What Happens to College Sports After the House Case is Settled

[LanceyHoward]

I think the House case deserves its own thread. It affects all collegiate sports and has broader implications than conference realignment.

My understanding is that the salary cap will be about 20 million dollars a year. My understanding is that the schools can distribute the monies between sports as they wish, subject to possible Title IX constraints.

What is to stop a Big East school without a Division One football program from pumping the entire 20 million into the basketball program? If St. john's starts waving that kind of money around how does a "basketball" school like Indiana respond? Do they reduce the amount devoted to the football team? There are Big 10 schools where the basketball program is an afterthought and as much money as possible will be pushed to the football team, Will the football team at Indiana become even less competitive as a result?

I expect the staff meetings where the split of the money between programs to be interesting.

 

[BTExpress]

First argument: "We'll split the money proportionally based on how much profit each sport makes."

There is no second argument. Just whining.

 

[tapintoamerica]

I have read that Title IX is in play with this. So schools can't just put it all into lord god football. The House case has its roots in a complaint by an Arizona State swimmer.

 

[Neutral Corner]

What do you figure, three to five years before the dust settles and we start to see how things are actually going to work? There are more lawsuits to come, sure as heck. There will probably be another round of conference reshuffling by then.

Sigh.

 

[playthrough]

I think the House case deserves its own thread. It affects all collegiate sports and has broader implications than conference realignment.

My understanding is that the salary cap will be about 20 million dollars a year. My understanding is that the schools can distribute the monies between sports as they wish, subject to possible Title IX constraints.

What is to stop a Big East school without a Division One football program from pumping the entire 20 million into the basketball program? If St. john's starts waving that kind of money around how does a "basketball" school like Indiana respond? Do they reduce the amount devoted to the football team? There are Big 10 schools where the basketball program is an afterthought and as much money as possible will be pushed to the football team, Will the football team at Indiana become even less competitive as a result?

I expect the staff meetings where the split of the money between programs to be interesting.

Yes

 

[Inky_Wretch]

What do you figure, three to five years before the dust settles and we start to see how things are actually going to work? There are more lawsuits to come, sure as heck. There will probably be another round of conference reshuffling by then.

Sigh.

I suspect this will lead to athletics being spun out of academics. Alabama Crimson Tide Inc. will pay royalties to the University of Alabama, but that will be the extent of the relationship.

 

[LanceyHoward]

I have read that Title IX is in play with this. So schools can't just put it all into lord god football. The House case has its roots in a complaint by an Arizona State swimmer.

I don't think anyone knows what percentage of the salaries will have to go to women athletes. NIL collectives are entities separate from the athletic departments (I know this is a lie but that is what the schools maintain) and therefore not subject to Title IX. So football can scoop up the bulk of the NIL money and basketball can still get some. And at most schools the other athletes are out of luck.

But Title IX only protects discrimination by sex. So schools may have to gibe female athletes a cut of the House money. But a school wants to dump all the men's money into the football and basketball program and stiff all the other men's sports they can.

 

[Twirling Time]

$20M spread across all sports actually sounds like a reasonable limit. That is $250K just among the scholarship football athletes alone. Throw in all the other sports and that gets trimmed in a hurry.

 

[franticscribe]

I've long been of the opinion that universities shouldn't be in the business of sports, but it is the system we have developed in the US and all the infrastructure around sports is geared toward it.

As someone whose favorite sport (wrestling) is a niche that barely survived the Title IX cuts to preserve football in the 80s and 90s, I'm very worried that it gets left out in the cold entirely after House. Even at Penn State, I don't see the wrestling team sharing any of that $20 million pie.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

As long as the schools refuse to recognize the athletes as employees, and allow them to unionize to create collective bargaining agreements, no settlement can withstand legal challenges by aggrieved individuals. I mean, if the biggest car dealer in Aliquippa wants to subsidize a Penn St. wrestler (and I think that will be how minor sports proceed, they will seek out patrons) with NIL money, the schools can't say, no that goes into the pot, because there's no party on the other side that is bound by the agreement. So those attorneys and firms that specialize in contract law are going to make bank, and that's probably the sports prediction in which I have had the most confidence in my entire life.

 

[Scout]

You cap what can be given, all you're going to do is open up cheating to those that can afford it.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

You cap what can be given, all you're going to do is open up cheating to those that can afford it.

You cap what can be given, all you're going to do is open up cheating to those that can afford it.

It's not even cheating, because the limits are illegal as it stands now.