On the eve of the National Championship game for college football, I thought it would be a time to review the enormous changes that have swept through college sports in the last few years.  Changes that have completely changed how  college players are recruited, compensated, and tied to their institutions. These changes have affected virtually every sport,  but have had the most profound effect in football and basketball.   Some would say “changes” is a far too subtle a term….many would say “wreaked havoc” and some say “ruined”.

A little history first.

There are 2 major changes that have had seismic effects on college sports, NIL and Transfer rules.  Let’s discuss NIL first.  It stands for “name, image, likeness”.   The roots of discontent over compensation for college players goes back to the late 2000’s when Ed O’Bannon, a UCLA basketball player, plus 19 other players, sued the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association, the ruling body of most college sports) for not allowing players to share in revenues generated by broadcasts and video games. But it was not until California legislators passed the “Fair pay to play act” in 2019 that things accelerated.  Other states passed similar legislation and amateurism was on its death bed.  In the summer of 2021, the NCAA adopted an interim rule allowing NIL activity, IE, allowing players to be compensated for their name, image, or likeness.   It makes sense really. For example, why shouldn’t a football player be allowed to make money by appearing in a commercial for a local restaurant? Certainly, an aspiring and successful musician or author also attending the same college would not be restricted in such a way. Why should an athlete?  It’s actually surprising it was not challenged earlier.  Especially considering the absolutely staggering amount of money involved in college sports.  Make no mistake about it, it’s big business. The Big 10 conference’s media deal in 2022 was for 7 billion (yes a B) dollars!

Before 2021, college athletes were basically limited to a full scholarship, which included tuition, room, board, and small stipends.  Now they could go and earn money with companies willing to pay for their NIL.  But as you might guess, things quickly escalated way past the star QB doing a commercial for the local pizza joint.  Boosters, especially influential and well-off boosters, organized and funded “collectives” that would entice players with substantial payments for their NIL rights.   The NCAA released a “guidance” that collectives were not to be involved in the recruiting process.  Ha! Of course, this was ignored, plus many states passed legislature allowing schools to arrange third party relationships (agents) and payments.  So now rich boosters could legally pay for star athletes to play at their beloved institutions. What was scandal was legal, and became commonplace.  And pay they did.  6 even 7 figure payments were rumored.  Many big time schools had NIL budgets more than 20 million dollars, higher than the payroll of the Oakland Athletics Baseball team (but not the Dodgers!).  Now, 17 and 18 year old high school players could have agents, and basically shop around for the biggest “bag”.   

The second major change that has upended college sports has been the transfer portal.  Prior to 2018, a player wanting to transfer to another school was met with a lot of eligibility issues and regulations. It was possible, but difficult. In 2018 the NCAA created the “transfer portal” where a player could declare he or she wanted to transfer, and then be legally contacted and recruited by schools. The catch was that the player would have to sit out a year.  The transfer portal was used, but not in big numbers, as players want to play, and if they were pro football prospects, play as soon as possible.  That changed in 2021, after another lawsuit against the NCAA, and players were allowed to play immediately. The other change was in 2022, , when the portal was organized in “transfer windows” (much like professional soccer). When the portal was “open”, players could declare their intent to transfer.  For  example, football (and all fall sports) have 2 windows, a 20 day window right after bowl selection Sunday (Dec 9^th), and a 10 day window in April. If a team is playing in a later round of the playoffs, the players have an additional 5 day window after their last game.   

The net effect of all this?  Uncontrolled “free agency”.  Players can basically offer themselves to the highest bidder every year.   Basketball teams routinely lose 50-90% of their entire roster every year. My college team had 2 players left on its entire roster after the transfer window, 2 years in a row!  You go to a game, and have to ask, who are these guys?

Football teams routinely lose dozens of players, stars and backups.  One of the things fans of college sports have always loved is watching a player develop from a struggling freshman to a confident senior.  Those days are long gone.  The reason we root and are so tied emotionally to our college teams is the sense that we, and the players, share a common bond. We walked the same campus, went to the same classes, frequented the same hang out  spots.   Well, when they transfer in, play one semester and transfer out….

Some more effects: Because the fall transfer window is before college football bowl games, rosters are often decimated before the games are even played. Marshall University (“We Are Marshall!”) won their conference, but then opted out of the Independence bowl against Army because they lost 29 scholarship players in the first week the portal was opened.  Except for the top teams in the playoffs, many bowl games looked like scrimmages between backups and freshman.

To add to the confusion, in 2024 a 2.8 billion dollar settlement for 3 antitrust suits against the NCAA was approved by a US district judge, to allow colleges and universities to directly pay, and share revenue, with athletes.  Schools will be allowed to distribute about 21.5 million dollars a year.  The deal is set to be finalized in April of 2025.  Many details need to be worked out, including the role of NIL and collectives.

Where does this leave us?   In light of a toothless NCAA, unable and unwilling to enforce any type of regulations, we are currently in the wild west in the history of college athletics.   It strikes me that yet again, the biggest loser will be the fan.  We lose identity with our teams…we root for our favorite player and, whoops, next year he plays for our rival.  The price of attendance will go up as well.  Who always pays the bills?  We do.  Sounds like pro sports, which has its own issue of escalating costs and ticket prices, but that is an article for another time.

Do I have suggestions?  I’ve thought about it, and it is complicated, and the landscape is littered with legal landmines. No doubt the players deserve a cut of the pie when they are putting their body and future health on the line.   But the current situation is a complete mess, and unsustainable in my opinion.    It was remarked that the last true college football game played this year was the Army-Navy game. No NIL, no free agency, actual students and no rich boosters and agents manipulating the rosters.   The irony is that the military academies have been paying their players for years! All the students at the academies get paid, but not much.  Since they are sworn in as members of the military, they get paid a small salary (about 35% of what a commissioned officer gets). They also have an obligation of serving 5 years.  Maybe this is a possible answer. Perhaps players need to be employees of the university.  With contracts lasting more than one year. With the university assuming NIL rights. Then we get into leveling the playing field, maybe with salary caps for different divisions.  Sound like professional sports, but let’s face it, that is where we are.  So what do you think?  Is the problem solvable? Or will the madness filter into high school sports too.  I can just see it, high school players driving to school in Ferraris and Porsches…..(or perhaps Hummers in Texas).