CATCHALL GTFLETCH COLLEGE FOOTBALL NEWS THREAD
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BuzzCzar
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When players get paid, then will they have to pay tuition, mealplan, room & board, etc, since they are now being compensated for their athletic endeavors monetarily rather than as a barter for attendance and associated costs??
Will lowered admission standards now have to be monetarily quantified and the athletes charged for the opportunity costs the universities incur by forgoing higher achieving students to enroll athletes who now are being renumerated for their athletic contributions?
See, I'm OK with the barter of play for schooling
And I'm OK with pure pay the athletes, pay the schools, (the athletes are using the existing fan bases of the schools to make themselves famous too)
but giving the (formerly?) student athletes all the benefits and then also paying them seems wrong
Will lowered admission standards now have to be monetarily quantified and the athletes charged for the opportunity costs the universities incur by forgoing higher achieving students to enroll athletes who now are being renumerated for their athletic contributions?
See, I'm OK with the barter of play for schooling
And I'm OK with pure pay the athletes, pay the schools, (the athletes are using the existing fan bases of the schools to make themselves famous too)
but giving the (formerly?) student athletes all the benefits and then also paying them seems wrong
aeromech
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If will be interesting to see IF, or maybe WHICH, schools drop football/basketball altogether. Can the lower revenue Power 5 conference schools keep this up long term? Is it even worth the effort?
I can foresee a whole bunch on non-power conference schools saying screw this and shutting down football for good.
www.yahoo.com
I can foresee a whole bunch on non-power conference schools saying screw this and shutting down football for good.
NCAA, Power Five conferences vote to approve $2.8B settlement in House, Hubbard and Carter cases
In a landmark agreement that will transform the course of major college athletics, the NCAA has left behind its archaic rules and changed the way it's going to do business.
www.yahoo.com
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Harvard and Yale together have around $100B in endowments. Holy crikey, the Ivy League is going to curb stomp the SEC in NIL and string together dozens of National Titles. Maybe the Ivy League was behind this all along.
FlatsLander
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What sort of ROI is there paying ~$1MM for each super star football player? Why would the Ivy League invest that money and get basically nothing for it?
In the end there will be 1,2,3 year contracts like all other sports. The players will have to meet their agreed upon expectations in order to receive the full allotment of NIL, etc.
I have always agreed that with the ever changing landscape that SA’s should now have to pay their own tuition, but it will never happen. Kids will go to a school where that’s covered based on the contract signed.
The one aspect that clearly needs to go away TOMORROW is APR. The NCAA cannot continually pretend to enforce this when all other control they have is dwindling by the day.
Once APR is eliminated, GT should have no issue admitting any SA. In the end, why would the school itself care if a kid can’t make it long-term? This has no impact on GT’s position in the academic world. This official overall change is about sports, period. More than likely, kids will end up at 2-3 schools before their eligibility expires in the end anyway.
BuzzCzar
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Then we are golden!!! Tech is one of the 'new ivies'...
Introducing the New Ivies
The Ivies are making headlines again, but not in a good way. Between shifting admissions policies, flip-flopping on the role of standardized tests (Harvard, Dar
toptieradmissions.com
aeromech
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APR should die as should the requirement to be a student. What does APR mean when players change schools every year anyway. We know some of the players in the past haven't been real students; so stop that charade and just have a semi-pro league. Then paying for scholarships can be negotiated with those players who really want to be students. Also suspend the years of eligibility like they did during COVID, if someone wants to play "college" football for 5, 10, 20 years, let them.
Supersize that order mutt
Dodd-Like
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Isn't that essentially what YouTube TV already does?
Supersize that order mutt
Dodd-Like
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They will also have to pay income taxes, state and Federal, although the mutts in the Georgia legislature will probably pass a bill saying that they don't have to pay any state taxes.
BuzzCzar
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They will do just like they do with their players' education... they will defer it
GT98
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How long have you followed GT? While your last sentence is (mostly) true, the first sentence won't happen. Quite doubtful that GT will just buy kids to rent the uniforms for games and not be students.
GT98
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Will be a shake out of the "lower end athletic department" schools in the so called Power conferences as well.
Since I can remember late 80’s. And while that’s mostly true, GOL was given the free pass near the end of his GT coaching career to take a good amount of exceptions. We all know the end result led to “flunk gate” early in CCG’s tenure, and GT clamped back down with APR being implemented, etc.
Difference is now, GT can take in 50/50 classes between Portal / HS. It’s a completely different game now. Back then it was 99.9% HS.
Do I expect the flood gates to open by the school with APR all but going away? No. But with all the other hurdles GT is facing (NIL collectives, ACC future, etc) this is one they can control themselves.
GTFLETCH
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Great Point! I agree with you.
Supersize that order mutt
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Interesting article:
College sports should learn from Red Lobster’s mistakes
Dan Wolken
Columnist
USA TODAY
Contrary to what you may have read, the demise of Red Lobster was not about all-you-can-eat shrimp. Instead, it’s a story of an iconic American business that found itself in financial distress and sold out to another iconic American industry that loves nothing more than financial distress: Private equity.
From there, private equity did what private equity does. It sold off the company’s land to a real estate conglomerate to make back the cash it used to buy Red Lobster in the first place, then saddled the restaurants sitting on that land with expensive rent deals they didn’t have before. That left stores with little financial room for error, and when economic headwinds finally hit, it sent Red Lobster into a tailspin leading to bankruptcy.
Now here comes another set of private equity bros looking for their next distressed asset to gut for every last penny, and they’re finding it in a different industry full of endless shrimp: College sports.
Formally announced on Wednesday, College Athletic Solutions says it seeks to be a 'purpose-driven, dedicated capital and business-building platform for public and private university athletic departments across the United States.' It bills itself as a 'trusted advisor' to the people leading college sports through these turbulent times, 'equipping the strategies and resources to operate efficiently while allowing their athletic program to compete at the highest level.'
Translated from private equity bro into regular English, here’s what it means: You need cash because college athletes are now going to be on the payroll thanks to years of litigation that showed amateurism violated antitrust laws. We, the private equity bros, are here to give you that sweet, sweet cash. And all we ask in return is for you to let us 'right-size' your operating structure to maximize future profits and new revenues, of which we will of course take a healthy percentage down the road.
You can call this theoretical arrangement whatever you want. Some will call it 'private equity investment.' Some will call it 'private credit,' or, in layman’s terms, a loan. Drew Weatherford, the former Florida State quarterback-turned-private equity bro who cooked up this idea and has been pitching it to college administrators for months, even told Yahoo! Sports: 'They are not mandated to pay us back the money we give them.'
Here’s what I call it: A garden-variety private equity scam that will benefit private equity and only private equity, because that’s all private equity truly cares about in the end.
If you’re an athletics director, conference commissioner or school president thinking about going down this road – and there are quite a few of them out there worried about the coming financial crunch of revenue sharing with athletes – you should ask yourself the following questions:
Why do you think RedBird Capital, a firm with a reported $10 billion in assets under management and partnering with Weatherford Capital on this endeavor, wants to be involved in college sports? (Hint: Because you’ve mismanaged it so badly that they can smell your desperation like a man coming off a three-day Vegas bender.) What makes you believe that private equity, contrary to everything private equity has done ever, will just give you money without strings attached? What do you think & quot;right-sizing& quot; your operation actually means? How much control are you willing to give up? If you need private equity to tell you how to unlock new revenue in an industry that already has a massive audience and widespread appeal, are you actually good at your job or just collecting a paycheck? And what evidence is there that these guys can actually help you do it? And finally, what happens if it goes wrong? What legacy is that going to leave in 10 or 15 years when your athletic department is just another Red Lobster saddled with debt that these guys can trade around like Pokemon cards to make more deals?
Actually, that last part explains why there’s a good chance college sports falls into the trap. Athletics directors, especially at the big schools, get paid very well these days. They also know they’re one bad football coaching hire away from being thrown into the street. They may only get one shot at making a million dollars a year or more.
What do most of them really care if someone else has to come clean up behind them when they’re sitting on the balcony at their penthouse in Destin? Why make a hard decision or go the austerity route – including maybe having to cut their own salaries – when they’ve got a slick former college quarterback like Drew Weatherford with a classic side-part haircut and a billion-dollar smile promising to shower them with easy, instant money? (Weatherford, by the way, did not respond to an e-mail asking for comment.)
This is, of course, how college sports arrived at its current state of disorder in the first place. Nobody wanted to make tough choices. Nobody wanted to acknowledge the reality that college athletes were going to one day be paid and figure out how to best deal with that. Nobody prepared for the inevitable chaos that would follow name, image and likeness rights being given to athletes without any structure around the market. Nobody wanted to actually acknowledge that the NCAA’s business model was illegal and be proactive about solutions before they were imposed by federal courts and attorneys like Jeffrey Kessler.
That, after all, is very hard work. It takes foresight, and it makes people uncomfortable and it is even perhaps an impediment to the lifestyle that these college administrators have been enjoying for decades.
Why actually do the work to steer the NCAA toward a fair, lawful model when you can be like Jim Delany and cry for years about the dangers of professionalizing college sports as the Big Ten commissioner, then retire with a multi-million dollar golden parachute and lucrative 'consulting' deal?
College sports and the administrators who ran it into the ground have never been forced to reckon with their gluttony.
Now here comes private equity, ready to shovel more money into their pockets, and some of them are undoubtedly going to take it, pushing off the IOUs beyond their own professional expiration dates.
That’s how college sports becomes the next Red Lobster – cheddar biscuits not included.
College sports should learn from Red Lobster’s mistakes
Dan Wolken
Columnist
USA TODAY
Contrary to what you may have read, the demise of Red Lobster was not about all-you-can-eat shrimp. Instead, it’s a story of an iconic American business that found itself in financial distress and sold out to another iconic American industry that loves nothing more than financial distress: Private equity.
From there, private equity did what private equity does. It sold off the company’s land to a real estate conglomerate to make back the cash it used to buy Red Lobster in the first place, then saddled the restaurants sitting on that land with expensive rent deals they didn’t have before. That left stores with little financial room for error, and when economic headwinds finally hit, it sent Red Lobster into a tailspin leading to bankruptcy.
Now here comes another set of private equity bros looking for their next distressed asset to gut for every last penny, and they’re finding it in a different industry full of endless shrimp: College sports.
Formally announced on Wednesday, College Athletic Solutions says it seeks to be a 'purpose-driven, dedicated capital and business-building platform for public and private university athletic departments across the United States.' It bills itself as a 'trusted advisor' to the people leading college sports through these turbulent times, 'equipping the strategies and resources to operate efficiently while allowing their athletic program to compete at the highest level.'
Translated from private equity bro into regular English, here’s what it means: You need cash because college athletes are now going to be on the payroll thanks to years of litigation that showed amateurism violated antitrust laws. We, the private equity bros, are here to give you that sweet, sweet cash. And all we ask in return is for you to let us 'right-size' your operating structure to maximize future profits and new revenues, of which we will of course take a healthy percentage down the road.
You can call this theoretical arrangement whatever you want. Some will call it 'private equity investment.' Some will call it 'private credit,' or, in layman’s terms, a loan. Drew Weatherford, the former Florida State quarterback-turned-private equity bro who cooked up this idea and has been pitching it to college administrators for months, even told Yahoo! Sports: 'They are not mandated to pay us back the money we give them.'
Here’s what I call it: A garden-variety private equity scam that will benefit private equity and only private equity, because that’s all private equity truly cares about in the end.
If you’re an athletics director, conference commissioner or school president thinking about going down this road – and there are quite a few of them out there worried about the coming financial crunch of revenue sharing with athletes – you should ask yourself the following questions:
Why do you think RedBird Capital, a firm with a reported $10 billion in assets under management and partnering with Weatherford Capital on this endeavor, wants to be involved in college sports? (Hint: Because you’ve mismanaged it so badly that they can smell your desperation like a man coming off a three-day Vegas bender.) What makes you believe that private equity, contrary to everything private equity has done ever, will just give you money without strings attached? What do you think & quot;right-sizing& quot; your operation actually means? How much control are you willing to give up? If you need private equity to tell you how to unlock new revenue in an industry that already has a massive audience and widespread appeal, are you actually good at your job or just collecting a paycheck? And what evidence is there that these guys can actually help you do it? And finally, what happens if it goes wrong? What legacy is that going to leave in 10 or 15 years when your athletic department is just another Red Lobster saddled with debt that these guys can trade around like Pokemon cards to make more deals?
Actually, that last part explains why there’s a good chance college sports falls into the trap. Athletics directors, especially at the big schools, get paid very well these days. They also know they’re one bad football coaching hire away from being thrown into the street. They may only get one shot at making a million dollars a year or more.
What do most of them really care if someone else has to come clean up behind them when they’re sitting on the balcony at their penthouse in Destin? Why make a hard decision or go the austerity route – including maybe having to cut their own salaries – when they’ve got a slick former college quarterback like Drew Weatherford with a classic side-part haircut and a billion-dollar smile promising to shower them with easy, instant money? (Weatherford, by the way, did not respond to an e-mail asking for comment.)
This is, of course, how college sports arrived at its current state of disorder in the first place. Nobody wanted to make tough choices. Nobody wanted to acknowledge the reality that college athletes were going to one day be paid and figure out how to best deal with that. Nobody prepared for the inevitable chaos that would follow name, image and likeness rights being given to athletes without any structure around the market. Nobody wanted to actually acknowledge that the NCAA’s business model was illegal and be proactive about solutions before they were imposed by federal courts and attorneys like Jeffrey Kessler.
That, after all, is very hard work. It takes foresight, and it makes people uncomfortable and it is even perhaps an impediment to the lifestyle that these college administrators have been enjoying for decades.
Why actually do the work to steer the NCAA toward a fair, lawful model when you can be like Jim Delany and cry for years about the dangers of professionalizing college sports as the Big Ten commissioner, then retire with a multi-million dollar golden parachute and lucrative 'consulting' deal?
College sports and the administrators who ran it into the ground have never been forced to reckon with their gluttony.
Now here comes private equity, ready to shovel more money into their pockets, and some of them are undoubtedly going to take it, pushing off the IOUs beyond their own professional expiration dates.
That’s how college sports becomes the next Red Lobster – cheddar biscuits not included.
Supersize that order mutt
Dodd-Like
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College athletes win legal battle, amateur sports transform
Steve Berman is ecstatic. A lead attorney for the plaintiffs in the groundbreaking antitrust cases against the NCAA, Berman can’t believe his good fortune – emphasis on fortune.
“When we started this, I never dreamed of this day,” Berman told USA Today, commenting on the proposed settlement between the NCAA and its power conferences that would pay $2.75 million in damages to current and former athletes, as well as allow schools to compensate athletes directly – or what I like to call pay-to-play on the legit.
“It’s a revolutionary moment in college sports,” Berman crowed.
I don’t know about you, but revolutions make me nervous. Depending on which side you’re on, the uprising either turns out well – ask George Washington – or doesn’t. Czar Nicholas II, anyone? Revolutions are mostly about power: Who has it, who wants it, and who is willing to toss the baby out with the bathwater to get it.
Regardless of where your allegiance lies, revolutions almost always are bloody. But Berman is not concerned
with the collateral damage as much as thrilled with where college athletics are headed: from the amateur outhouse, which the courts have determined stinks up the joint, to the professional penthouse.
A new day has dawned. Athletes have raged against the greed machine of academic institutions and their athletic departments and won.
Who lost? The peasants, aka fans, who had little say in the matter but still will be asked to fork over even more money for a lesser product.
That’s right. Lesser product. At least on the field. Quick, who is the better quarterback? Patrick Mahomes or Will Howard? Who is the better point guard? Steph Curry or Bruce Thornton? Who wins between the basketball Buckeyes and Boston Celtics? Between the Kansas City Chiefs and Michigan Wolverines?
You get the idea. If college football players suddenly become professionals, and at some point (probably sooner than later) become employees of their school, why would anyone prefer that product to the NFL?
Family tradition? Sure. But the Cleveland Browns have that too. School spirit, particularly among alumni? Yes. The name on the front of the jersey still matters, but it tends to matter less when the name on the back can be here and gone in the time it takes to say “transfer portal.” The band? At Ohio State, TBDBITL has a loyal following that makes Saturdays in the Horseshoe seem almost quaint. Then you realize you shelled out $500 to take the fam and quaint it ain’t.
No doubt the college game-day atmosphere still enthralls, but as the amateur label disappears, and college athletes turn pro – simply by staying in college – it makes sense that the aesthetic, tradition-rich peripherals shrink in importance. Maybe not as much at Ohio State, where continuous winning will help hide the talent differential of the NFL vs. college, but for less successful programs revolution will be, well, revolting.
I’ve asked this question before, but why aren’t the Clippers more popular than the Cleveland Guardians? I mean, tickets are cheaper, the food is just as good and the beer just as wet. Could it be that fans want to watch the best talent? No offense to our Columbus franchise, but minor league baseball is not MLB. And college football is not the NFL. When 18-year-old college running backs get paid a salary, by definition they are professionals playing at a lower skill level than their counterparts on the Cincinnati Bengals or Pittsburgh Steelers.
My argument is not that college football and basketball will become less watchable. Our entertainment-obsessed society would pay to watch paint dry if it was marketed correctly – and if you could bet on it. But less enjoyable? And less worthy of our passion? I believe so.
A recent Twitter/X poll asked if the increasing professionalism of college sports impacts interest level. Almost half (49%) answered “No difference.” Another 42% responded “Less interest,” while 9% went with “More interest.”
If I am a conference commissioner or athletic director, that 42% worries me. It tells me the revolutionaries may win the battle but lose the war.
As for the battle, the terms of the proposed financial settlement include funding the damages pool over a 10year period, with the payments coming in part from TV money that would have gone to the athletes if NCAA limits on pay had not been in place, as well as money from video games. The payments to athletes would reach back to 2016.
The bigger transformation is schools in major conferences will need to build a model in which they share future revenues with athletes.
Let’s be clear, whether athletes deserve to be paid is moot. The courts have spoken. The money will soon be on its way. And there is plenty to go round. The Big Ten brought in nearly $880 million in total revenue and distributed about $60.5 million to each of its 12 longest-tenured members, according to recently released federal tax documents.
The issue is not whether athletes deserve to be compensated. They do. But in reaching that decision, more than just perceptions are in play. The reality is that professionals are paid to perform a service.
Fail to deliver and you’re out of a job.
RoanokeJacket
Helluva Engineer
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Good, I am tired of these assholes (except for our assholes)