What Has/Will The Portal & NIL Era Do To Your Michigan Sports Fandom?
I gave up on professional sports about 20 years ago for 2 main reasons: free agency and absurdly high salaries. Those things had been around prior to that, but I had finally reached an age or place in my life where they began to outweigh my enjoyment. I’m all in favor of players’ rights to change teams in order to make as much money as they can and/or to put themselves in a place for more opportunities and championships, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t eroded my fandom to almost nothing. And Patrick Ewing’s infamous quote, “We make a lot of money but we spend a lot of money.” during the 1999 NBA lockout just reminded me of how out of touch the athletes had become from every day society from a compensation standpoint. I have a hard time investing my emotions in the Lions, Tigers, Red Wings, and Pistons since then accordingly.
Unfortunately I’m starting to feel the same way about college sports. The transfer portal is basically pro sports free agency. The NIL part is making college sports/recruiting feel transactional. It’s like going to a strip club when you’re young and a girl makes you feel special. Then you see her with the next guy and realize it was 100% a transaction to her. That’s sort of how I feel about paying players to play for Michigan, and the next level is then to see them leave for another school because they paid them more. And I’m not even arguing that portal or NIL is wrong at all, I think it’s great that these athletes have freedom/choices and that they are finally receiving fair market value for what they do. But it doesn’t mean my fandom isn’t dying accordingly.
And on top of that Michigan looks to be fucking awful at both the portal and NIL while our rivals seem to be very good at those things. So we aren’t even good at the things that are killing my fandom.
How do you feel about this new era of college sports? Is your fandom bulletproof, or do you feel some level of erosion occurring as well?
You nailed my feelings to a T. Exactly what I was trying to say, thanks
“but that some smart people are refusing to bow to Mammon.”
Only after they get their cut of the TV contract.
Not sure how you can watch last year's Michigan team and not see the players making money from NIL still pour their heart out for the Team.. With that being said I think theirs things that could improve NIL and transfer portal . If the behind the scene stuff upsets you then stay away until Sept 3 @noon
You say that now, but we haven't seen the true effects of this yet. Once we start seeing *our* guys jumping to wherever the money is (with absolutely no regard for academics and integrity), people will start changing their tune. One-and-done in basketball was bad enough in the pre NIL days... the future looks even bleaker now.
I'm sure there will be some of that.. It's not gonna change my love for watching Michigan sports tho. I watched a QB making 1 million dollars transfer from Ohio state to Texas due to competition for the starting role. Then there's a kid Name JJ.., JJ, will Johnson, Edwards and corum type guys could leave chasing the money cannon but didn't . I'll focus on cheering for those guys..
No/Not
Transfer portal has not changed much for me. Yeah, we occasionally don't get this great story of a senior doing great in the final year of eligibility. There will be an occasional big time pickup (see MSU last year), but I did not see that across all conferences.
NIL is what it is. It is not like people were not paying before. The annoying thing is that we are being way too conservative when colleges like ours with strict rules (like ND) has figured it out. I won't put OSU in this category because I feel like they had an advantage over us for the last couple of decades because of what allegedly transpired there (just being cautious so I don't rile up people :))
So, I don't see this changing much in my fandom. We will still recruit similar to how we have been recruiting. There will be 3 stars who will rise up during their college career. There will be great stories. Michigan will figure out NIL. I am sure of it. When I don't know.
I knew a guy who had been a backup RB at OSU, and talked to him the day of The Game in 2006. Yes, that one. I asked if he was going to watch. "No man. That's a dirty business." This had more to do with free cars et al than the fact that he suffered broken fingers 10 times while there. He talked about all the shady stuff that was involved in college sports. It's always been a dirty business.
It's actually less dirty now because at least it's out in the open. I know that NIL and transferring is disruptive. Tampering even worse. But it's not like this sport was ever on the up and up. I like to believe that Michigan cheats less than the average big program.
If this is being driven more by "how the hell can we compete with this if we're not going to play the game the same way" I hear ya. It's incredibly frustrating. To beat OSU, let alone win the playoff, Michigan will have to be smarter, work harder, and yes play the same way at least to some degree. We're going to lose The Game more often than we win it.
But look where we are!! We just had one of the the most joyful, memorable seasons in Michigan history. And capped it with easily the biggest win in 24 years. So there's reason to believe, reason for hope, even if we're going to get the short end of the stick more often than not against the top teams.
My friend, I wonder how you'll feel once we're 4-0 and about to enter the real part of the season. I hope that you'll be back on board and eager to sing The Victors.
I stopped really caring a few years ago. If you know going in that Michigan isn't willing to do what it takes to win a championship, why should I care. I still watch a game here and there, but I'll be honest I just don't care much anymore. If they win great! If not oh well they set their self up behind the 8 ball.
I’ll join the negs for this, I’m the same way if Michigan doesn’t want to utilize what NIL could do for Michigan to even the game out then I’m just a mediocre fan and will watch but won’t bother getting upset. The off season really soured me on the program with the JH fiasco as well, and how they treated it. For last 20 years it’s 1 step forward 2 steps back to me. Now if I see major NIL change and going after big boys club like osu, bama, am, Texas and others my tune will completely change again.
The only professional sports league I despise is the NFL, but I will watch.
NBA, NHL and even MLB (Rays fan) are too exciting to ignore.
College sports are a different experience and I love UofM, win, lose or draw.
Depends on how Michigan fares in the new era. The dominance of dirty teams like Alabama, OSU, etc. relegating Michigan to a second tier has dropped my fandom down a peg. I do think Michigan could improve their recruiting to an elite level if they are willing to fully utilize NIL, but I doubt that will happen.
I think NIL gives more parity to college ball. You’re now seeing these old big dog schools starting to compete for top talent now that they can pay. See USC A&M UL etc. bad news is Harbaugh and Co. don’t seem to want to compete. This unwillingness to adapt and change is beyond maddening. In a previous reply, I’m not sure where Michigan started to veer off the Football road compared to OSU, but it’s apparent. Failing to keep up with the Joneses will decrease the fandom regardless. I wish UM could get over “were holier than thou” mantra the have embedded. Also, how much energy can you put into a team where the coach wants out? I’m still ride or die, and will bail on anything for Michigan Football Saturdays, but the light is starting to dim when there is very little positivity coming from the team. This is coming off a damn amazing season!
The fanbase cannot change Harbaugh's approach to adapting with the times, but a large portion of the fanbase is okay with the "we're holier than you" mentality from the program and Harbaugh.
Yes and no. The whole “we want Michigan Men only” is tired out. It’s why RRod never got a chance here. I just don’t get the narrative that Michigan and some fans don’t want to pay players cause it’s “wrong” these are probably the same fans complaining why we can’t be a more elite team. Baffling.
Not sure Hunter Dickinson is really in the know, but he believes the AD above Harbaugh is the roadblock, not Harbaugh himself.
When reading Dickinson's comments it seemed more like he was blaming the University and not WM.
To the op.
read the articles about Michigan doing it the right way.
give it some time and let things shake out.
as you said, you don’t like the transactions and Michigan isn’t doing that
Thank you.
To be clear, it doesn't even matter to me if Michigan does things the right way or wrong way, or if this makes them better or worse on the field/court.
My entire point is that this portal/NIL era IN GENERAL is turning college into the pros, and I stopped caring about the pros years ago for similar reasons. So I was just wondering if anyone feels the same way, and by the responses thus far I'm pretty alone on bummer island.
"My entire point is that this portal/NIL era IN GENERAL is turning college into the pros,"
So Harbaugh making $7 million per year isn't like the pros?
Assistant coaches making close to $1 million in salary, and jumping ship the second they get a better offer isn't like the pros?
UM charging increasingly higher and higher ticket prices and concessions isn't like the pros?
UM receiving tens of millions of dollars from TV revenue isn't like the pros?
Spending millions and millions to upgrade the facilities isn't like the pros?
Somehow it seems like these weren't major issues regarding your fandom, but now that players are getting a share of those millions you are upset. Probably worth asking yourself why that's the case. Just seems like you were lying to yourself about what major college athletics had become, and with players getting paid it is increasingly difficult to continue that facade.
EDIT - Double Post
Irony is....the only thing that really makes Michigan bad at the NIL part right now is that they won't guarantee/pay recruits to commit. If they did this I would assume based on your statement this would further erode your feelings for the program.
That said I'm pretty well on the same page with you about everything you mentioned. I never engaged with pro sports to begin with, largely because my parents went to Michigan, then my sister and then both me and my brother, all of my sports fandom has been Michigan focused my whole life. The mercenary, play for pay mentality of pro sports has always been a turn off to me, all of the drama around off-season contracts and the egos and money involved just weren't of an interest to me, at all. Not judging, I can see why others like it and living in San Francisco I have sort of become a Warriors fan, but only in the most fickle and fair weather kind way.
I too am glad that the young people are getting paid and not being exploited, so I wouldn't change that one bit, but the whole professional, money-oriented aspect of it definitely dampens my fanhood to some extent. I will always, first and foremost, be a devout Michigan fan, but I definitely have less emotion and attachment to it the more mercenary it gets. It bothers me that the academic aspect of our school in the likelihood that you will actually need to attend classes and be a student is a huge disadvantage and recruiting.
There is a small part of me that wishes they would make a split in some way, so that maybe the 10 or 20 or 30 biggest and most prominent programs would go into a separate Semi-Pro League and just compete with each other there at that level, but leave the rest of the programs as amateur the way they were before and more student-athlete focused.
Part of me would want Michigan to have a prominent program that competed in the big league, of course. Yes somewhat hypocritical, I know.
However, another part of me would also want them to have an amateur type program at the lower level, and I would be much more likely to be emotionally invested and attached to that version of the program then I would the Semi-Pro flavor.
Yes, I know it is pretty near impossible that they would have a team at both levels, but in my perfect world that's how it would go.
great response. and to your first point, as I mentioned to the poster directly above, how good/bad, wrong/right Michigan is with NIL doesn't even matter to me. It's just this new era of portal/NIL is making this feel like professional sports, and I just won't invest the emotions as much accordingly.
"Irony is....the only thing that really makes Michigan bad at the NIL part right now is that they won't guarantee/pay recruits to commit. If they did this I would assume based on your statement this would further erode your feelings for the program."
The NCAA has come out word for word and said NIL is for players and not recruits, but most schools are doing whatever they want except certain schools like Michigan who are the 'teacher's pet' of the class.
If Michigan wanted to approach NIL at the same level as Alabama and OSU, then I have no doubt with all of it's resources and powerful alums we could be looking at receiving lots of commits from the likes of RB Rueben Owens instead of a program like Louisville getting them.
Heard Sam already kinda throw up the white flag on UM football recruiting this cycle saying they won't be as good as OSU or PSU and would be in a battle to beat MSU. If that's how it's going to be perpetually in the new world then yeah..... my fan attachment will def wane.
I care more about the games than recruiting and we’re the defending Big Ten Champions.
I care more about the games than recruiting and we’re the defending Big Ten Champions.
Yeah, but that's why it's so frustrating. Winning the Big Ten championship was supposed to boost recruiting, thereby making improved upcoming game performance and possibility of another Big Ten championship more likely, but that momentum has been seemingly squandered in the last six months, between JH's flirtations and other disadvantageous developments.
"I care more about the games than recruiting and we’re the defending Big Ten Champions. "
Because there is no connection between recruiting and Big Ten Championships.
The thing that set aside college sports from pro sports for me has never been the fact the players are purportedly amateurs, but the fact that there's a much higher level of identification and local buy-in of the fan bases with the teams and that it's not just centered around the same 20 big metro areas in the country with identikit approaches to marketing, branding etc. Its quirkiness attracted me more than its amateur status.
There is a distinct chance that the upcoming professionalization of it will take some of that away, first slowly then more apparently. I would probably still follow it, but perhaps only the same way I follow the NFL and NBA - which isn't very intensely. But I reserve my judgment on that.
It will do absolutely nothing to my fandom.
I haven't missed a Michigan BB/FB game in 50 years, and don't plan on starting now. Especially for something that rightfully will benefit players that made us what we are.
I love pro-sports too. It's one of my preferred distraction from life and all I need is a TV/streaming device and buy tickets occasionally. So to each his own.
well, 30+ year football season ticket holder. i gave them up this year. it's now worse than pro sports. imagine pro sports basically having one year free agent contracts every year. that's where we are at in college sports.
My fandom never really changed but, and I don't mean to be dismissive of OP's thoughtful feelings, I have seen college sports as at least partially a transactional relationship for most of my adult life. In fact, as I've aged and the players remained the same age I came to even better understand how one-sided the relationship was for eons and why I'm happy guys finally have the ability to regain some agency over their lives and careers while entertaining fans. The fact UM ain't great at the transfer portal sucks but isn't a huge surprise, and I think they're doing fine with NIL in a sustainable way.
So yeah, nothing much has changed in my eyes beyond the fact I actually feel a bit better about the athletes actually making some money while risking long-term health issues for my enjoyment.
Ditto…seriously sapping my interest. I’ll watch and get excited come Fall, but I used to like to think the players bled Maize and Blue like the fans did. Many still do, but it seems the top players more and more simply go to the highest bidder (and good for them).
on a side note, I have immensely enjoyed the Saban Fisher feud. That is must see TV.
I love my alma mater, so I'll always root on whoever wears the winged helmet or has "MICHIGAN" on their jersey. But my interest in college sports overall is decreasing every year. Before, I could watch most games and enjoy it. Now, it's down to watching our games and non-Michigan games only if it impacts us. That was happening before NIL and the Portal, so that has nothing to do with it. The RR/Hoke years did that.
The RR/Hoke years forced me to find alternatives to Michigan football and I found that I liked those alternatives. It led to less stress and more time with the family. Do I still get up for The Game? Yes. But losing to them or Sparty is a mild annoyance, not a soul crushing experience.
If it ain't a Lambo then you ain't NIL'n the right way!!!
my michigan sports fandom can be summed up in one meme, at least for basketball, hockey and football.
i mean, it's a game played by college kids. the results of which have no bearing on any fans life whatsoever. if it does, that's 100% on you. Not harbauch, howard, or cj carr, but you. i find it silly people get their underoos in a bunch over whether michigan is a top 5 team, has a top 3 recruiting class etc.
as long as there are michigan sports teams, i'll watch and root for them no matter what their record is. i love watching sports. particularly michigan sports. but i recognize it for what it is.
just. a. game.
All progress is not actually progress!
Not all progress is actually progress.
The high-intensity feeling about the laundry went away with the 2006 game. I was too into each game, let myself feel bad about losses, like they somehow took something away from me.
To get myself away from that point, I forced myself to realize that as much as I'd like the laundry to represent me, these are kids I don't know, never will know. They want to win very badly and if they don't win, it takes nothing away from my experience as an alum or as a fan since I was going to games at age 3.
For football and basketball, they are professional athletes. The portal and NIL only acknowledges the situation, it doesn't change it at all.
For the non-revenue sports (everything else), Michigan has always given me an instant base and team to follow. If a Michigan season gets hijacked and ends because an umpire can't tell the difference between a hand and a 15-inch square of canvas, then my sense of baseball essentially ceases to exist at the same time. For a sport I don't understand at all, like lacrosse (sometimes it's OK to whack your opponents with a stick, sometimes it isn't, and everyone always seems to be running around in circles rather than toward a goal), Michigan is an entry point if they happen to be playing and capture some attention.
For those who haven't lost the high-intensity feeling and have some ready cash, NIL should enhance the product. Now you can be a part of the team if you can help attract a new star player. For others, maybe it's helping with the transition from high-intensity to casual or breaking the illusion that college men's basketball and football aren't professional sports at the major FBS level.
If I wanted to watch a bunch of paid full time athletes, I would've stuck to pro sports.
I won't ever be done with Michigan sports. The amount of my money that I give the AD may stop coming in but I will never be done rooting for Michigan.
I root for the players who play for Michigan. If they leave or don't come to Michigan that stinks but next man/woman up.
I am just as heavily invested in the football team as I was fifteen years ago. I'm in the minority here because I actually admire Jim and some players like McCarthy keeping an air of integrity when it comes to the stuff so far. I don't get all hot and bothered about the kids landing big deals and I don't buy jerseys or merch from them just because it seems superfluous and it's not my style. If that's your thing then go for it.
As far as the long term direction of this thing, I would prefer that earnings be player-driven, meaning that any NIL income should be earned by the player actually doing something (signing autographs, promoting and selling merch, doing a commercial) rather than just receiving a McDonald's bag from a collective just for existing.
"Absurdly high salaries" lmao, always cracks me up when people throw a fit over someone getting a piece of the revenue they create and yet surely continue to support bloodsucking billionaires who contribute nothing. Wait till you hear what the owners make.
Depends on whether it starts to seem like professional sports with agents and six figure deals. If it turns into that, I will become disillusioned. I'm like the OP in that I like college sports because I believe, probably naively, that our team plays for each other, the love of the school, and a passion for the sport. They can play for money after school, like the rest of us when we get our jobs. I do believe that they should not have to struggle financially in college and should not have to get a job to make ends meet. They should receive bigger stipends, and perks that non-athlete students don't get, like healthcare after college (free for a while, maybe 10 years, then discounted if their work doesn't cover them, or they have lingering injuries), and a cut of what the university makes off them, that they get upon graduation, in addition to free tuition and board. I think the NCAA should cover everything food-related. I remember there was some rule about cream cheese -- the NCAA would provide bagels but not the cream cheese, or something silly like that. They need to take better care of the athletes.
Professional sports are obviously professionals The greatest players on the planet. I've never understood the feeling that the players make too much money. You'd rather see the owners or the networks keep that money?
My heart isn't committed to professional sports teams but as a true sports fan, how do you enjoy college level of play but not the professionals at the next level? Don't take this as a knock, but I don't think everyone is a true fan of a sport. They like their local high school or college team for obvious reasons but they're not a true fan of the sport that wants to see it played at it's highest level. Just my opinion.
There are those who are true fans of the school, not specifically a sport.
I love football (I've coached off and on since college), but I find college and other amateur football much more appealing on multiple levels than professional football, despite the "inferior" quality of the athletes. (FWIW, if I do watch tennis, I prefer watching women's tennis to men's). But for that matter I can hardly ever stand to watch NBA basketball or NHL hockey, at least until the playoffs, if then. Whether that makes me a "true sports fan" I don't know.
I enjoy the non-professional aspect of the game (emotional and otherwise) at least as much as the athleticism involved.
I think you missed my point. I prefer college football to the NFL for all the usual reasons that many people do prefer college. I understand why a fan prefers non professional sports. What confuses me is if you are a true fan of that sport, how do you decide I'm not going to watch the professionals that are the best in the world at that sport. In your example you prefer women's tennis. But do you not watch Rafa and Novak in a grand slam finals? My heart is with college football, but my love of the sport also loves the NFL product.
My specific point is that when I hear someone say I don't watch the pros because they make too much money, I think well this isn't a person that is a true fan of the sport.
Again, just my opinion.
And my point is that to love a sport is to love the dynamics of the sport itself, not necessarily the personality or superior athleticism or physique of any particular athlete or even level of play. I watch the NFL analytically, but i can't say I enjoy it so much. Can I recognize high skill or natural talent levels at, well, anything? Sure. But so what?
(Soccer players may be in great shape and skilled with their phenomenal soccer ball dribbling skills, but that doesn't necessarily make it a good or bad sport, or something I must necessarily enjoy.)
I find individual sports especially far more interesting to play than to watch, no matter how good the professionals may be. There is hardly anything I can relate to in big serve men's tennis. But for that matter, 7-footers dunking a basketball in a 10-foot net doesn't impress or excite me. Not nearly as much as teamwork like the passing and eventual scoring that Beilein's, offenses displayed (I remember watching one possession where there were something like five passes in 2-3 seconds finding the open bucket) just as an example. But maybe I am an outlier.
I love football for numerous reasons and want what is good for the game; I love the University of Michigan and Michigan athletic teams; and the athletes who commit themselves and their full college career to Michigan, and wish them well beyond that. To the degree they (or any) athletes are more committed to their own celebrity, I have no interest in supporting that personally.
I just hope Michigan takes more advantage of NIL and not let the likes of sparty out recruit us because their NIL program is better. Also, OSU is going full bore into NIL. I've read where NE and WI are opening up their NIL cannon as well. Hope we don't become a middling team in the B1G because we are not keep up with the NIL neighbors.