Do we like the Ohio State WR visiting today?

I suspect they structure these deals as independent contractors. If so, the Swarm is not the employer, but more like a talent broker. The athletes would be fully responsible for paying all taxes and SS.
That's kind of what I figured. I'm sure all of the athletes are (cough) correctly reporting (cough) on that income.......
 
That's kind of what I figured. I'm sure all of the athletes are (cough) correctly reporting (cough) on that income.......
They probably are getting the appropriate IRS form so it would difficult to just say you got $XXX when you really got $X,XXX. It's not like they're paid cash under the table.
 
How do you collectively bargain a salary cap with no players union and you are not the source of the funding?????

That is like me declaring that I want a salary cap on what window washers make because the window washer outside my office gets paid less than the window washers across the street and my window washers are not happy and I don't think that is fair.
 
How do you collectively bargain a salary cap with no players union and you are not the source of the funding?????

That is like me declaring that I want a salary cap on what window washers make because the window washer outside my office gets paid less than the window washers across the street and my window washers are not happy and I don't think that is fair.
A salary cap on all schools at the same level could certainly help control the ability of the rich get richer, uncontrolled “buying” of players. I assume you know full well what is going on with the top Powers in the Power 5 essentially paying big bucks to recruits while the rest of the teams, who already struggle with keeping up with the Jones’s, simply don’t have the level of resources to compete. Seems to work in creating some parity in the NFL.

I really do not want the “haves and have nots“ to become even worse than the traditions that control college football at this time.

Window washers. Guess they need to unionize.
 
A salary cap on all schools at the same level could certainly help control the ability of the rich get richer, uncontrolled “buying” of players. I assume you know full well what is going on with the top Powers in the Power 5 essentially paying big bucks to recruits while the rest of the teams, who already struggle with keeping up with the Jones’s, simply don’t have the level of resources to compete. Seems to work in creating some parity in the NFL.

I really do not want the “haves and have nots“ to become even worse than the traditions that control college football at this time.

Window washers. Guess they need to unionize.

Unions are cartels. They specifically exist to restrict output to maintain a desired price level. Unions are only legal because of an exemption for them under the Sherman Act and the Clayton Act. Any sort of attempt to create an NIL salary cap would require a similar exemption from the antitrust laws and it will never happen.

College football is in a decent spot competitively. Sure, some big dogs have run away from the pack, but just this past season TCU, a team that was left at the altar when Arkansas left for the SEC and the SWC folded making way for the Big 12, found itself in the national championship game. TCU didn't even win its conference title game but was still good enough to beat the Big Ten champs. It's less than half the size of Iowa. If they can do it, anyone can.
 
A salary cap on all schools at the same level could certainly help control the ability of the rich get richer, uncontrolled “buying” of players. I assume you know full well what is going on with the top Powers in the Power 5 essentially paying big bucks to recruits while the rest of the teams, who already struggle with keeping up with the Jones’s, simply don’t have the level of resources to compete. Seems to work in creating some parity in the NFL.

I really do not want the “haves and have nots“ to become even worse than the traditions that control college football at this time.

Window washers. Guess they need to unionize.
None of that is happening... It was already the case pre NIL. There's no revenue sharing. OSU and Michigan are miles ahead of Rutgers. Always were always will be. How could NIL payments even be controlled? We live in a capitalistic society it's illegal to do what's being suggested. They aren't employees of the schools. They can't unionize due to that alone. The schools don't want to have the players all become employees either. That's a whole other rabbit hole they don't want to go down.
 
The only way this would work is to declare college football players employees, allow them to unionize, negotiate salaries to be paid to them under a collective bargaining agreement with an agreed salary cap for each team, AND include non-compete agreements that prohibit them from earning revenue based upon football or NIL or the like outside of what they make playing for their school. Executive employment agreements often have exclusivity or "full-time employee" provisions that prohibit side work/income. Its a question of a mutually agreed for bargain.

This would all be totally legal. College presidents and ADs don't have the stomach to go all the way. Not gonna happen.
 
The only way this would work is to declare college football players employees, allow them to unionize, negotiate salaries to be paid to them under a collective bargaining agreement with an agreed salary cap for each team, AND include non-compete agreements that prohibit them from earning revenue based upon football or NIL or the like outside of what they make playing for their school. Executive employment agreements often have exclusivity or "full-time employee" provisions that prohibit side work/income. Its a question of a mutually agreed for bargain.

This would all be totally legal. College presidents and ADs don't have the stomach to go all the way. Not gonna happen.
The best players would still get around it with endorsement deals just like NFL players now.

Phil Knight and any other big corporate names would just target the players they want to go to XYZ school and pay through the nose that way.

How are you going to get college players to sign agreements to not earn revenue based on football when the whole idea of NIL was to do just that? Any sort of salary cap you're not going to get athletes to go along with. What's your leverage to get them to sign something like that? There's zero threat. What are they going to do...call off college football?

There are so many ways around it you'd never be able to institute something. People just need to realize there's a fair market value for these guys and it is what it is. It's not like there aren't about 5 schools totally dominating anyway.
 
The best players would still get around it with endorsement deals just like NFL players now.

Phil Knight and any other big corporate names would just target the players they want to go to XYZ school and pay through the nose that way.

How are you going to get college players to sign agreements to not earn revenue based on football when the whole idea of NIL was to do just that? Any sort of salary cap you're not going to get athletes to go along with. What's your leverage to get them to sign something like that? There's zero threat. What are they going to do...call off college football?

There are so many ways around it you'd never be able to institute something. People just need to realize there's a fair market value for these guys and it is what it is. It's not like there aren't about 5 schools totally dominating anyway.
This is an esoteric discussion as the presidents won't agree to become a minor league professional football league, but if this were to happen, it would shut down NIL's and no show endorsement rights deals tied to a given school.

Yes, the NFL collective bargaining agreement does not prohibit endorsement deals, but I am confident they cannot be tied to playing for a specific team. That would violate the salary cap. The Chiefs fans cannot start a collective and pool their money to lure a strong safety to come to play for the Chiefs. Phil Knight could not offer Patrick Mahommes and extra hundred mil in endorsements, but only if he signed with the Seahawks.

College could mimic the NFL if it wanted to, and move towards a much more even playing field. It won't. The NFL's financial parity and salary cap have made it into the giant that it is, because it is one of the few sports where championships are earned through well-run organizations and not just purchased by the highest bidder. See the Dallas Cowboys/Washington Commanders versus Green Bay in this regard.
 
This is an esoteric discussion as the presidents won't agree to become a minor league professional football league, but if this were to happen, it would shut down NIL's and no show endorsement rights deals tied to a given school.

Yes, the NFL collective bargaining agreement does not prohibit endorsement deals, but I am confident they cannot be tied to playing for a specific team. That would violate the salary cap. The Chiefs fans cannot start a collective and pool their money to lure a strong safety to come to play for the Chiefs. Phil Knight could not offer Patrick Mahommes and extra hundred mil in endorsements, but only if he signed with the Seahawks.

College could mimic the NFL if it wanted to, and move towards a much more even playing field. It won't. The NFL's financial parity and salary cap have made it into the giant that it is, because it is one of the few sports where championships are earned through well-run organizations and not just purchased by the highest bidder. See the Dallas Cowboys/Washington Commanders versus Green Bay in this regard.
I don't necessarily think it's a thing where presidents would be the speed bump; it would be the players.
 
I don't necessarily think it's a thing where presidents would be the speed bump; it would be the players.
What are the players alternative options? There is no G league or Europe or China in football. The only option for 18-22 year old kids to play football is collegiate football. If the presidents (and this is laughable because it will never happen) all get together and decide to turn college teams into a professional league, then the players would be offered contracts, not scholarships. And, they could sign them or not. Yes, they could unionize and then we would end up in the same position as the NFL. If college football were to move to a professional model, the players would swim with the tide or be left out of football altogether.
 
The only way this would work is to declare college football players employees, allow them to unionize, negotiate salaries to be paid to them under a collective bargaining agreement with an agreed salary cap for each team, AND include non-compete agreements that prohibit them from earning revenue based upon football or NIL or the like outside of what they make playing for their school. Executive employment agreements often have exclusivity or "full-time employee" provisions that prohibit side work/income. Its a question of a mutually agreed for bargain.

This would all be totally legal. College presidents and ADs don't have the stomach to go all the way. Not gonna happen.
That'd be the end of it being amateur. There's just no way. All the negatives that would bring on for the schools wouldn't be worth it to them just to try and make things more 'fair'. The NCAA wouldn't want it the schools sure wouldn't either. All to try and do something that has never been the case. I mean we have ND that's an independent with a tv contract. You have Texas that's a part of a conference with their own network. OSU Michigan PSU are miles ahead of what they bring in compared to Northwestern and Rutgers.

Are we looking to make it so Alabama has to revenue share with Purdue? Is that how wild things are trying to be? That's not how it's ever worked and I don't see anyone ever going for it. The NCAA fought tooth and nail for decades to try and maintain the status quo fighting NIL all together they sure as hell aren't going to just bend all the way to that now.
 
As I said a couple of times, this won't happen. The juice is not worth the squeeze just to ensure better parity.

Think about it this way if you are the president of a major university. Probably your organization's biggest revenue source is largely manned by a workforce of, effectively, volunteers, who you just have to house and feed and provide free services to. On top of that, outside people and entities want to voluntarily pay your workforce directly just to keep them happy and in place (where, again, they are generating ungodly sums of money for the university). Yes, parity and transparency are a pretty big problem with this system, but on balance, you have a pretty damn good thing going for you, Prez......
That'd be the end of it being amateur. There's just no way. All the negatives that would bring on for the schools wouldn't be worth it to them just to try and make things more 'fair'. The NCAA wouldn't want it the schools sure wouldn't either. All to try and do something that has never been the case. I mean we have ND that's an independent with a tv contract. You have Texas that's a part of a conference with their own network. OSU Michigan PSU are miles ahead of what they bring in compared to Northwestern and Rutgers.

Are we looking to make it so Alabama has to revenue share with Purdue? Is that how wild things are trying to be? That's not how it's ever worked and I don't see anyone ever going for it. The NCAA fought tooth and nail for decades to try and maintain the status quo fighting NIL all together they sure as hell aren't going to just bend all the way t
 
The NIL right now is out of control. Some way, shape, or form, they are going to have some sort of guidelines. Hunter Dickinson, the center for Michigan, who just transferred to Kansas was receiving some backlash for his decision and his reply that most people would leave their current job (too) if they got a $10 raise (elsewhere).

He stated he was not even making six figures at Michigan. It's hard to wrap your head around in a sense with how far this has gone from the amateur days. But, it's what college sports have become. A college has a need, and you can get paid more elsewhere, your services go to the highest bidder.

It truly has become a version of professional sports. These athletes are literally negotiating contracts with collectives for their services. A far cry from what I believe the original "representation and compensation" was intended to be.
 
Everyone on this Board is a crazy Iowa Hawkeyes fan and I am sure most of us would have jumped at the chance to be an Iowa athlete of some variety. But, if we were in the position of these kids and had a materially better NIL opportunity somewhere else, everyone of us would consider a transfer. I f'ing hate Notre Dame, but if they wanted to pay me 500k to play football and Iowa offered me only 50k, I am Touchdown Jesus bound!
 
Everyone on this Board is a crazy Iowa Hawkeyes fan and I am sure most of us would have jumped at the chance to be an Iowa athlete of some variety. But, if we were in the position of these kids and had a materially better NIL opportunity somewhere else, everyone of us would consider a transfer. I f'ing hate Notre Dame, but if they wanted to pay me 500k to play football and Iowa offered me only 50k, I am Touchdown Jesus bound!
For me it was Nebraska. Hearing about Johnny Rogers in high school and all would've been cool to block for, aside from all the other fringe benefits. wink wink
 

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