NCAA Allowing Athletes to Receive Compensation
Reported by Shams Charania this morning, an NBA insider for the Athletic, the NCAA is expected to allow athletes to receive compensation for third-party endorsements. How will this affect the NCAA? How will it affect Michigan? Hopefully we can start firing the money cannon and get some five stars in here
April 29th, 2020 at 10:10 AM ^
First thing is first, we want our video game back.
April 29th, 2020 at 10:42 AM ^
Unfortunately, it looks far from a given. Big East commissioner Val Ackerman & co-chair of NCAA's working group for name, image and likeness, said the working group determined that group licenses for video games are “unworkable in college sports" because of a lack of a union to negotiate the fees and how to distribute them.
April 29th, 2020 at 10:44 AM ^
Sounds like Val Ackerman just founded a players’ union
April 29th, 2020 at 10:49 AM ^
Anything it takes! NCAA 14 is one of two games I play and is the only reason I never upgraded from a 360. It's still good but the lack of a playoff, amongst other things, is a bit of a killer. Still such a good game but an updated version is really needed.
April 29th, 2020 at 12:32 PM ^
Agreed! Still literally the only game I play, and the reason I never upgraded from a 360 as well. I would be very tempted to upgrade if a new NCAA game came out.
NCAA 14 is fantastic, but there are still several flaws. After several years of playing, I'm done with having middle linebackers stop on a dime to leap 15 feet in the air to make a miraculous over-the-shoulder interception without ever turning around to even see (let alone even know) the ball is coming in his direction. :P
April 29th, 2020 at 11:43 AM ^
Can they just not use likenesses and randomize teams? All I want is the teams, stadiums, fight songs, etc. I play a million seasons, after one or two, most of the real guys are gone anyway.
April 29th, 2020 at 12:03 PM ^
It seems like an easy workaround would be to randomize teams and allow customization and roster sharing.
April 29th, 2020 at 12:08 PM ^
This right here! The best part of the game, to me, is always when the real players are all gone and you're playing fully with guys you recruited. Always seemed like such an easy work around from where I sit, just don't use the actual players.
Make it truly random; not like how it was where the guys had a different name but their number, height, weight, hometown etc all lined exactly up to a real college player.
Actually I believe it is because the athletes will not be able to use their school name, uniform or anything else that associates them with the university.
April 29th, 2020 at 10:54 AM ^
Damn millennials and their vidya games.
April 29th, 2020 at 11:01 AM ^
Too much vidya games now leads to diabeetus later.
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April 29th, 2020 at 10:10 AM ^
Good. It’s about time. But I expect there will be regulations on how much an athlete can earn. There’s no way for it to become a free for all and just let the richest schools prosper
April 29th, 2020 at 10:20 AM ^
But then if there's "regulations" on how much athletes can earn, then we're kinda right back at square one in regards to cheating. Some schools will break those regulations and give more money under the table to attract better players
April 29th, 2020 at 10:26 AM ^
Do you seriously think that the NCAA is capable of creating a fair and incentive compatible (e.g., where cheating doesn't make you better off) system?
You could have just stopped at the word capable and thanswer would have been a universal no
April 29th, 2020 at 12:20 PM ^
There probably will be. But it would still be an improvement over the current situation. If athletes can make up to say, $50K, that eliminates the awful stories of guys needing help to fly their family in to a game.
There will be new and more awful stories. $50K just becomes the new floor that quickly becomes "not enough". Who on this board does not think they're worth more than their current earnings? An NCAA that begins to open up 3rd party payments may cease to be the quality of college sport that make it our preference to Pro.
There was wisdom behind the University of Chicago's departure from D1 nearly 80 years ago. Let's not confuse amateurism with that of professionalism. The better solution to all of this is to allow 18 year olds direct admission to the professional ranks. And the NFL (the wealthiest of all sports leagues) needs to become as modern as the other sports, if only to create their version of the new G-league.
I don't know about that. There are a lot of people who don't make $50K. That's very different than being allowed to earn no money at all.
Earning a below-market-but-livable salary happens to newcomers in a lot of fields. I can sympathize now with college athletes, but I'd have a lot less for someone crying poverty over that.
April 29th, 2020 at 10:20 AM ^
I think a free for all is exactly what is needed. You’d still have shady deals going on otherwise to get around the maximum limit. About time Michigan was in a competitive advantage.
April 29th, 2020 at 10:30 AM ^
Depends on what that max limit is. If it's 5k, then yeah it won't mean anything other than the first 5k is above board and everything else is the same. If it's into six figure range, then we're likely OK. There aren't many players where a booster will shell out much more than 100k to get. Players (and their families) will break rules to get 100k. They won't break rules to get 120k instead of 100k in most instances.
April 29th, 2020 at 10:31 AM ^
Depends on what that max limit is. If it's 5k, then yeah it won't mean anything other than the first 5k is above board and everything else is the same. If it's into six figure range, then we're likely OK. There aren't many players where a booster will shell out much more than 100k to get. Players (and their families) will break rules to get 100k. They won't break rules to get 120k instead of 100k in most instances.
April 29th, 2020 at 10:44 AM ^
I've read the NCAA report. I've seen no mention of limiting how much athletes can earn, not even as one possible option.
The restrictions are on who can pay them. Schools and conferences can not. And what athletes can be paid for.
Payments for being on a team or for performance, no. Legitimate endorsements, yes. Endorsing tobacco. alcohol, gambling sites, probably not.
April 29th, 2020 at 10:11 AM ^
How will this affect the NCAA? How will it affect Michigan? Hopefully we can start firing the money cannon and get some five stars in here
Not as positively as some people would like to think.
April 29th, 2020 at 10:19 AM ^
Oh but we have so many bloggers ready to launch so much money we will win national titles til 2030...the elite six just had the door open for legal cash payment...NCAA football will die.
*consider the group is chaired by OSU prez Drake, and Gene $mith is on the same committee...what could POSSIBLY go wrong for us?
April 29th, 2020 at 11:24 AM ^
Think bigger: hi I'm a fan of mich and I just setup this GoFundMe so we get the #1 QB recruit.
April 29th, 2020 at 11:40 AM ^
why would any QB recruit come to Michigan? They will just sit the bench behind the next portal transfer... hate to say it, MONEY isn't going to fix it...and unless you have a million dollar gofundme you aren't touching elite talent. Many people are so out of touch with how much was flowing behind the scenes.
April 29th, 2020 at 11:46 AM ^
I assume the guy was joking. Whatever Michigan is willing and able to do, somewhere else is also willing to do that plus break the rules.
April 29th, 2020 at 12:13 PM ^
You realize we have a 5* QB committed for 2021, right?
April 29th, 2020 at 10:13 AM ^
Hi, this is Dylan McCaffrey here to talk to you about Remdesivir, the official coronavirus medication of Michigan Football.
April 29th, 2020 at 10:35 AM ^
While this is amusing to think about, my understanding is that the type of ad you’re talking about would not be allowed. They could go advertise for remdesivir but wouldn’t be allowed to say anything about Michigan or wear any Michigan swag in the ad. Now, he could probably get away with wearing maize and blue in some fashion without specifically denoting Michigan.
Is that not correct, or did I read the proposal wrong?
April 29th, 2020 at 10:53 AM ^
No idea, I just thought it was funny.
April 29th, 2020 at 10:57 AM ^
100% agree. I found it funny. I Simply saw an opportunity to discuss the possibility of such a thing.
April 29th, 2020 at 10:16 AM ^
Expected to allow, of course. There is no alternative with other state legislatures following California to force it. Their recommendation is for it start with the 2021-22 academic year.
Here's the full text of the NCAA board of governors report.
https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/committees/ncaa/wrkgrps/fslwg/Apr2020FSLWG_Report.pdf
April 29th, 2020 at 10:17 AM ^
One would hope that this would give us a huge recruiting advantage, but somehow I know that's just not gonna happen. Hopefully this can help us even the recruiting playing field a bit with some other big schools.
One thing I'm worried about is that some schools are 100% going to pitch business and money making opportunities to players, while I feel like Harbaugh won't do that for whatever reason and will stick with his regular spiel
April 29th, 2020 at 11:20 AM ^
Here's a good example. Drew Rosenhaus reps Uche and basically a huge contingent of kids from Miami. So let's say he has 10 top Miami HS kids he's repping. Don't you think he's going to go around to each school like NFL free agency and see what school is offering the most? He gets a cut of it, so you know that he's going to influence a player's decision. At least now when a player gets paid to go to school it's only him/his family receiving cash and not a 3rd party.
April 29th, 2020 at 10:19 AM ^
Is Shams really the reporters given name or is it a nickname?
this is fucking incredible even if it’s long overdue. I doubt this will help with the G-League issue. But great nonetheless.
I wonder how it affect college apparel sponsorship. Will it be a situation like the nfl or nba in the late 90’s where uniform companies sponsor individual teams, but players wear the shoes for their individual sponsors. Or will it be like the MLL where players are/were required to wear to wear the shoes of the league sponsor regardless of their individual shoe/ equipment sponsorships.
most importantly, EA NCAA football is finally able to return!
April 29th, 2020 at 10:23 AM ^
The apparel answer seems easy. The shoe companies will steer players to their schools, either out of HS or through transfers.
April 29th, 2020 at 10:35 AM ^
That's a great point regarding transfers. With the potential of one free transfer year, I can see schools/businesses trying to poach kids based on a sponsorship deal. This is like every kid getting a year of free agency...lol.
April 29th, 2020 at 10:36 AM ^
Right. I get that. But, what if a player chooses a different one. Highest bidder, preference, or something else. Would there be something to prohibit a player from choosing a different company. My guess is that it can’t be explicitly part of an an agreement with the school. It would have to be independent because that would pierce the third party veil.
April 29th, 2020 at 10:50 AM ^
Right, the schools could not prohibit a player being endorsed by a different company. But it's hard to imagine that those companies wouldn't pay more if the player could wear their products in competition. The inducements to fit the player to the right school would be strong. They've already been pushing players to certain schools when it's against the rules.
I believe the way the proposal is written a player cannot accept endorsements that conflict with deals the school has. A player can’t get sponsored by Adidas and wear that label if it conflicts with a Nike deal the school has.
April 29th, 2020 at 10:39 AM ^
But, to your point, the disguised inducements don’t mean a damn thing. If the ncaa wasn’t able to punish chapel hill, there’s no way they’ll be able to enforce that rule
April 29th, 2020 at 10:47 AM ^
EA NCAA games have to figure out how to negotiate with college athletes en masse and that’s not nothing. They’ll get there but that’s not a switch you can just flip
Will be interesting to monitor that. The eventual framework for broad NIL rights that EA or others need could lead to initial organization among college athletes for future negotiations or even input on things like rules changes.
April 29th, 2020 at 11:39 AM ^
My guess is that it would work in the same way as the nflpa license w Madden. Obviously everyone’s cut would be smaller. Maybe conferences and/ or teams sign their own agreements. This would be similar to TV deals. If so, players would get their cuts accordingly while allowing the market to dictate value. I doubt the B1G would be down for getting the same cut as the Sun Belt. Obviously teams and conferences could turn it down. But, that would hurt their brand and exposure
April 29th, 2020 at 11:45 AM ^
I think compensation ends up working roughly the same way but will take a minute given there's no negotiating body on the athletes' side right now to cut a mass NIL deal.
Once you have that Player's Association equivalent for athletes things will get real interesting.
April 29th, 2020 at 11:00 AM ^
I think it’s missing a comma.
Not to state the obvious, but Shams is the nickname for the NCAA.
April 29th, 2020 at 11:58 AM ^
Interesting you mentioned the G League. It is now a real alternative to college and they are willing to pay good money to top talent. So a lot of one and done talent will go there. The recruiting emphasis will shift to players who might actually stay for 2+ years.
April 29th, 2020 at 12:37 PM ^
In regards to his name, I don't know the guy but shams means sun in Arabic so I wouldn't be surprised if that's his actual name.