Texas A&M players make $10,000 each for interviews with fan site in NIL deal
Texas A&M football players Isaiah Spiller and Demani Richardson are set to earn $10,000 each for exclusive interviews posted to Aggies-centric website TexAgs.com. The deal for the interviews, which are sponsored by GreenPrint Real Estate Group, has been reached under the new name, image and likeness rules for college sports.
What is the naïveté? It seems reasonable to think that a lot of people willing to spend $20K per year to take their family to a few Michigan games would not want to even donate $1K or even $100 to a NIL go fund me.
Michigan may have a huge POTENTIAL money canon. However, I don’t see the same eagerness in this fan base (even up among the big donors) to do what similarly-wealthy fans in the south will do to keep their teams competitive. Obviously, it’s still early in the NIL era of college sports, but I think Michigan will only fall further behind with the times.
RANT/NOON TROEGS 6PACK IDEA: At this point, I’m just hoping the NFL makes an NFL D-League or something for all the 5 stars and crazy high-end talent to attend straight from high school.
Make a second draft around traditional signing day in Jan/Feb for NFL teams to draft high school seniors and let them develop on a minor-league roster for a season or a few before calling them up to the NFL team.
Example:
-Tennessee Titans D-League team in Memphis
-Denver Broncos D-League team in Salt Lake City
-Seahawks team in Portland.
Why do this?:
-This improves the NFL product in the field by getting guys in their system/regimen from day 1 instead inch of pretending to be college student athletes
-Gets exciting young football players in non-NFL cities and allows the NFL to market itself/create ties in more cities.
-Gets college back to being more about student-athletes telling their school (while getting full NIL benefits) to a degree.
However, I don’t see the same eagerness in this fan base (even up among the big donors) to do what similarly-wealthy fans in the south will do to keep their teams competitive.
No offense dude, but how do you think we've ever managed to win recruiting battles with SEC schools over the years?
NFL D-league should not be in the fall, too much football. I would like to see a D league where all the elite recruits end up and very few will go to OSU, Clemson and Alabama. They would get paid for playing NFL ball and the season would run from February through June. Then these top players can enter in the NFL draft at any year or to to teams as FA if they're not drafted..
If I were 24/7 or this site, I’d put some event on for donations. $500/plate to raise NIL $ for interviews bc this is where it’s going. Certain athletes will sign exclusive coverage/interview rights to a specific medium. These media don’t have that in their operating budget and almost would have to rely on donations as I doubt the consumer would subscribe just to read or see interviews that get transcribed or leaked elsewhere.
Edit: we could do it here, a gofundme or something. Not hundreds but $20 x 5000 goes a ways. Idk
I wonder if the school mascot can get in on some of this NIL dollars ? At least Michigan doesn't have to deal with that.
SAVE THE WOLVERINE. They are making a comeback in the 48 and they still need your money and help to thrive.
With the NCAA admitting that it has no oversight, this is going to get crazy. Age limits, eligibility limits, transfer limits - it's all up in the air because only the conferences have authority now, and even that could be challenged.
You could see players on the fringe of the NFL (there's a pool of about 1,000 every year who stay in shape, ready for camp invites, not quite good enough to stick on a roster) returning to college. Every one of those guys is good enough to start somewhere in the power-five world. And shouldn't they have the right to earn a decent living, too?
I don't have a problem with this, because there's a ton of money generated by football and college players aren't receiving a share. But it's naive to expect that college football and basketball can remain amateur in any way.
Even something as simple as the ability to buy a Michigan-branded jersey with some of the proceeds going to the player... it's a form of employment now. Somehow, there needs to be a transition from the current system to a player's union and some form of draft or other arrangement for players to contract with universities.
All this unorganized "sponsor a player" stuff sounds interesting, but even out in the open, with no real oversight, it's going to be corrupted and you can bet that organized crime will find the angles. The pro unionization and limits on how players can use their NIL provides a lot of protection for the system.
This is going to be a very uncomfortable transition. Who can predict how it will all work out?
This could get out of hand real quick. Not sure where it ends.
"Money ain't got no owners, only spenders" - Omar, The Wire
Good advice for fans of teams to follow if you want your team to succeed in this new NIL era.
Don't hate on A&M fans for being proactive to try to catch up to Alabama. Nothing is "cheating" in the NIL era. The courts have ruled its legal, NCAA said its ok, for athletes to get paid. Rest is just details how they get paid.
We need to catch up to OSU in a big way!
I agree with Vlad. There is no way Michigan uses the full power of NIL to their advantage. If anything there will be other schools who pass Michigan and become better football programs.
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Just like a familiar episode of Friends, everyone plays their part:
Joey (The SEC) gets out the wallet and starts making it rain "How YOU doin?"
Phoebe (the smaller and ACC schools) figures out some way to do something more creative and even somehow "cheatier"
and Ross (Michigan) just sits there and thinks about what the "right" thing to do is while every other dude goes to town with Rachel.
NIL is a fucking joke.
10k for an interview?
I think I'd rather watch a high school game...
I know this won't be a popular opinion in these parts, but the way they're doing this is, ill-advised. It has an extremely wild west vibe, and opening the flood gates with little guidance or limitation does not strike me as a system that will be stable.
Like, if the endgame is paying players their market value, all right, but this sketchy system is not the way to do it.