OT: Charlie Batch straight offering $1M for Caleb Williams to EMU
"But you can't straight out offer NIL money to induce players to your school!!! RULES!"
The wild wild west is going to be fun. I don't know if Charlie has any association with EMU other than alumni. p.s. TJ Lang of Packers and Lions (and EMU) is backing this up as well.
Unless rules change if a player is a wildly successful freshman or RS freshman many will immediately hit the portal and sell themselves to the highest bidder. There is no salary cap and a lot of hungry investors.
What if ABC team had a billionaire with F*** you money (i.e $50M a year is chump change) who through back channels let CJ Stroud know $8M is the price if they want to move on over. Free markets are fun. It's happening... just not through the churches in South Carolina anymore.
January 5th, 2022 at 10:33 PM ^
It’s like Thunderdome in here… Anything goes!
January 5th, 2022 at 11:53 PM ^
Two NILs enter! One NIL leaves!
January 6th, 2022 at 8:37 AM ^
Nah, you can actually lead with the head and target in Thunderdome, bro.
January 6th, 2022 at 11:06 AM ^
WHO RUNS BARTERTOWN???
January 6th, 2022 at 12:14 PM ^
Michael Barrett
January 6th, 2022 at 2:20 PM ^
And you? How many transfers does that make for you today? Like, 8 transfers?
February 7th, 2022 at 11:20 AM ^
It's a pity. It seems to me that such actions will make college football very corrupt.
January 5th, 2022 at 10:34 PM ^
The wild wild west is going to be fun.
You think? It doesn’t sound fun to me. I don’t know what the future of college sports looks like, but I have a feeling it won’t involve college, and I have a feeling none of us are going to like the final product of this insanity. Ok, pay the players…but create some sort of a structure to preserve some semblance of college sports. And do it quickly. Some of the things that are occurring wouldn’t even be allowed in the NFL.
January 5th, 2022 at 10:43 PM ^
Part of me enjoys seeing the free market take care of these players. The other part of me fears that without some limits, college football as we knew it may be gone.
January 5th, 2022 at 11:44 PM ^
It's been gone for a long time. Bring on the money cannon.
January 6th, 2022 at 1:12 AM ^
Exhibit A: Million dollar assistant coaches.
Crazy money in college football has been a problem well before this century even started.
January 6th, 2022 at 7:31 AM ^
Yes, it has. People use $EC for a reason. (I understand that's not the only reason the SEC has been successful.)
January 6th, 2022 at 12:54 PM ^
Of course it's not the only reason, but they adapted to the new era better than the other major conferences.
January 6th, 2022 at 2:00 PM ^
Uh, I'd say it's the MAJOR reason. Sure there is more talent in the south, but if the B1G, Pac 12, ACC, etc had been flaunting the rules as much or more than the SEC a lot of these kids would follow the $$....see OSU.
January 6th, 2022 at 10:41 AM ^
Charlie Batch reminds me of the guy at an art auction who opens the bidding for $1 million on a Rembrandt that eventually goes for $50 million. I hope he's prepared to raise his hand a few more times.
January 6th, 2022 at 3:18 PM ^
I agree. I don't understand all the angst.
This sport has been all about the money for decades. If you chose to lie to yourself over the years to maintain your enjoyment and pretend it was all about the school and the team, then yeah, this might be a rude wake up call.
January 6th, 2022 at 8:47 AM ^
This may usher in two divisions of FBS: 1. An unlimited, anything goes league, where players receive market value, school is optional, unlimited transferring, etc. and 2. A capped NIL, where athletes are students, can get some money (say like $50,000 a year), and each school must abide by rules established by the member schools.
The first league would be most of the SEC schools, OSU, Clemson, etc. whose univerisities and fanbases want to win at all costs.
The second would be the Michigans, Notre Dames and Vanderbilts of the world who still beleive in the traditions of college sports.
The talent may be in the first league, but I would pick to watch the second every time.
January 6th, 2022 at 9:27 AM ^
I think your idea of a capped NIL makes a great deal of sense, but it will never happen. No big time program like Michigan is going to voluntarily consign itself to a second rung, and there's no chance whatsoever of any outside power like the NCAA mandating such an arrangement.
January 6th, 2022 at 10:13 AM ^
I don't really know what legal standing there would be to limit NIL. Based on the original ruling the lead court is leaving it to the individual states to decide how to regulate, but "capping" an individuals ability to earn on their own name, image or personal likeness, seems antithetical to the original ruling. (I could be wrong, not a lawyer) And like you say, no program is going to voluntarily hamstring themselves.
That said, are we open to capping coach's salaries? AD's salaries? Administrators? Sports department budgets?
After the crazy carousel of coaches since Thanksgivng there's now a 100m alone in buyout money this year for head coaches. Buyout money. The idea that somehow only now, and only the players are breaking college football because NIL money is now involved, feels like a pretty one-sided view.
January 6th, 2022 at 5:15 PM ^
Yeah, it seems like NCAA Football would have to get acquired by the NFL and folded into its antitrust exemption for something like that to work.
January 6th, 2022 at 11:02 AM ^
This is what happens when you fight tooth and nail for decades to preserve a corrupt, morally bankrupt business model and then lose a legal challenge to that business model at SCOTUS.
January 5th, 2022 at 10:43 PM ^
Call it the Wild West, but that's basically just another name for free-market capitalism. I like that the players are the new sheriffs in town.
January 5th, 2022 at 10:46 PM ^
And all of a sudden plenty of Americans who support and benefit from that system are not so good with it involving their beloved "college football".
January 6th, 2022 at 1:28 AM ^
Sports certainly does seem to turn a great many capitalists into full-blown socialists when their favorite sports are involved.
January 6th, 2022 at 7:45 AM ^
Sports certainly does seem to turn a great many capitalists into full-blown socialists when the sports teams they own are involved.
Think about why that is.
January 6th, 2022 at 9:36 AM ^
The wealthy love socialism and welfare when it benefits them - tax breaks and subsidies in a race to the bottom? No property taxes on developments in the promise of wide-spread economic growth that never materializes? No problem. Trillions in government contracts to defense contractors? Not an issue.
Funding for anything else that helps society as a whole? Nah.
January 6th, 2022 at 10:50 AM ^
Logged in to upvote. We have socialism for the rich and "you are on your own" for the poor. Manchin with his "work requirement" for the child tax credit/subsidy is just the latest disgusting example.
January 6th, 2022 at 11:49 AM ^
The socialists at universities don't seem to mind when mega wealthy alums or businesses donate to the school. Ford robotics building being the latest, I believe.
January 6th, 2022 at 3:10 PM ^
People shouldn't misuse the term "socialist." Owners colluding to keep their costs down is nothing like socialism at all. In fact, it's actually typical of many industries in an unregulated free market - trusts tend to eventually form.
Socialism would be the government nationalizing the teams without compensating the owners.
January 6th, 2022 at 2:21 AM ^
I hope the players all get millions. But forgive me if I stop caring. I don’t have any emotional investment in Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Samsung, the car companies or any world conglomerate. College football and basketball have been trending for years to be all about money. So let them go whole hog. It is a different day. It is finally out in the open, just one group of mercenaries competing with another group of mercenaries to see who can fleece the gullible for the most profit. I have better things to do with my limited funds than support the very talented nouveau rich.
January 6th, 2022 at 1:42 PM ^
I think it's telling that for you the straw that broke the camel's back is the "nouveau rich".
January 6th, 2022 at 10:13 PM ^
This.
January 7th, 2022 at 10:31 AM ^
I don't have emotional investments in those conglomerates because I never worked for them, but I went to Michigan and as long as there's a football team of kids who walk the Diag several times a week on their way to classes like I did, I will have an emotional attachment to that team. The fact that they aren't being commercially exploited anymore or perhaps less so, just makes those good feelings even better.
January 6th, 2022 at 12:40 AM ^
Wouldn't be allowed in the NFL because the players and owners have collectively bargained a set of rules. The players and schools have no such arrangement so it really is the wild west.
January 6th, 2022 at 7:29 AM ^
@Robbie Moore, you are 100% correct. Now that paying players is allowed, the establishment of a set of rules / guiding principles will likely (possibly?) be coming. To do that, however, the players will have to be permitted to unionize, so that a collective bargaining agreement can be created.
yay, the prospect of striking or locked-out college players ...
January 6th, 2022 at 10:58 AM ^
But, the NFLPA keeps getting trampled by the owners. College athletes (particularly football players) are winning unlike the NFLPA since the advent of free agency in early 90s. It might not be long before the NFLPA looks at college athletes with a bit of jealousy. I'm all for the ability to unionize, but it's not always the best option, especially while you're on a winning streak.
January 6th, 2022 at 2:35 PM ^
Folks keep saying this wouldn't be allowed in the NFL but that's just straight up wrong. There's literally no regulations at all about what players can get paid by commercial entities for their NIL. This isn't schools paying kids which could potentially be covered under some set of rules - that was the whole crux of the Supreme Court case that opened all of this up; that an organization like the NCAA can't legally limit what people earn from their own Name, Image, and Likeness contracts.
January 6th, 2022 at 6:51 AM ^
I have been saying since the beginning of the paying players bit that football programs should no longer require them to be students in any manner. Let them have free tuition like any other university employee if they so choose and call it a day. Many arent serious students and most at your powerhouse schools....quit wasting the academic resources.
January 6th, 2022 at 7:03 AM ^
I can see a minor league for football, but why would it be college sponsored? If players aren’t students, why would you have teams affiliated with the colleges?
January 6th, 2022 at 8:34 AM ^
I see it as having an instant, built-in fanbase. Plus, most schools already have the infrastructure in place that is located on campus or close to it. The location is hard to beat.
For the schools, it is yet another marketing tool to attract students to the campus.
For athletes, playing in front of 100,000 is better than playing in front of 1,500 in a minor league franchise town.
There is a loss of connection when the student athletes are no longer students (would there even be an age restriction or would a 25 year old former NFL players be eligible?), and I think fandom would be a lot more fluid.
January 6th, 2022 at 9:21 AM ^
I agree 100% with this. The NFL in particular has been using colleges as a free minor league, letting the universities handle all the tough stuff, and the players have been free labor as well. Down with this system, it is wrong and needs to be fixed. I don't know if what you are saying (and what I have also said to friends) is the right answer, but I do think it is on the right path.
January 6th, 2022 at 1:07 PM ^
Isnt sports viewership already at a decline because of waning interest in younger generations?
There's a ton of camaraderie between current players and the remaining student population of any school due to the shared concept of classes and "school spirit". Take that out and I'd be surprised if you do anything but push many of these "built-in fans" completely away from the sport.
I dont care much about MBB. If I'm a student I'm still going to games to watch and cheer for my fellow student-athletes. I'm not going to go watch a bunch of low tier professionals play just because they wear a shirt with my schools logo on the front.
January 6th, 2022 at 2:49 PM ^
Was just talking about this with a co-worker today, I have been coaching at the high school level for 15 years, and while a small sample size, the kids we have had in our program the last 5 or so years are much more interested and invested in the NFL and NBA, hardly ever hear them discussing or arguing about college sports and most are wearing pro jerseys and apparel.
January 6th, 2022 at 7:49 AM ^
Free tuition?
Full time employees are eligible for 75% of the cost of in-state tuition plus registration fees up to 4 credit hours per term, and 12 credits per year... and it has to be job related... and your supervisor has to approve it.
January 6th, 2022 at 10:20 PM ^
Sorry I work for osu and as employees we get free tuition for anything we choose to pursue at grad or undergrad level. The only limitation for full time employees is we are not allowed to take more than 12 hours per semester. Dependents/spouses only get 50% tuition up to 140 credits, but it still makes getting a 4 year degree less than $25k including all the 'other fees'. Pretty good deal these days. I know UM fans have a low opinion of osu academics, but osu has come a long way from the 1980s and does have a national brand and the largest alumni base I believe--and trust me as an alum they do a lot of reaching out to develop connections/establish mentors for current students. I guess I shouldnt have assumed that all institutions have similar benefits.
January 6th, 2022 at 8:07 AM ^
I'm not surprised by any of this. Are you guys shocked? This kind of "pay to play" NIL scenario was the logical result of the policy of letting big money overtly creep into college athletics.
I realize there have always been cheating boosters and under-the-table payments made, but this environment now has the potential of pushing it a quantum leap beyond that. It will be interesting to watch.
Even the player EMU is enticing stated on his Twitter that "...I am a business, man." Need anything more be said?
January 6th, 2022 at 9:02 AM ^
The university presidents and the NCAA could have stopped this (or at least slowed it down) by paying the players. They fought so hard to convince people that a full ride was payment enough when the entire sport world could see that massive amounts of money flowing into these programs. They thought sleep pods and mini golf courses outside of practice facilities would excite kids.
Had they done the right and in my opinion smarter thing they would have given a cap numbered amount of money per month as long as the player is in good standing. Instead they screwed around to the point the players had to go to the Courts and the legislators to open Pandora's box. They tried to cheat the labor that produced the profit under the farce of amateurism and they got burned. Zero sympathy for them, but not looking forward to full blown free agency in College.
January 6th, 2022 at 9:51 AM ^
I think there is truth in what you say but I think that in the long run, we would eventually have gotten to the same situation we see now.
January 6th, 2022 at 10:00 AM ^
yep exactly. the refusal to budge an inch led to an uncontrollable situation. paying the players $30k/year above and beyond scholarships 5 years ago voluntarily would have prevented all this.