I don’t see how this helps the powerhouses. What does “better recruiting” look like for the Clemsons/Bamas/ugas of the world? The top 100 players are all basically going to the same handful of schools every year already. Who cares if they start paying them?
Where this might have an effect is the next tier down. If being in a big city with national draw ends up equating to more money for the types of players not going to the top 5-6 schools, then you might start to see some advantages. If a player is deciding between GT/ATL and VT/Blacksburg for example, GT may win that matchup more often now. As I understand it, the players aren’t getting paid by the school but they can get paid for their name, image, and likeness now by external entities. Will these opportunities be more available in higher population areas such as big cities? Who knows.
This could be really beneficial to GT if the ATL market proves to be lucrative for college athletes. It’s another arrow in the quiver of what GT has to offer. We need to start putting more and more players into the NFL - at that point we will have it all. Top 5 education, top NIL opportunities, P5 athletics, NFL pipeline. Good news is we are headed in the right direction with the NFL stuff. This 2021 roster should have several draft picks in 2022 and beyond.