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re: NCAA Lied about NIL. College Sports are More Popular Than Ever
Posted on 1/27/26 at 12:25 pm to AwgustaDawg
Posted on 1/27/26 at 12:25 pm to AwgustaDawg
quote:
I don't think NIL or the portal either one is the issue - I think it is the experience of watching college football in person or on TV. Viewership is up because the alternative is some half assed series on Netflix that requires one to actually pay attention to....sports are background noise for the vast majority of people tuned in....they couldn't tell you what down and distance it is....they have it on because there is nothing else to turn on. For actual fans the product is almost untenable. The stoppage for commercials and reviews of calls on the field ruin the flow. Its bad on TV....its like watching paint dry in person. Currently there is heightened interest because Indiana and Vandys are competitive, That is not going to last, that window is going to shut because the powerhouse programs have always been better at managing their programs and over a short period of time will prove to be better at doing it with NIL and the portal. When that happens and its Ohio State and Alabama every year again interest will wane. Live sports do well on TV because they are the only compelling thing on TV that doesn't require much effort to view....when fans are not going to the games in person because the experience is intolerable because of commercial breaks the sport will suffer irrevesibly...and that day is coming and not too far down the road.
Yeah, I watch enough Netflix now when I have enough time, that regular TV with its commercials, even when watching my Longhorns play, is hard to take.
For the same reasons, I listen to Apple Music or Sirius in my truck now, and avoid FM radio with all of its distracting commercials…
This post was edited on 1/27/26 at 12:30 pm
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Posted on 1/27/26 at 12:29 pm to giveemhell
quote:
Barring that, it would probably take an act of Congress.
Yeah, and our federal politicians can barely keep the government running… I’m not seeing them coming up with any thoughtful collegiate athletics strategic planning legislation in the near future…
Posted on 1/27/26 at 12:53 pm to AwgustaDawg
quote:
when fans are not going to the games in person because the experience is intolerable because of commercial breaks the sport will suffer irrevesibly
Ironically the less intense interest there is in the sport the closer you would get to what CFB is actually supposed to be: an extracurricular activity at an institution of higher learning played by legitimate students who are there to become doctors, lawyers, engineers, accountants, etc.
The money and win-at-all-costs attitude of fans is how you end up with a perverted sport with illiterate freaks of nature on the field who are a better fit for a penitentiary than a college campus and coaches with nine figure contracts on the sidelines who drive Ferraris to practice.
If the big money dried up, the only people who would be hurt by it are players and coaches who shouldn’t be on campus anyway. So who gives a frick? CFB doesn’t have to be a multibillion dollar entertainment leviathan to exist. It is played at many schools no one here has even heard of.
Posted on 1/27/26 at 2:32 pm to Old School Tex
The way I see it the only way to stop it is the schools agree to form their own governing body along with the NCAA. And schools set salary caps. Each year the salary increases based on performance, and certain bonuses for production which would be position based. Each year you stay with a school your salary increases, if you transfer you start over at entry level salary level. Gotta stop the constant transferring. There has to be limits set and penalties for transferring. There also cannot be any more damn teams in the playoffs this shite is a joke as it is. If you are 9-3 or 8-4 you have no damn business playing for a title so let’s not let that become the norm.
This post was edited on 1/27/26 at 2:33 pm
Posted on 1/27/26 at 2:40 pm to dmatt2021
quote:
The way I see it the only way to stop it is the schools agree to form their own governing body along with the NCAA. And schools set salary caps. Each year the salary increases based on performance, and certain bonuses for production which would be position based. Each year you stay with a school your salary increases, if you transfer you start over at entry level salary level. Gotta stop the constant transferring. There has to be limits set and penalties for transferring. There also cannot be any more damn teams in the playoffs this shite is a joke as it is. If you are 9-3 or 8-4 you have no damn business playing for a title so let’s not let that become the norm.
OK, so maybe we should hire you to fix it…
In addition to player salaries, I would think that the actual NIL individual player contracts, like Arch’s deals with Warby Parker glasses and RedBull, would need to remain unrestricted, in order to remain consistent with the SCOTUS NIL decision…
Posted on 1/27/26 at 2:46 pm to Old School Tex
48 % of college football fans are women.. I don't think another sport is even close
Posted on 1/27/26 at 3:03 pm to Broz1839
quote:
48 % of college football fans are women.. I don't think another sport is even close
Women’s basketball??
Posted on 1/27/26 at 3:21 pm to Globetrotter747
quote:
Ironically the less intense interest there is in the sport the closer you would get to what CFB is actually supposed to be: an extracurricular activity at an institution of higher learning played by legitimate students who are there to become doctors, lawyers, engineers, accountants, etc.
The money and win-at-all-costs attitude of fans is how you end up with a perverted sport with illiterate freaks of nature on the field who are a better fit for a penitentiary than a college campus and coaches with nine figure contracts on the sidelines who drive Ferraris to practice.
If the big money dried up, the only people who would be hurt by it are players and coaches who shouldn’t be on campus anyway. So who gives a frick? CFB doesn’t have to be a multibillion dollar entertainment leviathan to exist. It is played at many schools no one here has even heard of.
You're spot on....and I think we are not far from the academic side of the house blowing it all apart. Even at football powerhouses the money is miniscule compared to research grants and the impact a place like UGA makes on the state and national GDP....football, as big as it is, doesn't dimple the surface of the pond. At some point something is going to happen to damages the brand of a University and the academicians, many who despise the sports programs from a DNA perspective, will dismantle the AD. I am pretty certain this almost happened at Vandy not too long ago...supposedly they either eliminated or seriously considered eliminating their AD and competing basically as an intramural program. I don't know if it ever happened or not but I do remember hearing about it. Its going to eventually happen somewhere. I was on several planning commissions from 1996-2014 at UGA and there is some serious turmoil always between academics, the city and county where the university is located and the AD. At the end of the day the academic side of the house prevails when it matters because they are the source of the lions share of revenue. And it is an academic institute and that is what it was and always will be. I can't imagine how anything could be worse than what took place at Penn State but that was before the current ammo the academic side has to use against the AD.
Before someone chimes in about boosters the people who donate money because of academics at a major university donate WAY more money than AD Boosters. It ain't even close. Other than sports venues take a look at whose names are on the majority of buildings. You can build a helluva stadium for what a teaching hospital lab costs.....It'd make Jerry World and MB look like a nice high school stadium....
Posted on 1/27/26 at 3:31 pm to AwgustaDawg
quote:
You're spot on....and I think we are not far from the academic side of the house blowing it all apart.
I see your point, but pragmatically, I think running a high profile state school football program also helps keep T shirt fans happy all over the state. When much of the state is proud of, and happy with, your state school’s athletic programs, it’s easier to also protect the school’s academic programs in the state legislature.
“Bread and circuses” keeps everyone happy…. I know that this is the case in Texas…
Posted on 1/27/26 at 4:20 pm to Old School Tex
In order to make everything fair and stop the madness anything outside of the school salary would need to be separate and cannot be discussed with a player until he is signed on with a school and is already playing for them. If the player discusses NIL deals before being on campus or signing with a team then he would be in violation and suspended for a season. These kids need to be taught to be professionals. In all honesty though I don’t understand the ruling cause anyone who has a job signs on for a certain salary, I cannot use my job with the company I work for to get contracts with outside vendors and profit off of that or I’ll be fired so I really don’t understand how anyone has a leg to stand on. But for sake of the argument as long as none of this has anything to do with the player signing and all deals are discussed and put into place with actual proof of doing the work to earn the NIL money (e.g. Commercials,Jersey Signings, etc) they want to be grown professionals treat them as such. When a lot of them realize what a pain in the arse it is to do it by the books they will concentrate on football and stop worrying about extracting millions from school boosters or threatening to transfer.
Posted on 1/27/26 at 4:28 pm to Old School Tex
quote:
When much of the state is proud of, and happy with, your state school’s athletic programs, it’s easier to also protect the school’s academic programs in the state legislature.
Many years ago my dad got his master’s degree in education from West Alabama (Livingston University at the time) when he was in his mid 30s and had been in the profession a good while. Up to that point he had been primarily a football coach and AD but wanted to try being a principal.
He said the most valuable lesson he learned during the whole program was a simple remark one of his professors made. He said, “You can stop by a gas station in any town in Alabama and ask people about the local school. If the football team is winning, they will say it’s a great school. If it’s losing, they will say it ain’t worth a shite. And none of it has anything to do with what’s going on in English class.”
I think there’s a high degree of truth to that and I have thought about that quote often in dealing with matters of public perception.
The general public can only judge what they see -and it’s not what’s going on in Smith Hall. Even if the PTB at schools in the SEC hate the way things are right now, they can’t afford to stand on principle and get embarrassed every week by opponents who won’t.
Dabo and the Ole Miss tampering deal is a great example. If the Cal LB becomes an All-American and Ole Miss makes another playoff run, no one is going to care about tampering. And if Dabo has another mediocre season, no one is going to care that Ole Miss stole his LB.
Maybe there will be adjustments to the rules in the future that will make everyone happy, but for now, you better play by the rules (or lack thereof) as they are.
Posted on 1/27/26 at 4:34 pm to Mizz-SEC
quote:
Of course the ratings are up.
If you allow more schools into the tent instead of the 6-8 regurgitated nameplates there will be more interest.
Big time CFB is entering a golden age of prosperity second only to the NFL.
Some Alabama fans were telling us that Alabama would've been best for ratings and ESPN was practically crapping its pants hoping Alabama made it to the championship game.
Posted on 1/27/26 at 5:13 pm to Globetrotter747
quote:
He said the most valuable lesson he learned during the whole program was a simple remark one of his professors made. He said, “You can stop by a gas station in any town in Alabama and ask people about the local school. If the football team is winning, they will say it’s a great school. If it’s losing, they will say it ain’t worth a shite. And none of it has anything to do with what’s going on in English class.”
State pride and having a good state football team is a big deal…
And some of the folks who did not have the opportunity to attend the local state university, may have a smart child or grandchild attend one day…
Posted on 1/28/26 at 5:34 am to Old School Tex
quote:
I see your point, but pragmatically, I think running a high profile state school football program also helps keep T shirt fans happy all over the state. When much of the state is proud of, and happy with, your state school’s athletic programs, it’s easier to also protect the school’s academic programs in the state legislature.
“Bread and circuses” keeps everyone happy…. I know that this is the case in Texas…
Spot on. This is why athletic departments exist in their current form. They are HUGE marketing departments for the university brand. Barring some catastrophic scandal the academic side is happy as a pig in slop too allow the face of the University, in the mind of the general public, to be the AD. It absolutely reaches far beyond alumni base....sidewalk fans, was we are called, are the majority of supporters....in raw numbers, not in dollars obviously. Those numbers hold a lot of sway in the state capital....and having a large segment of the state toting the water for the university is a fantastic idea. That said as the money increases the odds of that catastrophic scandal hitting increase....money makes people lose their grip on right and wrong. The academic side of every university has a sizeable number of detractors...for a myriad of reasons, some not completely unfounded. Given enough ammo those people will reign in the AD. Again, given the Penn State debacle a few years ago its unimaginable what that scandal could be but no one knows where society will go. Given the nature of the gambling scandal in the NBA and the unlikely scenario where it is contained to the NBA I wouldn't be surprised if that did not turn into a major scandal across the NCAA. The expansion of sports gambling is certainly fraught with risk for scandal on a grand scale. The lack of a central body regulating the actions of ADs and boosters is also a very dangerous situation for the brand of a university...and I would be hard pressed to be convinced the academic side of those institutions have not increased their volume on campus over their concerns with the AD. They drive the revenue....and money talks.
Posted on 1/28/26 at 9:36 am to SECSolomonGrundy
quote:
Ratings might be up, but "the love of the game" is way way down.
I hate it what its become and now NCAA approved sponsor logos/badges on school uniforms is even worse. Soon it will be like Nascar and simply down to who has money and who doesnt.
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