NIL - Texas ain't playing aroundPosted on 12/6/21 at 2:19 pm 50 Several days ago, a prominent Texas booster donated $10M to start an NIL fund. The goal is to reach $300M to support ALL Texas athletes, regardless of sport. Starting in 2021-22, all football players who sign with The University of Texas will be guaranteed $100,000 per year for the entirety of their scholarship, up to 5 years. Today they just released this, all OL will recv an additional $50,000 per year. So basically an OL can make $150,000 per year plus additional NIL money. Even if they never step foot on the field, they will still get the $150,000 /year. Politicians and the NCAA have opened Pandora's box which is about to implode. Schools can "legally" buy players with guaranteed NIL contracts and they will be able to sign kids via the portal like an undrafted free agent.
I love it. Coaches get $10MM per year now, and the players get a scholarship. A scholarship is nothing to sneeze at, but the ability to negotiate a price for one's labor and fame is a bedrock American value. To put it a different way, it is immoral for someone to make money off me, while preventing me from taking money that someone wants to give me.
Interested to hear why you think so. Boosters at big schools have found ways to pay players for 75 years or more. CFB will adapt to this and be fine. It is truly too big to fail. I even believe that certain players (think 3rd round+ talent) might stay in college longer because they're making a living. The big rich schools from the big rich conferences will have the advantage - just like they do now.
In the past bidding for athletes was limited by the need to mask the payment. You couldn’t pay a guard or any athlete $150k/year without it causing issues. Now it’s the Wild West with no real limits and the school that has boosters with the deepest pockets can openly bid. This combined with the transfer rules as they are will have the potential to create chaos.
I've read about this in a couple of places and that doesn't surprise me. Can you imagine how much Alabama must be paying to land all those stud OL!
The reality is LSU needs to come up with a plan that will also attract great recruits. Unfortunately, this is what college football has turned into. Paying players is nothing new, but NIL has changed how much players are getting paid big time!
The thing that could derail this is Title IX. It won't be long before someone files suit demanding that this UT program provide matching funds for female athletes. Of course, the argument will be that the money is not being provided by the university, but that won't stop them from suing. And then we'll see what happens.
