NCAA finally waves white flag on NIL

They’re only about 30 years too late. And they still had to be dragged kicking and screaming into doing so.

 

I'm, generally, a free market guy. Make what the market bears. I'm good with that.

Are these college football/men's basketball programs REALLY ready for locker rooms split apart by jealously when a QB gets 300k and isn't playing well? Or when the car dealerships want the white walk-on from a nearby small town to endorse their trucks but not the economically-disadvantaged star player from a big city two states away?

The moment a QB loses his starting job, he'll transfer out even faster than now. There will be consequences.

 

Eh, I get what you're saying, but it's 2021. Big-time college sports are entirely a business.

I suggest following the Ivy League, or D-III, where there's still a little bit of college idealism remaining.

 

My opinion finally changed for good about four years ago while listening to a Georgia Southern pregame show, of all things. One of the sponsors was a salon in Statesboro, and they had the captain of the cheerleading squad doing an ad for their tanning booths. That was perfectly fine for her to do, but if the starting quarterback on the other side of the chalk had done something similar it would have been regarded as a scandal and moral failing. I tried to think of a way to justify that and couldn’t.

 

Not necessarily disagreeing, but does the cheerleading captain get a full ride and a cost of attendance stipend?

I wonder how this will impact the fanbase. It's one thing to give a stinky QB a pass for a bad game and say, "He's just a kid" when he's just on scholarship, but when that same kid is also hauling in $100K it's gonna be hard for some fans to let a shitty performance or two go by without some boos or criticism.

 

Exactly.

But, then again, they're already hearing about it on Twitter whenever they throw a pick.

Baron, we're in agreement here. I think they should get paid. The NCAA and the revenue programs make a ton of money. We also saw how fragile they all are last year when, at the prospect of losing football revenue, they fell apart like a fort made of matchsticks.

Big Ten schools gets $55 million a year from TV contracts and these departments can't manage themselves financially. They've proven they can't handle it. Let the players handle it.

 

You aren't serious with this, are you?

 

Why? They aren't paying him. Deal with it.

Our first big exposure to it here locally was Auburn QB Bo Nix signing an endorsement deal with Milo's Sweet Tea. Folks all over buy gallon jugs at the supermarket. Predictably, there's a backlash against Milo's by 'Bama fans, who swear they're pouring theirs down the sink and will never touch the stinkin' stuff again. More than that, they're mad at and swearing off Milo's Hamburger chain which is big locally. The sweet tea business was a spin off from the burger place, but due to dealings in the corporate food service business no longer has any connection to Milo's Hamburgers... which they'll boycott anyhow.

 

Which part?

 

Stupid play by Milo's. Should have signed Auburn, Alabama and UAB QB all at once.

 

Vandy players should sign with Goodys' Headache Powder.

"Hey, we may play like shit, but we take Goody's every Saturday so at least we don't feel like shit."