The NIL reality

#53
#53
Voltopia said:
Spare me the sob story of innocence from Phil Knight. "So we've recognized it" is a joke of a statement. Knight is one of the poster children for what football has become. He is in no way the sole cause of its current state, but make no mistake, he has positively drooled over the day the schools would free up wealthy alumni to drown the whole thing in their money. He's old, very old, and before he departs this Earth he wants to see Oregon win a championship - and one would have to be a fool to think for a second he gives a damn about the repercussions of any of these changes. He just wants to win, at any cost. Which is how college football got here in the first place. Winning at any cost.

I won't pretend I don't understand his motivation, either. When you've waited your whole life for something, spent decades being on the outside looking in, all you want is to be on top, and you don't care what's left in your wake. And when that mortal hunger drives billionaires like Knight, well, guess what? If money is all the sport is about, then there isn't any program, NIL fund, or cooperative in existence who can compete with him - or the few others like him.
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Everyone was always trying to keep up with Bama--now the wild west is here, and Bama is Bama no more.
 
#56
#56
Brave Volunteer said:
Maybe if White was more focused on putting money into NIL instead of building hotels and mini malls around Neyland, the disparity between us and other top programs wouldn't be so extreme.
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Entirely different sources, budgets and accounts

You really going to criticize White?
 
#57
#57
J C Higgins said:
Probably can't access article but link below


From Bloomberg Businessweek

“Knight’s willingness to open his wallet has set Oregon apart: He’s reshaping not just a school but a sport. “It is what the rules are now,” Knight said on the Navigating Sports Business podcast in January. “You either got to recognize that or drop out. So we’ve recognized it.”

“In total, Knight, who’s worth roughly $35 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, has given about $2 billion to the University of Oregon since the 1980s.”

“But rival coaches, agents and executives privately complain that Oregon’s Nike connection is a recruiting advantage they can’t match.”


apple.news

Phil Knight Is Using His Nike Fortune to Make Oregon a Football Powerhouse — Bloomberg Businessweek

The billionaire booster’s cash has helped give the school a shot at a title—and reshaped the sport.
apple.news apple.news
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Yankees of CFB. Buy titles. Love him or hate him, I hope Dabo's approach is successful. Give me talent we evaluated and developed that gets us 8-10 wins a year and let these mercenaries play elsewhere. The NIL has left me with a bitter taste in my mouth after many of our NIL additions failed to really give much of a ROI. Make CFB great again. Say no to the portal and focus on evals and recruiting.
 
#58
#58
YAWN. Somebody has a bigger gun (wallet). Rather than whine about it, do the Ukrainian thing. That is, come up with innovative, and unorthodox means to counter the enemies advantage(s). Go Ukries Vols!
 
#59
#59
Brave Volunteer said:
I'm speaking of prioritizing and focus, LWSVOL, not just the dollars themselves. I feel like development at this scale shouldn't even be in discussion until we put a winning product on the field, and by winning I mean seriously competing with Texas/Georgia for SEC championships and putting a competitive team on the national stage. If Danny cares so much about development projects, focus on facility upgrades that will better attract recruits. Yes I know our facilities are nice. But they're not on the "palatial" scale that Oregon's or Texas' are and I'm sure there are a few more thats passed ours by. Have you seen Oregon's facilities? They look like they were designed by an Arab Shiek! No wonder players are attracted to that place (along with their NIL budget). Our facilities are pretty nice, but theirs are ridiculous!
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We will never have the dollars that Oregon gets (Phil Knight) to upgrade like they have. Neither will anyone else. Just can't raise that kind of capital.

We struggled to address the Neyland Stadium upgrades that were drawn up many years ago due to not being able to raise the funds. Did some of them but then had to stop until more money came in. Seems like it has been a 15-20 year project.

You have to be able to do both, upgrades as necessary / required and buy the players to compete at a high level. Have to have both to get there. I question that Tennessee has the backing to accomplish both in this ever changing landscape. They certainly have no Phil Knight that will pour the money into it...

BTW, not a fan of the entertainment district. Its for those big time donors..
 
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#61
#61
LWSVOL said:
We will never have the dollars that Oregon gets (Phil Knight) to upgrade like they have. Neither will anyone else. Just can't raise that kind of capital.

We struggled to address the Neyland Stadium upgrades that were drawn up many years ago due to not being able to raise the funds. Did some of them but then had to stop until more money came in. Seems like it has been a 15-20 year project.

You have to be able to do both, upgrades as necessary / required and buy the players to compete at a high level. Have to have both to get there. I question that Tennessee has the backing to accomplish both in this ever changing landscape. They certainly have no Phil Knight that will pour the money into it...

BTW, not a fan of the entertainment district. Its for those big time donors..
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Ok, let's take Oregon off the table and focus solely on the SEC. Where would you say our facilities rank in our own conference? As a baseline, can we say they are on par with the other top facilities in the SEC? Are they comparable to LSU's? What about Texas' or A&M's? Georgia? Alabama? Because if we can't "keep up with the Jones's" in our own conference now, what are we doing? Same with NIL. What are we spending compared to our direct competition?

See to me LWS, it comes down to this. Either we want a seat at the table of football's elite or we dont. If we say we do, then we all know what it's going to take and how much it's going to take. In order to attract enough blue chip players to compete at that level, we have to be leaders in three areas, facilities, NIL, and a reputation of putting guys in the NFL. Are we leaders in any of those 3 areas? Because otherwise, we're just going to have to concede to being an "also ran" 8-10 wins a year program, sneaking into the playoffs some years and playing in irrelevant bowls the other years.

To my eyes, it just seems like we're fighting to stay relevant. To stay above the "tree line" so our wings don't get clipped. Maybe I'm still experiencing the hangover of the loss to OSU, but I'm not seeing a grand vision of taking this program to the same level as the elite programs. I commend CJH and staff for getting us much farther much faster than I thought possible. But it feels to me like progress has stalled and we've hit our ceiling.
 
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#62
#62
Majors said:
We basically crafted the NIL collectives for the NCAA to follow. Spyre and The Volunteer Club is where your disparity issues is. That ticket fee increase next year will boost up the number, but have fans complaining because Danny is pricing out the family of four.
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This race won’t be won with a ticket surcharge. We need billionaire alum to write the big checks. White needs to be evangelizing to alumni that better sports create better academics and better universities.
 
#63
#63
CAVPUT said:
Yankees of CFB. Buy titles. Love him or hate him, I hope Dabo's approach is successful. Give me talent we evaluated and developed that gets us 8-10 wins a year and let these mercenaries play elsewhere. The NIL has left me with a bitter taste in my mouth after many of our NIL additions failed to really give much of a ROI. Make CFB great again. Say no to the portal and focus on evals and recruiting.
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Good luck with that last sentence.
 
#64
#64
Volfan1000 said:
How about Ergen of Direct TV?

I would think that he could probably spearhead the naming rights to Lindsey Nelson Sta
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Volfan1000 said:
How about Ergen of Direct TV?

I would think that he could probably spearhead the naming rights to Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
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Ergen was Dish Network which no longer exists as a stand alone company.

cordcuttersnews.com

Dish Network Faces Bankruptcy Threat as Debt Swap Deal With DIRECTV Falters | Cord Cutters News

Dish Network’s parent company, Echostar, could be teetering on the brink of bankruptcy as a crucial debt swap deal hangs in the balance. The satellite TV provider faces a November 22nd deadline to secure agreement from remaining bondholders on a debt restructuring plan, or risk jeopardizing a...
cordcuttersnews.com cordcuttersnews.com
 
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#65
#65
TikiVol said:
This race won’t be won with a ticket surcharge. We need billionaire alum to write the big checks. White needs to be evangelizing to alumni that better sports create better academics and better universities.
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Believe you missed the point on the ticket increase.

But the added charge is projected to add 22M to pay athletes.
 
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#66
#66
Brave Volunteer said:
Ok, let's take Oregon off the table and focus solely on the SEC. Where would you say our facilities rank in our own conference? As a baseline, can we say they are on par with the other top facilities in the SEC? Are they comparable to LSU's? What about Texas' or A&M's? Georgia? Alabama? Because if we can't "keep up with the Jones's" in our own conference now, what are we doing? Same with NIL. What are we spending compared to our direct competition?

See to me LWS, it comes down to this. Either we want a seat at the table of football's elite or we dont. If we say we do, then we all know what it's going to take and how much it's going to take. In order to attract enough blue chip players to compete at that level, we have to be leaders in three areas, facilities, NIL, and a reputation of putting guys in the NFL. Are we leaders in any of those 3 areas? Because otherwise, we're just going to have to concede to being an "also ran" 8-10 wins a year program, sneaking into the playoffs some years and playing in irrelevant bowls the other years.

To my eyes, it just seems like we're fighting to stay relevant. To stay above the "tree line" so our wings don't get clipped. Maybe I'm still experiencing the hangover of the loss to OSU, but I'm not seeing a grand vision of taking this program to the same level as the elite programs. I commend CJH and staff for getting us much farther much faster than I thought possible. But it feels to me like progress has stalled and we've hit our ceiling.
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I'm not familiar with the SEC facilities to compare to UTs. I will go with what I see mentioned by media members who get to other venues, they continue to say Tennessee is competitive with other SEC schools on facilities. Doesn't mean there aren’t some ahead and some behind. Facilities are dynamic and constantly being upgraded everywhere.

The Tennessee facts around football are this.

In the history of the SEC, Tennessee averages winning an SEC Championship every 7 years. They win a national championship every 15 years. The majority of these championships occurred under General Neyland so those numbers continue to go up.

Tennessee is second to Alabama (Discounting Missouri since they have not been in SEC that long) in SEC winning percentage. So they are at the top of conference in games won. So they have been competitive historically.

It will continue to be harder to win SEC Championships as long as the league is setup like it is right now. Too many really good programs competing. That is not just Tennessee but all teams within the SEC.

College football is going to continue to change. There is no way to know what things will look like in 5 years and what it might take to compete for championships. The one thing we know, it will be expensive. That will be the constant. Does Tennessee have the necessary backing financially to compete? Yeah, I think they will have it. So will 8 or 9 other schools in the current conference. Competition will brutal for championships.

That would be my outlook.
 
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#67
#67
Vfl2407 said:
Nope.
But we do have some big money alums.
How much are they emotionally invested is the question.
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They’re emotionally invested when there’s a prime time game for exposure and clicks. Otherwise you don’t see them anywhere near Neyland. Peyton could’ve helped with his nephew coming in but didn’t, yet when his ESPN show with Eli needs a plug, “suddenly” he appears!
 
#68
#68
OrangeWave2 said:
They’re emotionally invested when there’s a prime time game for exposure and clicks. Otherwise you don’t see them anywhere near Neyland. Peyton could’ve helped with his nephew coming in but didn’t, yet when his ESPN show with Eli needs a plug, “suddenly” he appears!
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What makes you think Peyton didn’t talk to Arch? Best advice he could have gave was for him to make his own path if that’s Ole Miss, TN, Texas or Alabama. We also got the #2 QB in the class, which factored into cutting bait with Arch.

Peyton is employed by ESPN, not Tennessee. He reps Tennessee for free, so I’d say he’s emotionally invested as well as financially.
 
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#69
#69
OrangeWave2 said:
They’re emotionally invested when there’s a prime time game for exposure and clicks. Otherwise you don’t see them anywhere near Neyland. Peyton could’ve helped with his nephew coming in but didn’t, yet when his ESPN show with Eli needs a plug, “suddenly” he appears!
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How do you know what Peyton did or didn’t say to Arch? Were you on the phone with them or in the room? I doubt seriously that Cooper and Arch needed much advice on evaluating opportunities. He probably looked at UT and Ole Miss and others but the connection to Sarkisian was strong. Can’t fault them for that.
 
#71
#71
WoodsmanVol said:
YAWN. Somebody has a bigger gun (wallet). Rather than whine about it, do the Ukrainian thing. That is, come up with innovative, and unorthodox means to counter the enemies advantage(s). Go Ukries Vols!
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So we should steal money from other universities?
 
#74
#74
Butch s said:
I am 60 and for most of my adult life we have been 2-3 recruiting classes away from greatness. It’s just false hope, and if you get to the point of being able to compete with the “elite” programs, it just means your team has spent more money. Isn’t this whole NIL thing just great
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It’s not a false hope for me. I should have been more specific…we are 2-3 top 5 recruiting classes away from competing with elite programs. These top 15 classes are okay but they just don’t compare. No one on here likes for you to point out that obvious difference either.
 
#75
#75
This is capitalism 101 and its a race to see who can buy up all the talent. Its whatever the market will bare no caps. We spend 20 mill only to find out our opposition spent 30 mill. We cover that and another team spends 50 mill. All paying players and coaches who would gladly do this for 98% less money and based only on the demand of alumni's win a championship. This is unsustainable, curious to see how far it goes before the crash.
 
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