing. Anybody with a basic understanding of economics understands you do not want an completely unfettered free-market - that tends to be bad for a society. That's why every economic system is bot a pure free-market economy but has rules and regulations to follow. Right now college athletics is largely running without any rules or regulations. Until some guardrails are put in place that can stand legal scrutiny there will be the 10-20 teams that really are competing any everybody else is simply a feeder program.

No regulation (or unenforced regulation) = oligopoly.

 

[ChicagobasedJacket]

Unlike every other sport, college athletics is now basically running as a pure free-market system and that is a bad thing. Anybody with a basic understanding of economics understands you do not want an completely unfettered free-market - that tends to be bad for a society. That's why every economic system is bot a pure free-market economy but has rules and regulations to follow. Right now college athletics is largely running without any rules or regulations. Until some guardrails are put in place that can stand legal scrutiny there will be the 10-20 teams that really are competing any everybody else is simply a feeder program.

10-20 programs competing has been the case forever. The only thing different now is the cost of doing business is going up and you have unrestricted freedom of movement for the players.

 

[RonJohn]

But the law is what counts, and unless the law recognizes that distinction it seems to me that it doesn't matter what the NCAA says.
The law supersedes and nullifies NCAA rules. I'm guessing this will end up in court, but I wouldn't bet on the NCAA.

IANAL, but I think the way it would work out is that the NCAA would take some action, not against the athletes but the athletic department. The athletic department would then file suit against the NCAA. Since the athletic department is the one filing suit, they would have the burden of proving that the NCAA's action was against the law. I didn't read the entire California code book, but I didn't see anything in the NIL section that defined the school or athletic association. A quick read of that statute lead me to believe that the law was written to allow student-athletes to get deals for NIL, but to prevent the schools from providing them. A court would have to decide, but it wouldn't be difficult to argue that the boosters are acting on behalf of the schools which would be a violation of the California law and the school wouldn't be offered any protection from NCAA sanctions.

I think it would be very dumb for the NCAA to attempt to sanction individual athletes regardless. It is a combination of schools and boosters that are misbehaving, not the athletes.

 

[bobongo]

IANAL, but I think the way it would work out is that the NCAA would take some action, not against the athletes but the athletic department. The athletic department would then file suit against the NCAA. Since the athletic department is the one filing suit, they would have the burden of proving that the NCAA's action was against the law. I didn't read the entire California code book, but I didn't see anything in the NIL section that defined the school or athletic association. A quick read of that statute lead me to believe that the law was written to allow student-athletes to get deals for NIL, but to prevent the schools from providing them. A court would have to decide, but it wouldn't be difficult to argue that the boosters are acting on behalf of the schools which would be a violation of the California law and the school wouldn't be offered any protection from NCAA sanctions.

I think it would be very dumb for the NCAA to attempt to sanction individual athletes regardless. It is a combination of schools and boosters that are misbehaving, not the athletes.

Well that makes sense. I'm sure the NCAA's lawyers are advising them on what they can and can't do regarding enforcement of their rules. I don't know the ins or outs of that, but all I'm trying to point out as a counterweight to those who are calling the NCAA weak and ineffectual is that there's a legal ground established by state law to consider before they step in to enforce those rules, that is, assuming they would care to do so.

 

[stech81]

Less see 4 year how many players are in trouble not paying taxes. ( i hope most of them)

 

[alagold]

What? GT can absolutely compete. They just need to pony up. The problem is we are fans of a school who has proven they simply don’t care. They didn’t under the old system and they have shown they don’t under the new system. That’s an us problem not a system problem.

THE OTHER problem for us is we still have a SEMBLANCE of a school with learning involved.We are not going to compete in the world that this crap is leading to.

 

[RonJohn]

Well that makes sense. I'm sure the NCAA's lawyers are advising them on what they can and can't do regarding enforcement of their rules. I don't know the ins or outs of that, but all I'm trying to point out as a counterweight to those who are calling the NCAA weak and ineffectual is that there's a legal ground established by state law to consider before they step in to enforce those rules, that is, assuming they would care to do so.

Miami is another school that apparently has boosters paying "NIL" money for players to attend. Reading through the Florida statutes:

... such compensation may not be provided in exchange for athletic performance or attendance at a particular institution and may only be provided by a third party unaffiliated with the intercollegiate athlete’s postsecondary educational institution.

So it is a violation of Florida law for an athlete to receive money to attend a particular school. It is also illegal for a person affiliated with the school to provide NIL money to them. Is John Ruiz "unaffiliated" with the University of Miami? I would say that he is affiliated with the school, or at least with the school's athletics department. If so, the deals that he has been giving Miami players violate Florida law.

There are plenty of ways the NCAA could enforce sanctions against schools for failing to monitor boosters and/or directly directing such deals without violating different state's laws. Even if the NCAA violates a state law, the school would have to file a lawsuit against the NCAA to receive any relief from NCAA sanctions. I am probably wrong, but I doubt the NCAA is going to take any real action against any of this. They might have pomp and circumstance, but they won't do anything of substance.

If I were reading a crystal ball, I would say that in 20 years, the NCAA will not exist. A small portion of schools will turn into an actual professional football league loosely associated with the school. The rest will split into multiple college athletics associations. Another 20 years after that, the professional league will probably totally disassociate from the schools. The multiple college associations will be merging, and the schools that started the professional leagues will be forming new college athletic football teams. So in 40 years, we will probably be at the situation we should have been in 40 years ago: An amateur system of college athletics and a professional system for athletes who want to go pro but aren't 3 years removed from high school.

 

[bobongo]

Miami is another school that apparently has boosters paying "NIL" money for players to attend. Reading through the Florida statutes:

So it is a violation of Florida law for an athlete to receive money to attend a particular school. It is also illegal for a person affiliated with the school to provide NIL money to them. Is John Ruiz "unaffiliated" with the University of Miami? I would say that he is affiliated with the school, or at least with the school's athletics department. If so, the deals that he has been giving Miami players violate Florida law.

There are plenty of ways the NCAA could enforce sanctions against schools for failing to monitor boosters and/or directly directing such deals without violating different state's laws. Even if the NCAA violates a state law, the school would have to file a lawsuit against the NCAA to receive any relief from NCAA sanctions. I am probably wrong, but I doubt the NCAA is going to take any real action against any of this. They might have pomp and circumstance, but they won't do anything of substance.

If I were reading a crystal ball, I would say that in 20 years, the NCAA will not exist. A small portion of schools will turn into an actual professional football league loosely associated with the school. The rest will split into multiple college athletics associations. Another 20 years after that, the professional league will probably totally disassociate from the schools. The multiple college associations will be merging, and the schools that started the professional leagues will be forming new college athletic football teams. So in 40 years, we will probably be at the situation we should have been in 40 years ago: An amateur system of college athletics and a professional system for athletes who want to go pro but aren't 3 years removed from high school.

With so many violations all at once, the NCAA may be overwhelmed. If, that is, they would care, anyway.

But since providing payment in order to attend a particular school is illegal under Florida law, I'm wondering what other interested party besides the NCAA with legal standing might step up to challenge that payment, and whom that might be. I'm guessing the local DA might be looking the other way. But surely, we'll see a lawsuit out of all this filed by somebody by the end of the year - I mean, somebody somewhere in the U.S. where the law reads similarly, not just Florida.

 

[okiemon]

10-20 programs competing has been the case forever. The only thing different now is the cost of doing business is going up and you have unrestricted freedom of movement for the players.

The last several years, there have only been 6-8 schools realistically competing for the CFP. NIL will actually expand that number, depending on how much the boosters and/or collectives are willing to pay for talent. But beyond the top 20 teams or so — maybe fewer — everyone else will be reduced to irrelevancy. Unless, of course, someone figures out how to erect and enforce guard rails.

I heard a caller on a sports-talk show on ESPNU say just that, though he had a number larger than 20. He said that the top 40 teams should be eligible to compete for the championship, and everyone else — to quote him, “Vanderbilt and Illinois and teams like that” — should just go off and do their own thing.

 

[Richard7125]

The last several years, there have only been 6-8 schools realistically competing for the CFP. NIL will actually expand that number, depending on how much the boosters and/or collectives are willing to pay for talent. But beyond the top 20 teams or so — maybe fewer — everyone else will be reduced to irrelevancy. Unless, of course, someone figures out how to erect and enforce guard rails.

I heard a caller on a sports-talk show on ESPNU say just that, though he had a number larger than 20. He said that the top 40 teams should be eligible to compete for the championship, and everyone else — to quote him, “Vanderbilt and Illinois and teams like that” — should just go off and do their own thing.

There might only be 20 teams able to compete, but there will be another 20+ that think they can compete and will want to try. Don't sleep on the G5 teams that have lots of money (UCF, Liberty, etc) and are dying to join the party.

 

[Techster]

This means we're going full bore into the NIL to compete with 'Bama/USC/UGA/Texas, right?!!

 

[Vespidae]

This means we're going full bore into the NIL to compete with 'Bama/USC/UGA/Texas, right?!!

Tech has no ability to compete with the likes of Texas, Texas A+M, Bama ... in terms of raising money. We are the Milwaukee Brewers of College sport now and the sooner we realize how to manage that, the better.

I do like the Vandy model. Take the conference payout and invest in sports we CAN win in.

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

Unlike every other sport, college athletics is now basically running as a pure free-market system and that is a bad thing. Anybody with a basic understanding of economics understands you do not want an completely unfettered free-market - that tends to be bad for a society. That's why every economic system is bot a pure free-market economy but has rules and regulations to follow. Right now college athletics is largely running without any rules or regulations. Until some guardrails are put in place that can stand legal scrutiny there will be the 10-20 teams that really are competing any everybody else is simply a feeder program.

I love the sentiment but the reality is the NCAA hasn’t used “guardrails” in years. It’s a myth that only exists in the optimist part of the brain. I wish it were true but I’m 30 years past hoping. If UGA wasn’t stripped of the 1980 Natty when everyone knew Herschel was compensated to sign then why do you hold out hope. Did you not see Cam Newton look straight into a video camera with that smile of his and say right to the NCAA’s face “as they say, it’s an ongoing investigation“. He literally straight up laughed in the face of the NCAA on national TV and what was their response? Nothing. You can see the trophy over at Auburn any time you want.

I now believe the way to bring fairness is to have a pure capitalist system. Because if they try and put in “guardrails” the only teams that will abide are the same ones who have been trying to abide while they fall to the bottom tier. The top players will naturally spread out due to playing time. Bama won’t buy every 5* star QB because only 1 will play. UGA is seeing this right now. They are losing studs because they are bringing in other studs. No matter the system the sport is destined to always have a few teams who are really competitive for the Natty. It’s because good players want to play with other good players and you can’t stop players from the decision of where they play.

 

[Techster]

 

[CEB]

If the incompetent out of touch guys in Indy can’t solve it, surely the incompetent out of touch guys in DC can.

 

[slugboy]

Maybe Tommy Tuberville will write some legislation.

 

[UgaBlows]

I guess the question at this point is can we just stay competetive against UVA, Pitt, UNC, Duke Etc? unless something radical happens forget about Beating the top tier teams and having an occasional magic season where we beat them all and go to a top tier bowl

 

[Billygoat91]

We should have a fund that gives recruiting classes joint stock in start ups that are created on Tech's campus. Kinda like Shark Tank. Low initial investment could yield huge results for our SA's in the long run.