Conference Realignment

Bask

Young adults. We as fans create this environment. If we weren't tuning in to watch them play, then they wouldn't be getting paid so well. You can't blame them!
The business of sports entertainment generates this money. If the excitement is created by 18 year old kids, the bulk of that money belongs in the pockets of 18 year old kids.

Rather than being gobsmacked by the concept of putting 7 or 8 figures into the account of a kid who just went to prom, we could discuss the absurdness of putting 6 figures of population into a bowl stadium to watch recent prom-goers compete against other recent prom-goers in tight shorts chasing around a leather ball.

The amount of money paid out to these young people is absurd unless you look at the ridiculous amount of money floating around the college sports system as a whole.
 
Yes but these are 18-22 year old kids we’re talking about, not hardened professionals. Heck, some just went to prom last year! There isn’t a culture in these locker rooms that is used to this level of money. Which is why places like UGA are arguably in crisis and wreaking havoc on Athens with drag racing. This isn’t Crash Davis and a bunch of veterans. These are straight up children!
Can you please elaborate on this point?
 
Can you please elaborate on this point?
We’re about to dump $20mm+ per year on virtually all P4 locker rooms. This is a level of money that almost all of these players haven't seen (outside of a very small handful of true blue bloods). There is no way this doesn’t cause some locker room craziness and culture shock across some parts of CFB.

Put it this way, if you just found out many of your coworkers are getting paid substantially more than you, how would you feel? Now how imagine the money is hundreds of thousands of dollars (not the tens of thousands today, which is still substantial) and you’re an Adrenalin-fueled teenager. It’s going to be nuts
 
Bask

Young adults. We as fans create this environment. If we weren't tuning in to watch them play, then they wouldn't be getting paid so well. You can't blame them!
You can blame the "adults" who are creating a system that provides large sums of money to quite young people who are inexperienced and, often, very immature. A setup for problems and failures.
 
We’re about to dump $20mm+ per year on virtually all P4 locker rooms. This is a level of money that almost all of these players haven't seen (outside of a very small handful of true blue bloods). There is no way this doesn’t cause some locker room craziness and culture shock across some parts of CFB.

Put it this way, if you just found out many of your coworkers are getting paid substantially more than you, how would you feel? Now how imagine the money is hundreds of thousands of dollars (not the tens of thousands today, which is still substantial) and you’re an Adrenalin-fueled teenager. It’s going to be nuts
Thanks for the explanation.
 
We’re about to dump $20mm+ per year on virtually all P4 locker rooms. This is a level of money that almost all of these players haven't seen (outside of a very small handful of true blue bloods). There is no way this doesn’t cause some locker room craziness and culture shock across some parts of CFB.

Put it this way, if you just found out many of your coworkers are getting paid substantially more than you, how would you feel? Now how imagine the money is hundreds of thousands of dollars (not the tens of thousands today, which is still substantial) and you’re an Adrenalin-fueled teenager. It’s going to be nuts
Isn't that the case in every large corporation for the people who aren't execs?

To your point, yes, it is going to be disruptive to change the levels of payouts so that a group that was (mostly) excluded from participating in the revenue share is now included. That it has waited 40 years to occur does mean that the delta is greater than it would have been had this started sooner.
 
Isn't that the case in every large corporation for the people who aren't execs?

To your point, yes, it is going to be disruptive to change the levels of payouts so that a group that was (mostly) excluded from participating in the revenue share is now included. That it has waited 40 years to occur does mean that the delta is greater than it would have been had this started sooner.
Yeah, but I think it’s different when it’s whispers of someone getting paid relative to out in the open. If they do the revenue splits anonymously, I think people will still figure it out. Plus you know the minimum number ($20mm). You can run the math quite easily to figure out if you’re being valued appropriately, and people will flip if they’re not (again, this isn’t NIL money of a few thousands; this is hundreds of thousands now; this is life changing amounts of money)
 
Yeah, but I think it’s different when it’s whispers of someone getting paid relative to out in the open. If they do the revenue splits anonymously, I think people will still figure it out. Plus you know the minimum number ($20mm). You can run the math quite easily to figure out if you’re being valued appropriately, and people will flip if they’re not (again, this isn’t NIL money of a few thousands; this is hundreds of thousands now; this is life changing amounts of money)

Isn't this just the normal functioning of a free market economy though? If the backup offensive tackle at Eastern Nebraska gets upset that he isn't making enough, or upset that the QB is making too much, he can just go out and try to sell himself to University of American Samoa and anyone else and see what they're willing to pay him, right? Isn't that the way it's supposed to work? If the answer is "sorry, we're not paying you any more than your current school is" then you either go back and play for what ENU offered, or you don't, but at least you now have had your monetary value confirmed.
 
Isn't this just the normal functioning of a free market economy though? If the backup offensive tackle at Eastern Nebraska gets upset that he isn't making enough, or upset that the QB is making too much, he can just go out and try to sell himself to University of American Samoa and anyone else and see what they're willing to pay him, right? Isn't that the way it's supposed to work? If the answer is "sorry, we're not paying you any more than your current school is" then you either go back and play for what ENU offered, or you don't, but at least you now have had your monetary value confirmed.
Pretty sure that the University of American Samoa NIL collective led by Jimmy McGill is gonna find a creative way to pay the players competitively. Of course, this may involve barrels of cash buried in the desert.

Or maybe they will get paid in the form of all the Cinnabons they can eat. That has to be appealing to an offensive lineman.
 
Pretty sure that the University of American Samoa NIL collective led by Jimmy McGill is gonna find a creative way to pay the players competitively. Of course, this may involve barrels of cash buried in the desert.

Or maybe they will get paid in the form of all the Cinnabons they can eat. That has to be appealing to an offensive lineman.
To what desert do you refer? American Samoa is a small island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
 
Pretty sure that the University of American Samoa NIL collective led by Jimmy McGill is gonna find a creative way to pay the players competitively. Of course, this may involve barrels of cash buried in the desert.

Or maybe they will get paid in the form of all the Cinnabons they can eat. That has to be appealing to an offensive lineman.

The NIL collective may have something to pay, but most of the cash is gonna go to the big Salamanca kid they got coming in. Kid's supposed to be a killer. Gotta somehow try to keep the family from getting too involved though. They can tend to leave a mess.
 
Bask

Young adults. We as fans create this environment. If we weren't tuning in to watch them play, then they wouldn't be getting paid so well. You can't blame them!
I just turned on the FSU game in Tallahassee against ND. There is no environment and likely less than 2k fans in the seats.

Can’t see the football schools putting any money into NIL for the “minor” sports. Seems it will become football-only payouts by these type schools (Miami, VaT, Pitt also). If so, ACC b-ball becomes very less competitive and how does that impact Duke?
 
I just turned on the FSU game in Tallahassee against ND. There is no environment and likely less than 2k fans in the seats.

Can’t see the football schools putting any money into NIL for the “minor” sports. Seems it will become football-only payouts by these type schools (Miami, VaT, Pitt also). If so, ACC b-ball becomes very less competitive and how does that impact Duke?
We are seeing it this year. It can't become less competitive.
 
Isn't this just the normal functioning of a free market economy though? If the backup offensive tackle at Eastern Nebraska gets upset that he isn't making enough, or upset that the QB is making too much, he can just go out and try to sell himself to University of American Samoa and anyone else and see what they're willing to pay him, right? Isn't that the way it's supposed to work? If the answer is "sorry, we're not paying you any more than your current school is" then you either go back and play for what ENU offered, or you don't, but at least you now have had your monetary value confirmed.
Yes, but these are 18-22 year olds going from making peanuts to hundreds of thousands of dollars. There is way more emotion here (and a lack of learned wisdom from years of experience). At a minimum, the first few years will be crazy. Maybe Adam Smith wins out long term once the process becomes more normalized, but that’s going to take a few classes at a minimum
 
Plenty of adults can’t manage a financial windfall. Clearly we should prohibit financial windfalls for all. :rolleyes:

Or perhaps schools could hire someone capable of leading kids through the process. And maybe give them a title such as “GM”.

-jk
 
Plenty of adults can’t manage a financial windfall. Clearly we should prohibit financial windfalls for all. :rolleyes:

Or perhaps schools could hire someone capable of leading kids through the process. And maybe give them a title such as “GM”.

-jk
I don't know, but I have to assume places like Duke have courses or seminars to teach kids how to (and how not to) deal with sudden monetary windfalls....very perilous subject given the pressures from friends and family. But financial skills need to be acquired.
 
Yes, but these are 18-22 year olds going from making peanuts to hundreds of thousands of dollars. There is way more emotion here (and a lack of learned wisdom from years of experience). At a minimum, the first few years will be crazy. Maybe Adam Smith wins out long term once the process becomes more normalized, but that’s going to take a few classes at a minimum
So... they shouldn't earn the money because they are young and naive? If you can vote and join the Army, you've earned the right to spend your money however you want, even if some find it distasteful.

As far as I'm concerned, if anyone deserves the money (coaches, colleges, trainers, "GMs") it's the talent on the field/court. And clearly the money is being generated, or it wouldn't be offered.

It's a long way from the way we remember the sports growing up, but if ABC and ESPN are offering 8, 9, 10 figure contracts, a significant portion of that money belongs in the pockets of the players.
 
I don't know, but I have to assume places like Duke have courses or seminars to teach kids how to (and how not to) deal with sudden monetary windfalls....very perilous subject given the pressures from friends and family. But financial skills need to be acquired.
Reposting from an earlier exchange on this point. Per the Duke Mag story, advising on financial responsibility is definitely part of Duke's approach to NIL broadly.

the schools that are going to succeed in NiL are the ones that can find businesses in the area that can actually see an ROI for paying these players money (think car dealerships, local plaintiffs law firms, etc that might put players in commercials and whatnot).

I think boosters funding NIL over the table directly for the school may run its course over the next few years because (1) there is no real ROI from a $$ perspective and (2) there isn’t the ability to cheat the system anymore through under the table payments.

I won’t send any money to Duke or UT that is going to NIL. Coordinate with the local businesses to manage that so alumni dollars can go to more important things.
Duke is doing exactly that. As was detailed in the last Duke Mag, we have an assistant AD (former Duke football player Terrell Smith) who focuses entirely on NIL and counseling both revenue and non-revenue sport athletes on how to maximize their NIL opportunities and their personal brand. A number of other faculty, athletic department and Administration staff are involved as well. Duke is ahead of the curve on this.
 
Yes, but these are 18-22 year olds going from making peanuts to hundreds of thousands of dollars. There is way more emotion here (and a lack of learned wisdom from years of experience). At a minimum, the first few years will be crazy. Maybe Adam Smith wins out long term once the process becomes more normalized, but that’s going to take a few classes at a minimum
Bummer for uNC players.

🤷‍♂️
 
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