MSU football news: I'm not entirely sure what this means but it sounds bad
I guess this is why you don't let message boards run your athletic department
September 30th, 2023 at 10:48 AM ^
I remember reading about the deal the HS QB signed to go to Florida. The money was outrageous, but the deal could be cancelled at any time. It was and the QB is at ASU.
September 30th, 2023 at 8:11 AM ^
Welp, they’re 4 games in, and idk what eligibility/redshirt rules change when your coach is fired, but you’d have to imagine if there’s going to be an exodus, it’s now.
September 30th, 2023 at 8:36 AM ^
Probably a lot of anxious kids having a lot of worried conversations with parents and legal advisors this morning. Cannot be a pleasant way to start the day for Coach. . . (checks notes) Barnett.
September 30th, 2023 at 9:24 AM ^
A moment of silence perhaps?
September 30th, 2023 at 10:04 AM ^
But nobody raised their hand when he asked if they wanted to stay or transfer.
September 30th, 2023 at 10:07 AM ^
The tunnel incident. That pushed it over the edge for me. I’d rather we not play them as a protected rival, fuck ‘em’. That game is far more important to them than it is to us. I’m not buying that game is too big of a financial windfall to cancel the yearly series. Michigan Stadium sells out every game regardless of the opponent. I’d be quite happy playing them once every 4 years or whatever it is.
September 30th, 2023 at 11:26 AM ^
i would be in favor of telling them to pound sand. it would be a definitive statement that they are beneath us. i don't think we have sent anywhere near enough of a message to sparty about that incident. would love to see that happen next month in EL on the field (legally), but they need to be shamed and embarrassed for that gutless tunnel-gangster behavior.
September 30th, 2023 at 3:57 PM ^
Right there with you, I would prefer we not play them every year.
September 30th, 2023 at 9:40 PM ^
How about Cinci joins the B1G and MSU goes to the MAC? Then OSU can have a century with a an in-state rival to recruit against.
September 30th, 2023 at 10:51 AM ^
Starting to feel like Tucker was actually a plant to bring the program down. They are not far from the Death Penalty that SMU suffered in the 80’s. And all for the bargain price of 95 million minus whatever they can recover.
September 30th, 2023 at 4:57 AM ^
SD4L... Spartan Despair 4 Life.
September 29th, 2023 at 11:40 PM ^
Great way to start the weekend
September 29th, 2023 at 11:40 PM ^
SD4L HAS to mean “Spartan Dawgs 4 Lyfe”, right?
I mean… it’s not a GOOD thing that a mega donor clearly is feeling some kinda way about the team these days and is fucking all the football players out of their NIL deals…
If I’m a football player who still has the possibility of a redshirt, I’m not playing again this year. If I’m a football player who just lost a significant amount of money…I’m calling Tom Mars.
This might end up being the most Sparty NO thing ever. I did NOT have “the biggest Sparty NO moment happens off the field involving someone who isn’t even on the team” on my BINGO card. Jesus.
September 30th, 2023 at 8:23 AM ^
Is it possible the SD4L NIL sponsor is making this move to benefit the players or as a response to their own requests to be released from their contracts? Making it possible for any to sit out and retain eligibility might actually be a gift to players. We also wouldn't know if any payments were being continued outside of the contract for any that stay, etc., but as a blanket move it could be a way to let any player make choices for their future free of any NIL commitments.
Caveat: I know nothing about the actual NIL deals, contracts or player desires.
Late edit: I should have scrolled down to see Leaders and Best's post with SD4L's lame cop-out message. Sounds way worse than I was willing to guess above.
September 29th, 2023 at 11:42 PM ^
In his defense, he didn't know what the 4L stood for.
September 30th, 2023 at 12:44 AM ^
He's used to more than 4 Ls.
September 30th, 2023 at 9:22 AM ^
I think 4 Ls is meant to be aspirational.
September 30th, 2023 at 9:28 AM ^
4 Lokos
Back in the day, the official Saturday morning beverage of Spartan Dawgs everywhere.
September 29th, 2023 at 11:45 PM ^
Their official statement. 100 subscriptions!!! I am dying of laughter right now. What a shitshow of a program, and the timing couldn't be even better.
https://twitter.com/thesd4lbrand/status/1707961462688296963?s=46&t=TL6IZ4AxW6w2vS21HL5AOQ
September 29th, 2023 at 11:54 PM ^
Steve St. Andre is reportedly worth $6.7 billion. Billion with a B.
This guy could buy and sell an entire football team’s worth of 5-star mercenaries from now until forever and still call it a rounding error on his annual budget. The total cost of his NIL business per year is definitely less than it takes to maintain the smallest of his private jets, and is PROBABLY less than he spends on wine, golf club membership fees, and the fresh flowers he has flown in every day from Argentina for his ski mansion in Colorado.
This isn’t a business failure. This is a middle finger from Mr. St. Andre to someone.
September 30th, 2023 at 12:06 AM ^
Players who have decided to sit out the season. Who else could be hurt by this than the players?
September 30th, 2023 at 12:28 AM ^
Don't know the guy, never will, don't know anyone who knows him so - cups of salt with my following speculation(s).
People can have huge personal Balance Sheets with illiquid long term assets that produce no income: artworks, private (non-revenue real estate), hedge fund stakes with gains locked in to/by the General Partner for the forseeable future. The liquid, short term component, the income producing component ‐ can be small.
That is. Some billionaires have relatively low incomes
NIL agreements require cash flow from personal and/or business interests. This guy is probably, in this crap economy, hurting (hurting? yes, I know, but it's all relative) and he might be struggling to fund the cash payouts committed in the NIL deals. So, he's either got to find partners to join him in cash payout commitments or reduce the number of or size of his committed payouts. He's not finding partners, his income stream is diminishing, hence the cutback(s).
The losers here are the kids. Yep, sometimes life bites your ass, Sparty. C'est la vie.
September 30th, 2023 at 8:29 AM ^
"This crap economy" that produced his $7bn+ fortune.
Also, a billionaire with actual cashflow "struggles" only exists in the context of score-keeping with other billionaires. He has plenty of cash and it's always available for something as paltry as NIL deals for his alma mater.
September 30th, 2023 at 8:52 AM ^
I’ll forgo my usual rant that I pull out whenever someone says the economy is bad right now. It’s just important for you to know that you’re wrong. The economy isn’t crap. Especially if you’re a billionaire.
The economy is NEVER crap if you’re a billionaire: there’s only “times where assets are expensive” and “times where assets are cheap”
September 30th, 2023 at 9:48 AM ^
The economy is crap, and you’re also right.
September 30th, 2023 at 9:56 AM ^
Not trying to get political, but under normal definitions - unemployment (3.8%), inflation (3.67%), and GDP growth (2.1%) - you are wrong.
September 30th, 2023 at 11:53 AM ^
Those are facts. Zealots never let facts trump their beliefs.
On topic, this seems like a blackmail play to try to get more people to pony up money.
September 30th, 2023 at 1:22 PM ^
None of that is political and it’s wild to even think it possibly is. That inflation number is a perfect example of how one can make data say literally whatever you want it to. Let’s take a longer time lens on inflation and then come back. Truly, if you think that what inflation has actually done over the last several years, let alone the last three decades, is indicative of a health economy, I really don’t know what to say to that.
September 30th, 2023 at 2:30 PM ^
Discussions of economics often lead to discussions of politics. Hence, my original disclaimer.
Inflation spiked because of a couple shocks to the system - government spending to prevent a covid induced recession and Putin’s invasion of Ukraine that disrupted energy and food supplies. I was born in 1970. I experienced stagflation. My dad worked for state government in the 80s when the recession hammered the big 3, leading to massive reductions in state tax revenue and the laying off of 10,000 state employees. I graduated from UofM in 1992 during the first Bush recession. I went to grad school because there was not a good job to be had. I’ve lived through crappy economies. This is not one of them.
September 30th, 2023 at 10:33 AM ^
And "times when money is expensive and times when money is relatively free".
If I can generate a steady 14 percent return on borrowed funds, I'm fine when borrowing costs 6 to 7 percent, not fine when it costs 12+/- percent. Expensive money reduces my margins for error; my profit margins can shrink hard, especially with inflationary wage pressures added in.
For bill- and millionaires, the economy can be crap while life continues to be quite comfy/cushy. Zero arguments about that. The difference comes in how they choose to spend (or refrain from spending) their free (read excess) cash flow.
Does paying a kid for the use of his NIL generate an incremental increase to "my" personal balance sheet? Does it advance my business interests. Yes? Then I'll continue to pay. But. If paying the kid does little to nothing for my interests, now or in the near future? Then I will probably reduce my commitments.
Yep, it's good, very good, to be a mill/billionaire, no doubt. I am just speculating what might be causing the Sparty to back away from his prior spending plans.
And. Thanks much for not blasting/ranting. It helps the conversation stay ad rem, not ad hominem. I genuinely appreciate it.
September 30th, 2023 at 10:06 AM ^
More like c’est la guerre
September 30th, 2023 at 7:08 AM ^
$1B sitting in a money market today will get you $50M in fuck around money. That's about $1M per week.
September 30th, 2023 at 8:27 AM ^
Fun fact.
If you spent $1000 a day, every single day, since year zero. So every day for 2023 years.
You still would not have spent a billion dollars.
September 30th, 2023 at 9:09 AM ^
Where did this guy get that kind of fortune? I only know of him through Shift Digital. And while it’s a very successful digital marketing agency, I have a hard time believing it’s THAT successful.
September 29th, 2023 at 11:56 PM ^
those pizza hut delivery tips only go so far. what do they expect, garlic butter and cheese sticks !?!?
September 30th, 2023 at 7:56 AM ^
You know what really gets me about this? Steve St. Andre could fund this without even breaking a sweat, and here they are, at under 100 subscriptions for something that they spent what seems like forever trying to even get started.
September 29th, 2023 at 11:50 PM ^
For those who are unaware, St. Andre is the other mega donor who along with Matt Ishbia funded about 1/3 of Mel's contract. He's got plenty of cash so this isn't about funding as the message implies.
September 29th, 2023 at 11:51 PM ^
I don't know what it means, but none of it is good. Imagine trying to recruit against another school with this out there. I don't know why anyone would want to put this out there. Better off eating the loss on the existing NIL deals. Even if the donor wallets end up opening up after a new hire, what recruit is going to trust MSU and their NIL operation to keep their word?
September 30th, 2023 at 3:44 AM ^
And imagine trying to recruit a new coach with this out there!
September 30th, 2023 at 8:05 AM ^
Sparty fans seem to think that Urban is coming to their rescue, that seems pretty unlikely.
September 30th, 2023 at 6:36 AM ^
There will be some. People are dumb.
September 30th, 2023 at 6:48 AM ^
It goes beyond MSU to reveal a huge problem with NIL: Deals collapsing and players stepping away could have up and downstream consequences. You go into recession, several entities withdraw and games are getting cancelled?
September 30th, 2023 at 12:27 AM ^
who along with Matt Ishbia funded about 1/3 of Mel's contract.
The FOIA document showed that they simply pledged to donate a total of $24M to MSU over 10 years. That money wasn't specifically earmarked for the Tucker contract. If MSU has to settle with Tucker, those two aren't obligated to pay any of the settlement.
September 30th, 2023 at 9:49 AM ^
No, this is simple. It’s about believing the guy he believed in getting done raw by MSU.
September 29th, 2023 at 11:59 PM ^
Might be time for Izzo to cry in a press conference.
September 30th, 2023 at 12:14 AM ^
Edit: Have to add, I love the title of this post by EYB. "Not sure - but this seems bad for those already fucked Sparties." LMAO!
September 30th, 2023 at 12:15 AM ^
What a rotten thing to do to players.
September 30th, 2023 at 12:20 AM ^
lol he has an MBA from Ross, what is he doing supporting that shit show?
