Everyone reply to that tweet with a pledge for absurd amounts of money.
Monocle.jpeg
I've got a hundred billion or so burning a hole in my pocket.
April 29th, 2020 at 10:12 PM ^
Why are my Amazon Prime deliveries always late, Jeff?
April 29th, 2020 at 11:26 PM ^
Send some my way
April 29th, 2020 at 11:28 PM ^
Dr. Evil might want some of that.
A lot of rules will have to come after, when we find out what can be exploited unfairly.
I'd try to find a way to keep shoe companies from just deciding everything, though I'm not sure exactly what structures one can put in place to prevent it.
I don't think it's wise to put too many rules up too early, though, because that can wind up skewing things. A "wild west" sounds crazy, but some of that stuff will work itself out.
I was also contemplating how the experience would be different for a Trevor Lawrence type vs a Khaleke Hudson type. Obviously your Heisman candidates will be scrooge mcducking it during their last year on campus, but as far as recruiting goes, do your wealthy alumni business owners just front load a butt ton of money to these kids as freshmen?
What if a kid decides they're content with that lump sum and all of a sudden come down with chronic back spasms the next two years before they decide to take their shot at the league? Lots of wrinkles to be sorted out methinks.
Edit:Not trying to indict khaleke here because he's obviously been healthy, I just don't see a ton of commercials or appearances in the cards for the role players on a team as opposed to the household names.
I’m sure nfl organizations will be clamoring for the opportunity to draft a kid who hasn’t played in two years due to “chronic” back spasms.
Give any kid a huge lump sum and then nothing more and he'll just transfer for another big payday if he's good enough.
Agents are going to be representing players. Good ones will have clients from lots of the big time programs. They'll be fielding offers and will have a good sense of what players can get at various schools. Expect more transfers.
There's a misconception that players on the take now are making huuuuuge money. It's not. For top guys we're still talking low six figures, and that includes things like paying the rent on parents houses (that's what got Ole Miss in trouble, remember).
So a guy like Khaleke Hudson can probably make some money using social media influence stuff, autograph signings, maybe a low-key endorsement deal. But he's not going to be a multi-millionaire. Whether guys get big up-front packages to go to certain schools remains to be seen.
Low 6 figures isn't huge money vs nothing????
I wouldn't have the faintest idea what to do with 100k at age 18. But I also didn't come up in poverty.
Yeah, like, if $100K isn't huge money to anyone I'll come mow your lawn (it's legal again) or whatever for a cool six figures.
Too bad that moneybags guy got his account banned. I'd love to hear his take right now.
I think my wife could spend $100k in about 4 hours.
April 29th, 2020 at 10:32 PM ^
With no need to hide the cash guys will find it easy to spend that on cars and other "necessities." If a guy wants to buy a house, $100K won't get you a lot.
April 29th, 2020 at 10:35 PM ^
Also, role players can teach camps and get endorsements back in their towns.
Stuff like that.
Yeah I'm honestly not sure what's stopping kids from taking a bunch of money then transferring
I honestly wouldn't be surprised if we saw the rise of organizations, either tied to the school directly or just on the periphery, that handle the allocation of this money in some way. Like, I'm sure there are rich alumni everywhere who care about sports but how many of them really know/care about the depth chart at a school and how "good" a bunch of HS kids are? Cesar Ruiz was UM's only 1st-round draft choice and was a top recruit out of HS but at no point do I think booster-types would think he's worth much money, while some hot-shot QB/RB/WR is likely to garner more immediate dividends even if he winds up being generally unremarkable. So I could see some massaging of the rules over time that allow places to say "give us your money and we'll allocate as we see fit" and that being a bit easier than having 5% of your team get 75% of the money.
I do think that role players get deals; here in MA Sony Michel gets Pepsi ads and he's not necessarily someone who jumps out nationally (or even locally). So places that want to get a piece of UM athletics might not be super-choosey.
April 30th, 2020 at 10:03 AM ^
Let's create an mgoblog syndicate that pays out top recruits
Easy, athletes should have the exact same NIL rates as every other student at the university. If John Smith in the engineering school is allowed to be in a commercial, be a spokesman or have a blog - then athletes should have the same rights.
I hear that, but no booster invites John Smith to mow his lawn for 10K.
Do you think it should be full free-for-all, or more of a: if Nike/Zingermann's/Joe's cars will pay you for a commercial, that's fine.
Same thing: all signatures on memorabilia a going rate of, say $15, or a one time signature on a booster jersey for 10K?
Here are the things I would try to control:
No in game advertising. Kids can't lift up their jersey to show Bangbros.com after a TD, they can't put an Arby's logo on their helmet, they can't wear their own equipment, they can't do publicity stunts on the sidelines etc.
Somehow control backdoor payments from a school to a company. How do you prevent UM from saying we'll wear Nike gear for free now with a wink and a nod that now Nike can offer bigger endorsement deals to our players to wear our shoes. The same could be said for any partnership. We could allow Kraft to put a big noodle in the stadium and suddenly $1M is transferred to XYZ holding which hands out endorsement deals. As I say this, I'm not sure if I care to stop this behavior. I started this thinking it was a good idea based on the original ground rules that schools can't pay but this might be too big/difficult to stop.
Managers/agents. Kids are going to get scammed by shady people. NCAA should create a pool of controlled agents/managers that oversee every transaction. This is to protect the kid, not to prevent him from getting paid. Each agent would be an employee of the NCAA. Schools may have to contribute to their salaries.
Here is what I wouldn't regulate: people willing to give kids money to go to a preferred school or for being good at their sport. If Stephen M Ross wants to buy a 16 year old's NIL rights for $50M up front, great. Bob's cars wants to offer $10k per autograph per touchdown, interception, sack, etc. Whatever. MgoBlog wants to start a fund to host player AMAs, cool. On a side note, how easy would this be to manipulate for money laundering? I should stop watching Ozark.
April 30th, 2020 at 10:05 AM ^
As I say this, I'm not sure if I care to stop this behavior. I started this thinking it was a good idea based on the original ground rules that schools can't pay but this might be too big/difficult to stop.
Exactly. Shit like that happens now anyway. Having unenforceable rules is stupid.
April 30th, 2020 at 11:42 AM ^
Yeah, i'm truly torn here. Some of this behavior becomes illegal not just shady. NCAA will have to force schools to a certain transparency standard and actually penalize violations. Their rules are now in line with laws so they don't even have to investigate, just blast any school caught in corruption, bribery, extortion, etc. Instant death penalty.
April 30th, 2020 at 11:10 AM ^
I mostly agree with your points, but no way the agents should be NCAA employees. Their job will be to work in their client's interest, not the NCAA's, and the players should have access to the best agents they can hire. A certification program like the NBPA has makes sense.
Also, I see big problems with paying players per TD or something similar. A QB looking for an open receiver in the redzone or deciding whether to pull the ball and run shouldn't be thinking about who gets what. Nor should his teammates.
April 30th, 2020 at 11:32 AM ^
I see a balance. In the pros an agent has to be certified, i'm picturing a model like that but with more an eye towards making sure a 16 year doesn't do something dumb. Maybe it's 1 dedicated employee per school (but still reporting to NCAA, not the school) that reviews all deals. I do see a need for the NCAA to play a bigger role than with the NFL. The NFL is much more organized with contracts, agents and tampering rules. NCAA has to do something to control it. Kids could still have their own managers and wouldn't pay a fee to the NCAA employee in my scenario.
I agree with your second point that players shouldn't be thinking about who gets paid while making a play but that's something a coach will have to figure out. It will happen naturally (good WRs score TDs and will get more money) so how can you control it? If it's a problem, the coach can convince the booster to stop doing it. At the end of the day, boosters and coaches only want to win so they'll work this out.
I'll throw out another complication: what if someone pays NIL money to get a player from a rival to sit out or tank? Trevor Lawrence could have made $10 million to tank the national championship. How do you stop organized gamblers from doing something similar?
I LOVE THIS!!!! I don't think folks have any idea how big this decision could be for Michigan. Very few schools can compete with our alumni network - and the ones that do generally don't care much about sports anymore (Ivy League, Stanford, Cal, UCLA).
Michigan, UNC, Duke, Virginia, USC, Ohio State, Sparty, Florida, etc... are in prime position based on large and wealthy alumni networds and schools that want to win on the biggest stages.
Michigan top 5 alums are wealthier than the entire population of Alabama and Clemson alumni / fans put together. Ken Dart, Larry Page, Stephen Ross and Sam Zell may have more money between them the entire states of Alabama and South Carolina combined (which is actually very sad - but no politics)
Phil Knight says he has a shoe endorsement deal you can't touch and Oregon is about to blow this shit up...good luck with all your blog bravado cash....
Come on buddy. Let these guys pretend their gofundme schemes are going to change the face of college football recruiting.
I could get down with us and Oregon being the new top dogs on the block
Except he already has a MUCH bigger deal with dozens of the universities. I imagine if forced to choose, he would prefer to maintain those very lucrative engagements than potentially disrupt them by influencing the recruiting game.
Oh, I imagine that here is no way that people obligated to don the Jumpman logo on Saturdays are going to be contractually allowed to sport UnderArmor on the other days for personal revenue.
This is so ridiculous- there is a big difference between Phil Knight and Nike.
We already saw Nike in action on the basketball “recruiting” front during the FBI trial and they didn’t give any particular reverence to Oregon. Nike is going to pay kids to go to the premier Nike and Jordan schools. This is one of the few areas in this sector that we have a precedent for.
That being said, Oregon, Notre Dame and Maryland would all be schools that stand to benefit as well as the schools on my initial list.
If Phil wants to restrict Nike to Oregon...have fun with that Phil. You just let Adidas, UA, etc. in on huge market shares. You can only send so many kids to play Oregon basketball every year and sign so many football recruits every year. Meanwhile, the other companies are raking in the schools. Give it several years and those companies are getting tons of exposure with still several top athletes wearing those other company shoes at over 100 schools...and Phil has 1. Jordan sees this, breaks off, and starts his own company free from Nike and rakes it in even more. Soon Phil sees his empire crumbling to what it once was, name recognition is recognized as a has been. I doubt Phil is that crazy.
Awesome that they're getting out on this right away
until they realize handing over real endorsement cash isn't the same as trying to keep up with the dirty game that's been going on since the 90s with the 'top' football factories. Ya'll are completely delusional.
They should be screaming about the largest alumni base in the world and its strength in major media markets across the country!!!
This is how we level the playing field with OSU. Might take a couple of years, but if done right, no one can compete with our connections.
This whole thing is nice but you might want to tame your expectations
The usual suspects OSU Alabama Clemson will still be offering bags on top of endorsements. UM will still be a rung below unless they realize it will now be incredibly easy to pay recruits without being caught
Ed Martin says hello.
Michigan isn't gonna become some super team filled with five stars from the get go. Sorry but I don't see us being that kind.
Time to cash in on that MA Pipeline now!
I hear 2 Star Fuel Oil Co is looking for some spokesmen.
Gattis is a real asset. I understand the Harbaugh criticism but you can't deny he has a great eye for coaching talent.
April 29th, 2020 at 11:30 PM ^
I think Gattis should be the next head coach.
Excellent (to be read in the voice of Mr. Burns).
Well hot diggity dog! Let's see if this can help with recruiting.
Is there anything stopping a school from having a player’s four year (strictly covering their time in college) likeness and image rights purchased by a rich alumnus? There’s your “legal” bagman loophole right there, let’s gooooo!
Is there any potential negative consequences for that athlete should he transfer and should that booster be a mean dickbag? I feel like there is potential for shenanigans.