Airing of Grievances: NIL/Portal

[XUBison]

Welcome to the Twilight zone. It seems inevitable that the topics of NIL and the transfer portal will be an ongoing conversation for the foreseeable future, but as they are seeping into almost every other thread, it’s time to give the conversation its own home. Perhaps now we can limit the Transfer Portal thread to the excitement and anguish of roster comings and goings, and maybe even satisfy some posters’ crack addictions. Shame-shame-shame can also now be cast here on backbenchers like me, while the “Final 2%” thread can be left to focus on the important people working to fund the war machine. Feel free to bitch, moan, dismiss, assuage, or bypass altogether.

I’ll start by whining about the most recent drift in the “Transfer Portal” thread; On the topic of making players university employees, collective bargaining, and revenue sharing. I’m curious how people see this happening. I am skeptical, especially of the latter two. This would be immensely complex. I mean, it is when you have one employer and one group of employees, but there are so many layers here: NCAA, conferences, schools, not to mention the unique media deals with each. Would employee-players bargain with their respective programs, the conferences,the NCAA? If the universities themselves, then wouldn’t each school have its own set of rules? If the conferences, are programs like UK going to share revenue with programs like Vanderbilt? If the NCAA, Are the Big 10 and SEC going to share with the Big East or ACC?

There are lots of conceivable problems no matter how you cut it, and I think there’s no way any of this happens without sweeping legislation. I can’t imagine a scenario where each team forms its own union, so this will have to happen under a broader context. I also can’t see all 350 D-1 programs coming under a single CBA, so would there then be tiers? Then there’s the issue of unions composed of 18-22 yr-old college kids. Can they form a strong union, or will they buckle like a Baltimore bridge? “hey kid, you’ve reached your dream of playing D-1 basketball (you’re even fully compensated for it), but we need you to hold your ground now, because we’re going on strike!” Or, more laughable yet, the college kids get locked out— by college administrators!

[Xville]

Frankly, I don’t know how it would work. I don’t know all the laws that will need to change to make it possible.

What I do know is that the current system isn’t sustainable, and something is going to have to change. Going to be hard to put some of the genie back in the bottle, so the only way to do that is thru legislation.

[94GRAD]

I for one am happy about NIL. I no longer have to worry about the basketball players expecting free food and drinks now that they make more than I do!

[SM#24]

I for one am happy about NIL. I no longer have to worry about the basketball players expecting free food and drinks now that they make more than I do!

We can now get them to buy for us.

[Strange Brew]

I for one am happy about NIL. I no longer have to worry about the basketball players expecting free food and drinks now that they make more than I do!

Wait. Just hold up. Are the Club players still allowed to beg for free food/drinks? :)

[WCWIII]

NIL/Portal is spiraling out of control. I'm giving it a few more years to see if it settles down, but this whole new wild wild west is on a path to remove following and supporting Xavier basketball as one of my life's great pleasures.

I certainly didn't mind student athletes being able to earn some $$ like other students or for a mid-major star to transfer and get a chance to transfer and spend a year or two in a top tier program.

Professional G-Leaguers make $50K-ish ... seems about the right level if there is to be a cap. $500K or more? Why are they worth $500K? That's not just the athlete's NIL ... it's the "NIL of us fans" and the "NIL of the university" and us fans don't get anything, and the university struggles as potential big donors are sinking the big cash into a disappearing hole of a player's pocket, agent's pockets, and player's families' pockets. And with big money, there is now the huge hole of those who exploit gambling, corruption, and crime. Throw this into different laws for different states. This is all ruining the sport, undermining the fan bases, and thus its making it all a less valuable product. It's currently a financial charade, a ponzi-scheme to exploit what us fans really want which is NOT to have our beloved university run and sponsor a full-fledged professional sports team.

Great that Fed-Ex supports its hometown of Memphis. But should I stop using Fed-Ex ($25M to Memphis) if I don't like the Memphis Tigers? Imagine if P&G gave such a transformative bump to only one of UC or XU collective. Or if it gave to both ... why should the whole country pay higher prices for shampoo to support Cincinnati basketball?

I'm not for extra regulation, but the NCAA and the universities need to reclaim what's spiraling out of control. It's hard to come up with concrete suggestions ... here are a couple
Cap the collective - stop this turning into unrestricted free agency and pay to play
The Big East or leagues could prohibit players transferring intraleague - maybe they'd have to sit for a year

Will Zach be the last ever recruited high school player to play his whole career at Xavier and join the 1000 point club?

[xubrew]

NIL/Portal is spiraling out of control. I'm giving it a few more years to see if it settles down, but this whole new wild wild west is on a path to remove following and supporting Xavier basketball as one of my life's great pleasures.

I certainly didn't mind student athletes being able to earn some $$ like other students or for a mid-major star to transfer and get a chance to transfer and spend a year or two in a top tier program.

Professional G-Leaguers make $50K-ish ... seems about the right level if there is to be a cap. $500K or more? Why are they worth $500K? That's not just the athlete's NIL ... it's the "NIL of us fans" and the "NIL of the university" and us fans don't get anything, and the university struggles as potential big donors are sinking the big cash into a disappearing hole of a player's pocket, agent's pockets, and player's families' pockets. And with big money, there is now the huge hole of those who exploit gambling, corruption, and crime. Throw this into different laws for different states. This is all ruining the sport, undermining the fan bases, and thus its making it all a less valuable product. It's currently a financial charade, a ponzi-scheme to exploit what us fans really want which is NOT to have our beloved university run and sponsor a full-fledged professional sports team.

Great that Fed-Ex supports its hometown of Memphis. But should I stop using Fed-Ex ($25M to Memphis) if I don't like the Memphis Tigers? Imagine if P&G gave such a transformative bump to only one of UC or XU collective. Or if it gave to both ... why should the whole country pay higher prices for shampoo to support Cincinnati basketball?

I'm not for extra regulation, but the NCAA and the universities need to reclaim what's spiraling out of control. It's hard to come up with concrete suggestions ... here are a couple
Cap the collective - stop this turning into unrestricted free agency and pay to play
The Big East or leagues could prohibit players transferring intraleague - maybe they'd have to sit for a year

Will Zach be the last ever recruited high school player to play his whole career at Xavier and join the 1000 point club?

Everything that is happening, literally all of it, is because of the courts. If the NCAA tried to implement either one of these, then someone would sue and they would probably win.

The problem is while the old system didn't allow for this kind of craziness and made it feel as though college football and basketball were more tangible than pro sports to a lot of people, it was also illegal.

I wonder what's coming next? Will someone sue on the grounds that they are only allowed to play four seasons?? Will they try and claim that violates anti-trust laws?? And if that does end up in the courts, do they have a case??

[bjf123]

Can they rescind their commitment to the new school? Wouldn’t this be tampering in any pro sport?


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[xubrew]

Wild West just got wilder.

Those who have transferred to other teams are still getting calls and have been offered more money.

https://x.com/john_fanta/status/1786...shJKowj_nNzfHg

Can they rescind their commitment to the new school? Wouldn’t this be tampering in any pro sport?

Financial aid agreements are not binding and they never have been. Players have been signing them and then reneging for the at least the last 20 years and probably longer. Granted, in the days prior to NIL no one's stated reason for reneging was that they wanted more NIL money, but this is not a new thing. NLIs for incoming freshmen and juco transfers are binding. Financial aid agreements in and of themselves are not.

And, not to be over-technical about this, but no one has "already transferred." I know what he meant, but verbally committing and/or signing a financial aid agreement does not constitute completing the transfer process. All the players are still presently enrolled at the schools that they played for this past season. Until they take themselves out of the portal, or matriculate at a new school, they're fair game. This isn't a new development. The coaches have known this since the portal was first implemented.

[noteggs]

Financial aid agreements are not binding and they never have been. Players have been signing them and then reneging for the at least the last 20 years and probably longer. Granted, in the days prior to NIL no one's stated reason for reneging was that they wanted more NIL money, but this is not a new thing. NLIs for incoming freshmen and juco transfers are binding. Financial aid agreements in and of themselves are not.

And, not to be over-technical about this, but no one has "already transferred." I know what he meant, but verbally committing and/or signing a financial aid agreement does not constitute completing the transfer process. All the players are still presently enrolled at the schools that they played for this past season. Until they take themselves out of the portal, or matriculate at a new school, they're fair game. This isn't a new development. The coaches have known this since the portal was first implemented.

I heard Sean couldn’t talk about them until they signed. All five now signed. So where does fit in? The financial aid agreement. Thanks