"Commision slapped Texas State with a staggering list of infractions including recruiting violations, illegal payments to players and grade tampering. Their yearbook photos will be used as mugshots!"

When I was in college, my minor was Family and Consumer Sciences–in other words, Home Ec.  My classes consist of consumer education, child development, human development, interior design, fashion, etc.  In reality, they were not difficult classes–especially child development and human development.  In those two classes, I had many “athletes” as classmates.  It was not uncommon to see several members of the football team or hockey team in the class.  Well, it really was uncommon because they very rarely came to class!  Our instructor always made sure that if we did any group projects, the athletes were in their own group.  I usually saw the players on the first day and during finals.  It was a running joke on campus.

College athletes were always considered amateurs–in that they were not paid for their performance in their sport.  Throughout most of our Olympic history, these amateur college athletes competed in the games.  However, since other countries were using professionals and kicking our ass, in 1988 we started using professionals at the Olympics.  I totally disagree with this (that is why the 1980 Miracle Hockey Team was so great–all college kids), but I’m in the minority.  Most people feel we need to win at the Olympics, so I realize I will never win this argument:)

These same college athletes were not allowed to “make” any money in college for playing a sport.  They could receive scholarships from colleges and that was how they were recruited.  But they could not receive money, goods, or services for their playing.  Then people and athletes started noticing that colleges and the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) were making billions from these athletes and their playing—television contracts, merchandise sales, ticket sales—and the athletes were given no compensation beyond the scholarships.  

This issue went to court and in 2021 came the NIL ruling.  NIL is Name, Image, Likeness and what this means is that the NCAA could not limit payments to the student athletes.  These college athletes could make money and keep it from endorsements of their name, image, and likeness.  However, there still could not be a pay-for-play.  In other words, colleges could not directly pay an athlete to come to their college and play the sport.  

Ahhh, directly was the magical word.  So, colleges got around that word “directly”.  Boosters (alumni who financially help the school recruit athletes) couldn’t pay for a kid to come pay at the college, so they set up “collectives”.  Collectives is a fund that can directly pay a kid (through the rule of “endorsement” or “sponsorship”) to come play for their college because it is not “directly” from the boosters.  Guess who funds the “collectives”?  That’s right–the boosters!

So now you have high school kids, getting money from “collectives” to come play at that college.  What if the kid goes to one college, but then a year later another college offers more money?  Then the kid transfers.  He/she can transfer as many times as they want.  All this transferring screws up the team because the coach and the other players are relying on that kid and now they are gone.  What about the new college they transfer to?  That new college has a kid who is a junior and will be starting quarterback next year.  But, nope, a new kid transfers in and now they will be the starting quarterback and that junior will be second string again.  Is that fair to the athlete who has been there 3 years, waiting for their chance to start and then taken away because of another transfer?  If you were that kid’s parents, how would you feel?

How much are these college athletes making with this new NIL ruling?  The average is about $3700 which is a good amount but there is a big range.  Arch Manning is a 22-year-old junior from University of Texas–he plays quarterback for them.  Through sponsorships and endorsements, he makes about $6.8 million a year.  Yup, in college and makes that much.  He is not even a professional football player yet.  

I would be the last person to begrudge these athletes their fair due.  I think it was wrong for colleges and the NCAA to take advantage of their amateur standings and keep all the money these student athletes were making for the colleges.  But when the ruling came down, there were very little guidelines on how this was going to be implemented and regulated.

Let’s sum up the issues.  First, student athletes are receiving money from the boosters to come play at their college–indirectly.

Student athletes are transferring colleges, some every year, to get more money and playing time.

Student athletes are commanding horrendous amounts of money from colleges to play there.  This is putting athletic departments in financial peril.

Student athletes are staying longer in colleges so they can keep getting the outrageous amounts of money to play.  Backstory–college eligibility to play a sport was 4 years.  You could play that sport for 4 years only with one exception–if you were “red shirt” your first year (you didn’t play), then you still had 4 years of eligibility.  Once COVID hit, eligibility was suspended and hasn’t been fully restored yet.  Because of this, we have 26-year-olds and older still playing college sports!

So, what do we do?  Well, President Trump took the first step–and it is a good one.  This month, he signed an executive order that would limit eligibility to five years, allow one transfer without penalty for undergraduates, stop pay-for-play schemes, and build in protections for women’s and Olympic sports.

There still needs to be some federal legislation but this is a good first step.  Athletes can still make their money but it also gives colleges some rights too.  With proper guidelines and rules, it can be a win-win situation for everyone—especially for the fans.

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