Could a body (maybe Congress) prohibit tying NIL funds to a specific school?

Unenforceable if there are any student requirements. If there are no student requirements, then a four or five year limit in employment is stupid.
You can come up with a "curriculum" for student athletes that do not want to voluntarily take college classes, they have a option. College courses would qualify as on the job training, or you can attend daily courses for on the job training or "continual education". Many industries require continual education. Insurance agents, real estate agents, employees of the securities industry, teachers, literally just about any profession requires at least some continual education, or training courses. For those that choose college courses, perhaps they qualify for an annual bonus that pays their tuition?
 
BINGO! It's pretty silly that some folks ignore supply and demand.
No, it's not a 1 size fits all approach to the available entrainment positions available and each come with different skill levels and pay scales. To fill our entertainment quarterback position you must meet a minimum job requirement...... have served in a similar role (high school), completed X number of passes, completed x number of yards, completed x number of touchdowns, to be eligible for the position you are seeking. Exceptions can be made at the discretion of the University of Tennessee if certain other conditions have been met.
 
The reason those workers have little power and can be jerked around by the school and made to do things is because a big pool of people can fill those positions.

A very, very small pool of people can play D1 football well. An even smaller pool can play D1 football well at an SEC level. An even smaller pool can play well enough to get a scholarship at an elite SEC school like UT.

You don't get to set a helluva lot of hoops to jump through when you're searching for an elite athlete.
There would be different levels of jobs available and more "elite" jobs available based on skill set and position requirements, as well as different salary compensation levels appropriate for the job being filled. Just like in the private industry. Someone that flips hamburgers and has a high school diploma, obviously isn't going to he hired for the available open position of lead heart surgeon at the local hospital....................
 
You can come up with a "curriculum" for student athletes that do not want to voluntarily take college classes, they have a option. College courses would qualify as on the job training, or you can attend daily courses for on the job training or "continual education". Many industries require continual education. Insurance agents, real estate agents, employees of the securities industry, teachers, literally just about any profession requires at least some continual education, or training courses. For those that choose college courses, perhaps they qualify for an annual bonus that pays their tuition?
As employees with work contracts, "college" players will almost certainly no longer be required to attend classes.

The schools have little to no interest in making players attend classes. It's actually just a pain for the school to tutor, make sure they stay eligible, etc so there's zero incentive for the school to fight to keep that requirement.
 
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No, it's not a 1 size fits all approach to the available entrainment positions available and each come with different skill levels and pay scales. To fill our entertainment quarterback position you must meet a minimum job requirement...... have served in a similar role (high school), completed X number of passes, completed x number of yards, completed x number of touchdowns, to be eligible for the position you are seeking. Exceptions can be made at the discretion of the University of Tennessee if certain other conditions have been met.
Not even. That assigned that all high schools run the same kind of offense with the same kind of skills sets and bodies are all positions. That's not the case - not even close.

If you want every QB you be a Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, you're going to eliminate the Patrick Mahomes' and Lamar Jackson's of HS football.

You're trying to force a silly one size first all system into 134 very different systems, styles, and personnel mixes. That's not practical, nor is it ever going to happen.
 
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All this wriggling around the semantics. This seems like a good spot for me to reiterate that universities and colleges, especially public ones, have no business operating or spending money on professional sports franchises.

If it's not your students competing versus another school's students then there is no bloody point to any of this.
 
Not even. That assigned that all high schools run the same kind of offense with the same kind of skills sets and bodies are all positions. That's not the case - not even close.

If you want every QB you be a Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, you're going to eliminate the Patrick Mahomes' and Lamar Jackson's of HS football.

You're trying to force a silky one size first all system into 134 very different systems, styles, and personnel mixes. That's not practical, nor is it ever going to happen.
No, minimum jobs requirement skills. Have played that position prior, have X number of touchdowns, yards and completions to apply for position. That can be 10 total yards, 1 touchdown and 1 completion to qualify for position. This means the left tackle doesn't qualify for the posted job description of entertainment quarterbacking
 
No, it's not a 1 size fits all approach to the available entrainment positions available and each come with different skill levels and pay scales. To fill our entertainment quarterback position you must meet a minimum job requirement...... have served in a similar role (high school), completed X number of passes, completed x number of yards, completed x number of touchdowns, to be eligible for the position you are seeking. Exceptions can be made at the discretion of the University of Tennessee if certain other conditions have been met.
Sure, but the pool of SEC ready QBs isn't NEARLY as large as the pool for other positions at UT.

UT can set whatever requirements it wants but they only further shrink an already very small pool. UT only hurts itself by adding requirements.

The competition for athletes is obvious. Hellcats, Lamborghinis, bling of all kinds, and million dollar deals........ but sure, "the school can set eligibility requirements and conditions" all they want.

There's a reason Ivy League schools and Service Academies have a hard time recruiting. It's "eligibility requirements and conditions" that come with attending those schools.
 
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Sure, but the pool of SEC ready QBs isn't NEARLY as large as the pool for other positions at UT.

UT can set whatever requirements it wants but they only further shrink an already very small pool. UT only hurts itself by adding requirements.

The competition for athletes is obvious. Hellcats, Lamborghinis, bling of all kinds, and million dollar deals........ but sure, "the school can set eligibility requirements and conditions" all they want.

There's a reason Ivy League schools and Service Academies have a hard time recruiting. It's "eligibility requirements and conditions" that come with attending those schools.
No, minimum jobs requirement skills. Have played that position prior, have X number of touchdowns, yards and completions to apply for position. That can be 10 total yards, 1 touchdown and 1 completion to qualify for position. This means the left tackle doesn't qualify for the posted job description of entertainment quarterbacking
 
All this wriggling around the semantics. This seems like a good spot for me to reiterate that universities and colleges, especially public ones, have no business operating or spending money on professional sports franchises.

If it's not your students competing versus another school's students then there is no bloody point to any of this.
I've said that UT and other elite schools need to spin off the high revenue sports as pro sports and lease the logo and facilities to help fund the non-revenue sports.

It's a win-win compared to what we have now.

Roster management and free agency and salary caps all are easier for the revenue sports as a pro entity.

The true college non revenue athletes who appreciate the scholarship opportunity get to survive and not be sacrificed on the "revenue sharing" altar.

As fans, we need to accept that UT football is not really connected to the school anymore except by the barest of threads and is operating as a huge pro sports business now. It just is.
 
No, minimum jobs requirement skills. Have played that position prior, have X number of touchdowns, yards and completions to apply for position. That can be 10 total yards, 1 touchdown and 1 completion to qualify for position. This means the left tackle doesn't qualify for the posted job description of entertainment quarterbacking
I'm not sure if you realize there's a reason why pro teams have a draft. It's because of scarcity of resources.

There's not a lot of people who can actually function in the NFL or MLB or NBA. You can talk about "Jimmy's and Joe's" all day in college football but the fact is: Ohio State went out and bought the best players and will likely win a Natty with them.

Pay the money, win the game.

Place restrictions on hiring those players at Ohio State and they sign with Oregon.

You can't just make scarcity of resources go away and it gives those who possess those resources (in this case athletic ability) A LOT of options. Stop pretending the schools have a lot of power. They don't if they want to win at an elite level. They'll pay and they'll like it. They'll make it easy to attend the school and they'll like it.

If they don't, they will lose more games.
 
With the inevitable Players Union negotiating for the players, yes. In pro sports, the owners and players have a "vigorous back and forth" about various rules, requirements, salaries, etc.

There's a reason why most pro sports have salary caps and free agency and all kinds of perks/protections for owners and players.

The days of the college holding all the cards about the rules are over.

The days of the players holding all the cards will be over when it all becomes pro sports.

Which at this point I hope that’s where it goes. Because then we might actually have contracts that will tie the player to the school for longer than 6 months
 
Which at this point I hope that’s where it goes. Because then we might actually have contracts that will tie the player to the school for longer than 6 months
Absolutely, but the universities are not, or shouldn't be, in the pro sports business.

When the players become employees, the schools aren't really suited to run a pro franchise or 3. We're lucky that Randy Boyd actually has experience in pro sports and that's probably helped us to this point.

A university should be a university and pro sports teams should be pro sports teams.

I'm unsure about the legal end of the State of Tennessee owning a pro sports team and that goes for a lot of state owned schools. I'm not an attorney but something seems really off about that concept.

Employee status for players brings a lot of issues to a head in my mind but I might be wrong.
 
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I'm not sure if you realize there's a reason why pro teams have a draft. It's because of scarcity of resources.

There's not a lot of people who can actually function in the NFL or MLB or NBA. You can talk about "Jimmy's and Joe's" all day in college football but the fact is: Ohio State went out and bought the best players and will likely win a Natty with them.

Pay the money, win the game.

Place restrictions on hiring those players at Ohio State and they sign with Oregon.

You can't just make scarcity of resources go away and it gives those who possess those resources (in this case athletic ability) A LOT of options. Stop pretending the schools have a lot of power. They don't if they want to win at an elite level. They'll pay and they'll like it. They'll make it easy to attend the school and they'll like it.

If they don't, they will lose more games.
No, minimum jobs requirement skills. Have played that position prior, have X number of touchdowns, yards and completions to apply for position. That can be 10 total yards, 1 touchdown and 1 completion to qualify for position. This means the left tackle doesn't qualify for the posted job description of entertainment quarterbacking

This means all viable quarterbacks can apply at Tennessee, so long they meet these above minimum requirements. Tennessee can then narrow their prospects for the job based on who they feel is the most qualified and best fit for their position needs and the job offers up to whatever value you are willing to pay. Up to 5 million annually (example), if that is what you are willing to pay, because it is contractual and certain parameters and conditions must be met. This protects the prospective job seeker and the employer. Since they would be contractors, the terms can be reevaluated annually, or whenever the agreement states. If a player just dips out and transfers, they are in breach of contract. Even better for Tennessee would be a scenario where if Ohio State really wanted Tennessee's 5 million dollar QB, Ohio State can buy out the contract to give Tennessee financial protection at a minimum.
 
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No, minimum jobs requirement skills. Have played that position prior, have X number of touchdowns, yards and completions to apply for position. That can be 10 total yards, 1 touchdown and 1 completion to qualify for position. This means the left tackle doesn't qualify for the posted job description of entertainment quarterbacking

This means all viable quarterbacks can apply at Tennessee, so long they meet these above minimum requirements. Tennessee can then narrow their prospects for the job based on who they fill is the most qualified and best fit for their position needs and the job offers up to whatever value you are willing to pay. Up to 5 million annually (example), if that is what you are willing to pay, because it is contractual and certain parameters and conditions must be met. This protects the prospective job seeker and the employer. Since they would be contractors, the terms can be reevaluated annually, or whenever the agreement states. If a player just dips out and transfers, they are in breach of contract. Even better for Tennessee would be a scenario where if Ohio State really wanted Tennessee's 5 million dollar QB, Ohio State can buy out the contract to give Tennessee financial protection at a minimum.
If there's contracts and employee status, there will be a players union and Collective Bargaining Agreement between that union and whatever entity is managing whichever teams are pro teams.

If there's contracts, school is not going to be a requirement and the only connection to school will be tradition, location, etc. Again, school is a pain for the athletes and the schools. It's in the way now and has been since before Deion never touched a book at FSU or Cordele Patterson said "We didn't come to play school. We came to play ball."

Colleges are not going to reinvent the wheel when it comes to pro ball. They'll follow essentially the model of the NFL. That model is working, proven, and easily duplicated.

To do anything else would be less than optimal and likely end up as one of the many pro leagues that spring up, then fold.
 
These players are just getting to the same place that others in the industry (coaches, admin, etc) have enjoyed for decades.
Hard to argue for the players to go backwards when they just went forward. Every entity involved should be afforded the same opportunities. Especially the players who make it all happen. Way overdue.
 
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If there's contracts and employee status, there will be a players union and Collective Bargaining Agreement between that union and whatever entity is managing whichever teams are pro teams.

If there's contracts, school is not going to be a requirement and the only connection to school will be tradition, location, etc. Again, school is a pain for the athletes and the schools. It's in the way now and has been since before Deion never touched a book at FSU or Cordele Patterson said "We didn't come to play school. We came to play ball."

Colleges are not going to reinvent the wheel when it comes to pro ball. They'll follow essentially the model of the NFL. That model is working, proven, and easily duplicated.

To do anything else would be less than optimal and likely end up as one of the many pro leagues that spring up, then fold.
Not all 1099 employees are union members. There does not have to be a union
 
Absolutely, but the universities are not, or shouldn't be, in the pro sports business.

When the players become employees, the schools aren't really suited to run a pro franchise or 3. We're lucky that Randy Boyd actually has experience in pro sports and that's probably helped us to this point.

A university should be a university and pro sports teams should be pro sports teams.

I'm unsure about the legal end of the State of Tennessee owning a pro sports team and that goes for a lot of state owned schools. I'm not an attorney but something seems really off about that concept.

Employee status for players brings a lot of issues to a head in my mind but I might be wrong.
And there in lies the question. Will the alumni/long time supporters get behind a UT Pro franchise?
 
And there in lies the question. Will the alumni/long time supporters get behind a UT Pro franchise?
That depends on what alternatives emerge.

D2 and D3 might survive as college athletics and gain in popularity but no mass media coverage means you're back to butts on bleachers for most of your support and that won't take you very far.

Given the choice between spending Saturday with my heiney on a cold bleacher in Cookeville or my heiney on my recliner in the den, I just have a feeling my heiney will draw the line on driving to see TN Tech vs watching "the team previously known as the Tennessee Vols" on TV.
 
Why can't 2 things be true at the same time? Why can't they be student athletes and be required to go to school, but also receive compensation for their name, image and likeness?
 
Why can't 2 things be true at the same time? Why can't they be student athletes and be required to go to school, but also receive compensation for their name, image and likeness?
They are currently.

What won't likely be possible is for them to receive "revenue sharing" from the school without being called employees. That is just common sense. If you're sharing revenue with someone because what they do for you helps you make money, they're an employee.

NIL is a completely separate thing. The NCAA can't control a player's marketing of their NIL outside the school any more than your employer can tell you you can't make money from your NIL (barring shame brought on your employer.)

The "revenue sharing" is what will finally sink the NCAA, IMO, because what can it be except employment? What else can you call it?
 
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All this wriggling around the semantics. This seems like a good spot for me to reiterate that universities and colleges, especially public ones, have no business operating or spending money on professional sports franchises.

If it's not your students competing versus another school's students then there is no bloody point to any of this.
Based on what? The schools have every legal right to run sports franchises however they wish within the law. There's plenty of point I it. The teams are still going to be part of the school, make a pile of money for the school, generate tons of support, and identify as the school's brand. There is clearly a point to that.
 
Based on what? The schools have every legal right to run sports franchises however they wish within the law. There's plenty of point I it. The teams are still going to be part of the school, make a pile of money for the school, generate tons of support, and identify as the school's brand. There is clearly a point to that.

Using that logic, they have every legal right to run casinos, too. And boy would those casinos would make piles of money for the school.

That doesn't mean colleges should be in the business of running casinos.

Though now that I think about it, at the rate sports gambling has wormed its way into college sports, I suppose it wouldn't be surprising if that happens too. "And over there is the Auburn Plains, our official school sports book. Feel free to place a few bets on today's game, and then swing by the Tiger Cave to snag your official Fanduel branded apparel. I've got 50 riding on Harris at 100 yards by the second quarter. And you didn't hear this from me, but the Tiger Slots have been paying out big this week. War Eagle!"
 

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