COLLEGE PRO SPORTS — The Weekly Opine

The NCAA is counting on Congress to save the day. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Athletics gone wild

Big-time college sports, meaning primarily football and basketball, have become a big business enterprise featuring professional athletes. Are college athletics now at a breaking point? Or is it a launching pad? Tension has been building like underground boiling water waiting to spew at Yellowstone’s Old Faithful. Especially now that power, control and money shift from schools and coaches into the hands of athletes.

It's too late now but if the wealthy, privileged men who run college sports had restrained their thirst for gobs of money, issues which are a drag on college sports (players now free agents, the transfer portal, NIL collectives) could have been handled without involving Congress.

Common sense and fairness can still solve college sports’ current state of madness by creating a win-win-win for players, schools, and fans. Success depends on athletes eschewing the unfettered greed displayed by the NCAA, schools, and the media, which contributed to the broken condition of college sports.

College sports – which witnessed record-breaking football ratings this season – needs a timeout. The current model is unsustainable and, left unchecked, could spell doom for college athletics at some universities. Will fans recoil at the dizzying back-and-forth as players change schools as often as beauty pageant contestants change outfits? (Because the one-time transfer rule no longer exists, one-third of transfers play for three or more schools during their careers.)

A microcosm of the lack of common sense that’s messing up college sports is visible with the new 12-team College Football Playoff. Expanding the CFP from four teams was a good idea. But expansion should have been to eight teams or 16 teams. And the seeding process was awful, evidenced by top-seed Oregon having the most difficult path to the championship.

Hear no, see no, speak no

For many years, NCAA leadership seemed to be the only ones unaware that a pay-the-players locomotive was roaring straight at the NCAA’s outdated model. The NCAA had ample time to prepare for the inevitable. Yet, like a 1960s southern politician refusing to acknowledge social change sweeping across the land, the NCAA buried its head in the sand rather than acknowledge and adjust.

Indiana University was a perennial loser with an apathetic fan base. The transfer portal and a well-funded NIL collective turned IU into a playoff team. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Even fans still longing for the glory days, when athletes graciously accepted athletic scholarships worth about $18,000/year, are starting to come around. (Full-ride scholarships, given to less than 5% of athletes, are worth about $35,000/year.) An Indiana University survey of avid fans reveals about half the fans agree players should share in athletics-generated revenue.

A look at the revenue generated by college athletics is mind-blowing.

According to NCAA reporting, in 2004, NCAA Division-1 schools, across all sports, had combined revenue of $3.6 billion. By 2022, D-1 combined athletic revenue skyrocketed to $17.5 billion. Ohio State revenue jumped from $89.7 million in 2005 to $233 million in 2020. Coaches’ salaries skyrocketed, too. In many states in America, the highest paid public employee is the head football coach at a public university. For example, when he retired, Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban’s annual salary was reportedly $11 million.

While this financial windfall benefited the adults, the players sat at the kids’ table, watching everyone else divvy up the spoils. Even college town retailers made money off the backs of the athletes, selling jerseys with the players’ name and/or number on the jersey. And college administrators acknowledge that having a top-flight football and/or basketball program increases enrollment at universities.

The Wild East, West, North and South

Things changed in October 2018, when the NCAA started the transfer portal, an online database of thousands of athletes wanting to transfer to a new school. Then, on July 1, 2021, the NCAA approved a name, image, and likeness (NIL) policy enabling players to profit via endorsements and other business enterprises. The long overdue NIL decision was like a shot of steroids for the transfer portal. Corporations and alumni were enabled to set up “collectives,” outside the control of universities, to raise huge amounts of cash to offer lucrative NIL deals to athletes in the portal (and high school recruits).

Now that the transfer portal and NIL have been in place for several years, the goal should be better structure and stability. Otherwise, chunks of fans may become turned off by the head-spinning roster upheavals. Athletes become mercenaries. Instead of sticking with a team for several years, where fans identify with them as part of the “family,” players pogo-stick from one school to the next.

The new model is, college teams pay for proven players in the transfer portal rather than roll the dice on raw high school talent. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

It appears the days of recruiting players who spend their entire career at the same school may be over. Texas starting QB Quinn Ewers, a Heisman candidate who began his career at Ohio State, reportedly has been offered $6 million to leave Texas for a new school following the playoffs.

In the spring of 2023, Miami’s basketball team advanced to the NCAA Tournament Final Four. In what was a shock to Miami coaches and fans, after the tournament eight players entered the portal, seeking greener pasture$. The players told Miami coaches they loved it at Miami but had to get while the gettin’ was good. Heading into the next season, Miami went from a legit national title contender to an also ran.

(Can’t blame the players. Coaches jump to a new school for more money. And for many players and their families, the transfer portal/NIL money represents a financial opportunity they may never see again.)

An obvious fix is to change the transfer portal window. For football, the portal should not open until Feb. 1 and should end on March 17. For basketball, the portal should open April 15 and remain open until Memorial Day. Furthermore, schools and players should be able to negotiate multi-year agreements that contractually prevent athletes from jumping into the portal after one season, unless the university agrees to a financial buyout. This would reduce roster turnover, provide more team stability and create a stronger bond between fans and the team.

Meanwhile, an impending U.S. House of Representatives revenue sharing settlement allows schools to set aside 22% of athletic department revenue (capped at $20.5 million) to share with players. The NCAA has agreed to the settlement, which awaits final sign-off from a federal judge. If approved, revenue sharing will commence July 1, 2025.

As part of the House revenue settlement, NIL collectives will adhere to more stringent, clarified guidelines. NIL agreements will reflect true sponsorship deals rather than simply serve as disguised pay-to-play schemes that entice players to a school with minimal/no endorsement activity required of the player.

Coach Prime “gets it.” (Photo credit CNN)

For the love of money

The House settlement will hopefully bring sanity to escalating player salaries. In addition, there is a safety element. The recent trend of NFL and NBA athlete’s homes being burglarized could easily engulf college athletics. College players making big money are already targets of shady gambling figures and could easily become targets of jealous criminal elements intent on harming Big Men on Campus.

According to the D-1 Ticker source, reported going rates for college athletes is shocking: In football, top quarterbacks are getting $1-$2 million/year. Top offensive lineman command up to $1 million. Top linebackers get $500K to $700K. Parents of top high school basketball players are being offered six figures to send their kids to nationally visible high school academies. Top college basketball centers command $1 million. With the importance of 3-point shooting, proficient shooters can earn well into six-figures.

Saban, the former Alabama football coach, says ‘Bama’s NIL money, totaling around $3 million a few years ago, has grown to $20 million. This year’s Ohio State football team had a payroll of $20 million.

Colorado’s Deion Sanders believes financial literacy classes should be mandatory for athletes. I agree. And I agree with Sanders that a pay scale should be instituted so there is transparency to prevent players from misrepresenting financial offers to get a better deal. When considering NIL money and the transfer portal, Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl worries that graduation rates “have been destroyed” as players and their families look to strike gold.

With increased pressure to raise money to stay competitive, will colleges raise student fees, in an environment where lingering student debt is a top-of-mind turnoff? Already, some schools increased athletic event ticket prices to generate more revenue.

One notable result of players being paid commensurate with their impact on the team’s success (and athletic department revenue), is bloated coaches’ salaries likely will come down.

With fingers crossed, let the games begin in 2025.