This describes what has happened to college football perfectly.

[ClearwaterVol]

Have you not seen how being a former player for a major university has provided opportunities that a regular student does not receive? I am friends with several former college athletes and without question their financial situation was dramatically improved because of their athletic career.

The discipline and work it takes to be a real college student-athlete prepares them for the real world. When my son was playing baseball, he called in Feb. of his freshman year and said, "Dad, I'm worn out. I've got about an hour a day that I don't have something I have to do." I smiled to myself and thought, "the world is going to be much easier on you after you get out of college." When he graduated, he was working close to 70 hrs. per week and didn't feel over-worked. 12 years later, he bought the company he worked for and it's growing faster than he ever imagined. On average, he's now working less than 40 hrs. per week. It wasn't just his college education that made him successful. It was the work ethic and time management skills he developed as a student-athlete that really did it for him. NIL money would not have contributed to his success.

NIL money can assist in providing life changing opportunities. To completely discount it is short sighted

 

[LAVol1]

NIL money can assist in providing life changing opportunities. To completely discount it is short sighted

Didn't discount it. Just saying there is a lot more value in a college education for those athletes that take full advantage of it. I would also contend that there is a lot more potential for harm than good from making a teenager rich.

 

[TheFlash1971]

First cartoon is missing the truckloads of money being made by coaches, conferences, and broadcasters. Wonder why that’s not a problem.

Who cares how much the players will make, Universities have been making Gazillions off these kids.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Didn't discount it. Just saying there is a lot more value in a college education for those athletes that take full advantage of it. I would also contend that there is a lot more potential for harm than good from making a teenager rich.

No one is "making a teenager rich" except the talent and hard work of the teenager.

You act like they haven't BEEN being paid, but where are the horror stories? There should be decades and decades of horror stories from the money athletes have gotten over the years in college.

 

[LAVol1]

No one is "making a teenager rich" except the talent and hard work of the teenager.

You act like they haven't BEEN being paid, but where are the horror stories? There should be decades and decades of horror stories from the money athletes have gotten over the years in college.

I didn't act like anything. There is a difference in "getting paid" and receiving large sums of money when you're not mature enough handle it. There are "decades and decades" of horror stories of kids, and adults for that matter, that get life-changing money and aren't responsible enough to handle it. If you haven't seen them, you aren't paying attention.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

I didn't act like anything. There is a difference in "getting paid" and receiving large sums of money when you're not mature enough handle it. There are "decades and decades" of horror stories of kids, and adults for that matter, that get life-changing money and aren't responsible enough to handle it. If you haven't seen them, you aren't paying attention.

Sure, and you're the one who gets to determine when someone is ready to get paid and how much.

But you're not.

 

[Mccage]

It's unconstitutional to deny people the right to make money off their NIL, period. Just because they are in college doesn't mean they shouldn't off their NIL.

You can make money off your NIL, except for your lack of skills to do so. That's the only difference between you and them.

Lack of skills? Shouldn’t you have said different skills?

 

[modernVol]

crazy how everyone who points the finger at the players just ignores the fact that the justice system of the United States of America ruled that the former economic structure of the NCAA was unconstitutional. The NCAA enabled all of this to happen by years of greed, stubbornness, and extremely poor leadership.

 

[cgrish]

Who cares how much the players will make, Universities have been making Gazillions off these kids.

I think football and mens basketball are the only two sports in college that are financially profitable.

 

[fossilfiction]

Lack of skills? Shouldn’t you have said different skills?

No. Not everyone gets a trophy either.

 

[Hairy Vols]

Because they’re not getting a $200,000 plus education for free . Not to mention the extra benefits, food ,& lodging.

If you had a job offer. That offered you free housing and education but wouldn’t pay you physical money BUT the owners of the company made billions a year.. would you take it?

Now imagine you could make money on the side, doing… let’s say on YouTube making videos. Then the owners of that company told you that “you couldn’t do that”.. you shouldn’t need physical money if you have free room and board.

How does that sound to you as an adult?

 

[Orangeblood75]

That’s a great deal, they’re making over 200k for 4years and getting trained for the NFL. My son played college football and had to pay tuition. Ask him what he thinks about it .

 

[99gator]

I'm having a hard time adjusting to all this. I know some may say it's because Florida is not in contention for anything right now and that's why.

But, honestly, I used to follow this stuff religiously and I don't know who the hell is on the team anymore. There are guys transferring out and in that I didn't know they were on the roster.

Part of the joy for this is looking at former players and knowing they were a (insert your mascot here). How the hell do you call someone a Gator or a Vol or whatever, when they are on 2 or 3 different school throughout their time in college.

 

[Mccage]

Who cares how much the players will make, Universities have been making Gazillions off these kids.

Didn’t know the players bought tickets . Eighty percent of the fans couldn’t name 90 percent of the players. Most

I'm having a hard time adjusting to all this. I know some may say it's because Florida is not in contention for anything right now and that's why.

But, honestly, I used to follow this stuff religiously and I don't know who the hell is on the team anymore. There are guys transferring out and in that I didn't know they were on the roster.

Part of the joy for this is looking at former players and knowing they were a (insert your mascot here). How the hell do you call someone a Gator or a Vol or whatever, when they are on 2 or 3 different school throughout their time in college.

All those Bama jerseys with Downs name on the back just got marked down 50 percent at Walmart!

 

[sami]

I'm having a hard time adjusting to all this. I know some may say it's because Florida is not in contention for anything right now and that's why.

But, honestly, I used to follow this stuff religiously and I don't know who the hell is on the team anymore. There are guys transferring out and in that I didn't know they were on the roster.

Part of the joy for this is looking at former players and knowing they were a (insert your mascot here). How the hell do you call someone a Gator or a Vol or whatever, when they are on 2 or 3 different school throughout their time in college.

For better or worse (clearly depends on your viewpoint, as this thread shows), it is becoming and will become more and more like the "root for the jersey colors" fandom that all pro sports have become.

I get the legal and moral arguments supporting the idea of kids being 'paid' for their work and effort, and for the use of their name and image, but it (along with the conference 'realignments', unlimited transfers, etc.) will ruin what made college sports so great for so long, even if it was all a facade that had to inevitably implode due to money and greed

 

[LadyVolette]

The networks and the schools are just playing the fans, because the fans are crazy and love the sport--in the same way that the NFL, MLB and Fifa exploit their crazy fans. They keep adding games, expanding playoffs--making it easier for lesser teams to get into playoffs--amping up the hype---all to suck more and more money out of fans via, mostly, TV ratings and attendance.

I was a student-athlete on scholarship at UT, lived at Gibbs, and we all felt we were the luckiest people on campus--because we were. And it wasn't just the scholarship, there were lots of other perks. No players in any sport had the thought--gee, my free education, meals, housing, kits, girls, concerts, police giving us a pass on various things---is nice but we really should be getting paid too! I think that just started, frankly, with black activists who looked at the black players on the football and basketball teams, saw the money the football program was bringing, and, always on the lookout for injustice (real or, in this case, imagined), started clamoring for cash for players. You NEVER hear the activists talk about the benefit of a free college education and all that goes with it---because free cash is a bigger priority than a free education. One is cash in the pocket while the other isn't--it's a cost that's been covered for you. I don't mean to make this too racial--but I believe this is how the whole pay the players movement got started, and it's gained momentum as the social justice movement has gained momentum. Plus, we're just turning kids who should be focused on academics--because 90+ percent of them are not going to play pro football or basketball--into greedy mercenaries. Bribing kids to sign with your school? Trying to outbid other schools? Tampering--which is rampant. Transfers--rampant and sometimes/often motivated by money? Seriously, this is what we want college athletics to become? The more ridiculous major-college football becomes, the more obvious it becomes that the Ivy League has been right about college athletics all along. It's chosen not to dirty itself too much with all the seedy commercialism that we see now.

The notion that football players should be paid is nothing more than public perception. The sport has been on TV for 50 years--and now suddenly people are saying, "oh, you gotta pay the players." Really? Nothing has changed except the money has gotten bigger. I don't quite understand how a a couple of judges have suddenly concluded that college football should be treated as a business. College football IS a business--but it's not in any way a conventional business. Businesses are private enterprises; most universities are public entities and state institutions---big difference. Simply put, they're schools, first and foremost, even as they must operate in many ways like businesses. Much of the football money is used to subsidize 15 or 20 other sports that lose money--and won't EVER make money. What conventional business pours money into activities that will always lose money? Nobody. The only people getting rich off the current system are the coaches--who are grotesquely overpaid, and the massive buyouts are a complete joke--and network executives. Nobody else is. College football may resemble pro football now--but it's far different. Pro football is a private enterprise: the clubs are private. The players are employees. College football players are full-time students, first and foremost. The players don't make the game of football--the schools do. There is only college football because the schools have invested in everything needed to have a program--including scholarships for the players.

I read yesterday that the Univ. of Arizona's athletic department has serious financial problems and may have to cut sports. I'm guessing that the Univ. of Arizona is not going to be eager--at this time, anyway--to start paying players with money it doesn't have. Don't many/most major-college athletic departments lose money--even as they're making a lot of money from TV-rights deals? Or is that not true? The athletic departments spend huge sums of money. It's going to be very interesting to see how colleges react to this NCAA proposal to establish a division of schools willing to share revenues with players---which is going to cost a LOT of money and likely negatively impact other sports. You think there's been a problem with players not paying much attention to classses and academics in the past? Wait 'till you start giving them thousands of dollars while in college. Good luck managing that.

The problem with college football, as it is with pro sports, is greed. There's no real leadership. Nobody is willing to say, "enough. ""We don't need more games, we don't need a longer season, we don't need another playoff expansion." Because the networks start waving more money in front of them, and they capitulate--and the university presidents are just as bad as the athletic directors.

I typically don’t agree with you, but I agree with you here It isn’t pretty, but it is probably the truth.. Especially when you consider when I went to UTK in the 90s tuition was somewhat reasonable.. and now it is around 11k a semester for tuition and housing.. I know, I know, inflation.. but dang… but just the getting your board and tuition paid nowadays is a really, really big plus!

 

[LadyVolette]

Didn't discount it. Just saying there is a lot more value in a college education for those athletes that take full advantage of it. I would also contend that there is a lot more potential for harm than good from making a teenager rich.

Having just launched teenagers myself, THIS, a thousand times THIS

 

[LAVol1]

Sure, and you're the one who gets to determine when someone is ready to get paid and how much.

But you're not.

Where did I say I get to determine anything? Just pointing out the obvious downside of giving kids large sums of money. Sorry you don't see it.

 

[S.C. OrangeMan]

If the players want to get paid to play then the solution is for the NFL to allow HS graduates to enter directly into the NFL. The NFL is a pro sport where players get paid based upon their talent and not just the highest bidder. Let the NFL bare the cost and return college sports back to amateur events. If you want to pay players in college then it should be one fee for all with a cap limit per team. Somebody explain why a university should give a scholarship to a player getting paid 7-figures in NIL money. If you are going to take an NIL deal your college expenses should come from that money if not in whole then on a formula based upon cost versus wages. It's a big boy world out there let them start paying their way.

That's like saying that the Colts and the Broncos shouldn't have given Peyton Manning a dime because he got endorsement money from third parties.

The 9-0 Supreme Court decision says that's not either pertinent or legal.

The pre NIL way of doing things was essentially indentured servitude. Getting rid of using far undervalued athlete labor to make millions for the schools, the conferences, and the coaches is a good thing.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Where did I say I get to determine anything? Just pointing out the obvious downside of giving kids large sums of money. Sorry you don't see it.

It's not GIVING. They are earning it. They have put in the work training and have God given gifts they've maximized.

That you would think it's bad to develop a talent and get paid for it, no matter what age, is what is sad.

 

[volbound1700]

I can't see why Tennessee fans are so down on NIL. It basically broke the Saban Monopoly in the SEC and has given Tennessee (and other programs with money) a fighting chance now.

 

[Voltopia]

I'm having a hard time adjusting to all this. I know some may say it's because Florida is not in contention for anything right now and that's why.

But, honestly, I used to follow this stuff religiously and I don't know who the hell is on the team anymore. There are guys transferring out and in that I didn't know they were on the roster.

Part of the joy for this is looking at former players and knowing they were a (insert your mascot here). How the hell do you call someone a Gator or a Vol or whatever, when they are on 2 or 3 different school throughout their time in college.

Right there with you. Hell, Tennessee's been cleaning up in "transfer portal recruiting" this past two weeks and I don't even really feel all that much about it. Everyone's excited about who's coming in, but I don't get the excitement. Anyone here today could be gone tomorrow, and some will be. Why worry about what happens? None of it matters so much now.

The truth is that we're headed toward a place where players being "Vols" or "Gators" won't mean very much at all.

 

[S.C. OrangeMan]

College football will be an even worse version of NFL soon. Stadiums wills get smaller and nice, players will have zero loyalty, tradition will go away, rivalries already are. Sad

Stadium attendance only makes a fraction of the NFL revenue. No one in their right mind would claim that the NFL business model isn't successful.

 

[Nationdom]

Stadium attendance only makes a fraction of the NFL revenue. No one in their right mind would claim that the NFL business model isn't successful.

I don’t care if it’s successful and i didn’t say it was. I care about college stadiums packed to the gills with 105k+, with few amenities. I also care about tradition.

 

[turbovol]

NIL money can assist in providing life changing opportunities. To completely discount it is short sighted

Please. Who doesn't want to be handed cash for nothing? Oh, wait: "Here's a pile of cash because you play college football--but you've got
to go to a local hospital with other players and chat with patients for an hour. I hope it's not too strenuous--we don't want to trouble you too much because, you know, you play college football."

This, as far as I can tell, is a bunch of nonsense derived from the social-justice movement--this notion that, first, black players play football; second, football makes a lot of money; ergo, black players are being exploited. That's essentially how all this pay players nonsense got started--by black activists. There are supposedly legal issues as well--but they make no sense to me as the game and the system have been the same for 60 years. Nothing has changed. Games have been televised for 60 years. Sure, the money is bigger--true of everything.

I'm pretty sure giving money to regular college students who've taken out major loans to get a college education would be a "life-changing
opportunity." And THAT is what isi particularly annoying about all this: You NEVER hear all the cats pushing to pay players mention the full, 4-year scholarships they're getting that are worth a LOT of money--$250 K, I'd estimate, over four years. That's a big deal--but you don't hear the activists talk about it because it's not cash in the pocket.

It's like UCONN women's basketball coach Auriemma said recently: We've created an environment in which "the players feel that they owe you nothing and you owe them everything." He added: "How can you have good relationships with your players if it's all transactional."