But what you are missing is that all of the professional leagues have unions and collective bargaining. So, you would have to unionize this league. Of course, you could do that now in the current model of a college based league, but its difficult with transient players who are only in the league for 4-5 years, but its possible.
But, if you go pro and untether from the schools, maybe there isn't a 4 year eligibility requirement. Anyone can play for as long as they want. Could middling NFL players drop back down to play? Could Phillip Rivers go back to NC State and finish up his career at 45?
The more you talk about this the more I am certain I would not watch a minute of it.
Let's assume the Big Ten and SEC schools and decide they're sick of all the bullshit and say they want to join forces to create a pro league but remain tied to the schools...
They could do the following hypothetically...
Start their league and we'll call it "Super League" for purposes of this discussion.
1) Appoint a BOD and commissioner that all the schools vote on.
2) Hire an independent firm to create a non-profit collective bargaining group for players led by a board of XYZ former players, agents, and attorneys that all current players would have to approve. This process could be assisted by the current NFL union. My personal feeling is the short duration of college careers isn't as much of a hindrance as you think because the average NFL career is just as short, if not shorter.
3) These teams created would be distinct entities and independent of the schools but owned by--and tied to them through licensing--and have the same conduct and ethics parameters as they currently do. Licensing would allow the teams and schools to use current facilities, resources, logos, intellectual property, etc. Super League rules would not allow independent ownership and any staff would have to be approved by member universities. Coaches are a MUCH more important variable in college football than pro football, and you could regulate the horse trading of coaches that goes on every year in college football as well. Can setup sensible playoff formats.
At that point you would be able to establish reasonable salary caps that could be agreed upon by the players' CBA. You could establish contracts and free agency parameters which would eliminate what's happening now with free transferring, disparate NIL, and players skirting current NIL caps through outside endorsement. You could also require players to be enrolled in the university whose team they're playing for and maintain passing grades for the duration.
The transfer rules and any other pertinent details would be worked out through CB.
Would you not watch that? They're still students and you can still maintain rivalries, traditions, "hallowed grounds" such as existing stadiums, etc. IMO it's a better product for fans with transfer and salary limits.
You'd find out who the best coaches and recruiters are, and that would bring you back to something that isn't ruled 100% by money like it is now.
I honestly feel that what we have current state is better than what we had 20+ years ago. Fans are seeing what a small amount of parity does instead of having the Bamas and Clemsons and Georgias rule the world every year. We have Indiana at the top of the heap now which would've never happened in a million years under the old guard. This year has been one of the most fun seasons I can remember watching because it's not the same old shit on rinse/repeat all the time. But even though what we have now is better, they could still make it better yet. I'm not under any delusion that schools will all decide to play nice and do something like this, but I do think a form of it is going to have to happen at some point. I don't have any faith in the government 1) caring enough to do something or 2) getting it right even if they did.
