Portal and NIL Mercenizes College Sports

[Good-Knight]

I think we will look back and see that introducing the Portal and NIL at the same time was a big mistake. I had long advocated both but I didn't appreciate how both together would create bidding wars and team hoppers. The feeling of team loyalty, even if it was a myth, is laid bare. If you are soph playing 8 minutes and getting 5ppg, not transferring like saying you don't believe in your own talents. Those guys used to be the building blocks of well coached teams, now they hit the road and fizzle out under coaches that are not as connected to them as the ones who recruited them and called them after high school games.

The results is players less connected to schools, less connected to coaches and fans less connected to players. Fans less connected to schools is the dreadful next step. RU has been on the positive side so far, but the long run effect is not positive for college sports. The NIL genie is already out of the bottle. Can't see how we can go back. I think the portal should only be open to seniors on track to graduate and eliminate the grad student 5th year.

 

[MiloTalon13]

Don’t forget the impact of the COVID year on this too. An extra year of eligibility for everyone was idiotic and contributes to the chaos

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

I think we will look back and see that introducing the Portal and NIL at the same time was a big mistake. I had long advocated both but I didn't appreciate how both together would create bidding wars and team hoppers. The feeling of team loyalty, even if it was a myth, is laid bare. If you are soph playing 8 minutes and getting 5ppg, not transferring like saying you don't believe in your own talents. Those guys used to be the building blocks of well coached teams, now they hit the road and fizzle out under coaches that are not as connected to them as the ones who recruited them and called them after high school games.

The results is players less connected to schools, less connected to coaches and fans less connected to players. Fans less connected to schools is the dreadful next step. RU has been on the positive side so far, but the long run effect is not positive for college sports. The NIL genie is already out of the bottle. Can't see how we can go back. I think the portal should only be open to seniors on track to graduate and eliminate the grad student 5th year.

What about coaches who get fired??

What about assistant coaches who leave for other opportunities??

If a coach us fired, the players are stuck at a school that the coach recruited him/her to??

Do we want to be forced to go into next year with players who cannot help RU win games??

It is just a new "normal", the system before was much worse with schools accumulating players, just to keep them away from competition. The old Michigan and Ohio State football mantra in the 60s and 70s, was to " recruit everybody, so you don't have to face them, elsewhere in the Big Ten"

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

These are 2 separate items and decisions weren't made.

I hate the transfer portal and really hate NIL as a fan and a graduate of Rutgers, BUT I side with the players with the transfer rules and i think players deserve and are entitled to a piece of the pie.

 

[Good-Knight]

I would let kids free transfer after a Head Coach change. I get that assistants often mean more to specific players than the HC, but assistants move so frequently that it would basically open up a free for all again.

I usually side with the players, but free agency and pay to play are professional concepts that change the character of amateur college sports into something that people will have less affection for.

 

[LotusAggressor]

You can't put the toothpaste back in the tube. The NCAA is reaping what it has sown.

 

[NickRU714]

Considering the excitement for elite transfers Spencer and Fernandes combined with the excitement for elite recruits (Ace Bailey) hard to make the argument that "people will have less affection".

We took players who were the best players on their teams (wasn't Spencer best in his entire conference?)
Are people crying for those teams?

Are people jumping ship because Oskar, Miller and Reiber are leaving?

 

[MiloTalon13]

These are 2 separate items and decisions weren't made.

I hate the transfer portal and really hate NIL as a fan and a graduate of Rutgers, BUT I side with the players with the transfer rules and i think players deserve and are entitled to a piece of the pie.

Exactly where I am. As a fan I liked the old ways better BUT it was absolutely wrong in every way

 

[MiloTalon13]

You can't put the toothpaste back in the tube. The NCAA is reaping what it has sown.

Yup they had a decade plus to know this was coming court cases take a looong time to get to the Supreme Court and yet the NCAA did nothing

 

[ru8081]

I think the NIL is a disaster. This all started with players sharing with college athletics profits/sales. I am fine with the NCAA stipulating a dollar amount for all athletes on scholarship (maybe limited to Football and Basketball). The dollar amount must be the same for Alabama and NJIT. It's pretty obvious how the blue bloods are benefiting from it. I also have a problem with a school with 6 athletic programs with one rich donor buying a national championship.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Considering the excitement for elite transfers Spencer and Fernandes combined with the excitement for elite recruits (Ace Bailey) hard to make the argument that "people will have less affection".

We took players who were the best players on their teams (wasn't Spencer best in his entire conference?)
Are people crying for those teams?

Are people jumping ship because Oskar, Miller and Reiber are leaving?

I am one fan and I would definitely call myself atypical.

I am not excited about Noah Fernandes coming for 1 year. Having Ace Bailey and possibly Dylan harper come for 1 year doesn't do much for me either.

I go to games with my wife and we watch most of the players be here for 4 years. There comes an attachment to certain players and there is an enjoyment watching them get better.

 

[RUbacker]

I think we will look back and see that introducing the Portal and NIL at the same time was a big mistake. I had long advocated both but I didn't appreciate how both together would create bidding wars and team hoppers. The feeling of team loyalty, even if it was a myth, is laid bare. If you are soph playing 8 minutes and getting 5ppg, not transferring like saying you don't believe in your own talents. Those guys used to be the building blocks of well coached teams, now they hit the road and fizzle out under coaches that are not as connected to them as the ones who recruited them and called them after high school games.

The results is players less connected to schools, less connected to coaches and fans less connected to players. Fans less connected to schools is the dreadful next step. RU has been on the positive side so far, but the long run effect is not positive for college sports. The NIL genie is already out of the bottle. Can't see how we can go back. I think the portal should only be open to seniors on track to graduate and eliminate the grad student 5th year.

No shit !

 

[MiloTalon13]

I think the NIL is a disaster. This all started with players sharing with college athletics profits/sales. I am fine with the NCAA stipulating a dollar amount for all athletes on scholarship (maybe limited to Football and Basketball). The dollar amount must be the same for Alabama and NJIT. It's pretty obvious how the blue bloods are benefiting from it. I also have a problem with a school with 6 athletic programs with one rich donor buying a national championship.

Are you a communist/socialist through and through or just for college athletes?

 

[MiloTalon13]

I am one fan and I would definitely call myself atypical.

I am not excited about Noah Fernandes coming for 1 year. Having Ace Bailey and possibly Dylan harper come for 1 year doesn't do much for me either.

I go to games with my wife and we watch most of the players be here for 4 years. There comes an attachment to certain players and there is an enjoyment watching them get better.

The Ivy League is calling

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

The Ivy League is calling

I do enjoy watching it.

 

[LotusAggressor]

Considering the excitement for elite transfers Spencer and Fernandes combined with the excitement for elite recruits (Ace Bailey) hard to make the argument that "people will have less affection".

We took players who were the best players on their teams (wasn't Spencer best in his entire conference?)
Are people crying for those teams?

Are people jumping ship because Oskar, Miller and Reiber are leaving?

Most fans have affection for winning and a high level of play on the court. There was a 3 decade stretch of RU basketball where players stayed 4 years and never improved, and the records showed it.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Most fans have affection for winning and a high level of play on the court. There was a 3 decade stretch of RU basketball where players stayed 4 years and never improved, and the records showed it.

We did have a long period where we didn't have any players in the program for 4 years with one coach.

 

[derleider]

I would let kids free transfer after a Head Coach change. I get that assistants often mean more to specific players than the HC, but assistants move so frequently that it would basically open up a free for all again.

I usually side with the players, but free agency and pay to play are professional concepts that change the character of amateur college sports into something that people will have less affection for.

Which is good. Ultimately, colleges shouldn't be running major minor league sports leagues. At some point that system - a multi billion dollar industry predicated around the idea that these are just students who happen to be good at sports playing for the love of the game - had to break.

 

[High Quality H2O]

Don’t forget the impact of the COVID year on this too. An extra year of eligibility for everyone was idiotic and contributes to the chaos

@fluoxetine do you know where we can get stats on total minutes played by player (and player year listed....i.e. 5th yr). I dug around the free stuff available Evan Miya and some other sites but could not find it.

I wonder how many total minutes were played by 5th year players this past season and how many that averages per D1 team.

You have to imagine that once the 5th year of eligibility phases out (last year should be 24-25 season) these minutes come down the chain back towards sophs and even some freshmen.

I think that may curb some of the need to go elsewhere for minutes.
I do realize that is only a part of the situation OP is talking about.

 

[LotusAggressor]

Which is good. Ultimately, colleges shouldn't be running major minor league sports leagues. At some point that system - a multi billion dollar industry predicated around the idea that these are just students who happen to be good at sports playing for the love of the game - had to break.

The folly of this idea has been exposed. It took legislation from states and multiple court cases. Now the NCAA has a new President who's going to try to unring this bell by lobbying/bribing Congress.

 

[MiloTalon13]

by lobbying/bribing Congress.

Love the way you put that Sooo true

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

Which is good. Ultimately, colleges shouldn't be running major minor league sports leagues. At some point that system - a multi billion dollar industry predicated around the idea that these are just students who happen to be good at sports playing for the love of the game - had to break.

Who is this guy? Is this a newbie?

Has it been 7 years since there has been a coaching change in college basketball. I haven’t seen any posted.

 

[MiloTalon13]

Which is good. Ultimately, colleges shouldn't be running major minor league sports leagues. At some point that system - a multi billion dollar industry predicated around the idea that these are just students who happen to be good at sports playing for the love of the game - had to break.

In an ideal world I agree and would love no admissions help for athletes let’s see true student athletes compete

BUT it’s not an ideal world and there’s no putting the genie back in the bottle college athletics is big business

 

[bac2therac]

I hate NIL..that is all

 

[NickRU714]

I find the irony very funny:

"NIL is bad! These athletes have no value. Without the school name nobody would know who they are."

But then "Players constantly leaving is bad! Can't generate any type of connection with the fanbase and the fans will lose interest!"

So do people only care about the team name and players are interchangeable or not?
Can't say players don't matter but then also say you lose interest when the players change.

 

[RU848789]

These are 2 separate items and decisions weren't made.

I hate the transfer portal and really hate NIL as a fan and a graduate of Rutgers, BUT I side with the players with the transfer rules and i think players deserve and are entitled to a piece of the pie.

I completely agree that players are entitled to a piece of the pie, just like in many other sports where people under 22 can make good money, and just like in real life where people are free to move around to sell their services. But, we're still talking about universities, whose primary mission is education and building skills for the future, so I hate the free-for-all it has become, which we know encourages all kinds of shady behavior.

I'd much rather see the universities come up with a way to pool some percent of the TV revenue (NFL style revenue sharing, i.e., enlightened socialism), with each school getting money based on some sort of conference ranking tiers and there being some loose rules on how each school distributes that money within the team, probably based on some general performance metrics/playing time, including bonuses for staying at one school and getting a degree. That would at least greatly reduce hopping around, but still reward everyone: sure the top guys would get less than now and the bench guys would get more, but the top guys can always go pro. Won't happen, but it's what I would do...

 

[MiloTalon13]

I completely agree that players are entitled to a piece of the pie, just like in many other sports where people under 22 can make good money, and just like in real life where people are free to move around to sell their services. But, we're still talking about universities, whose primary mission is education and building skills for the future, so I hate the free-for-all it has become, which we know encourages all kinds of shady behavior.

I'd much rather see the universities come up with a way to pool some percent of the TV revenue (NFL style revenue sharing, i.e., enlightened socialism), with each school getting money based on some sort of conference ranking tiers and there being some loose rules on how each school distributes that money within the team, probably based on some general performance metrics/playing time, including bonuses for staying at one school and getting a degree. That would at least greatly reduce hopping around, but still reward everyone: sure the top guys would get less than now and the bench guys would get more, but the top guys can always go pro. Won't happen, but it's what I would do...

Any way the NCAA schools worked together to limit player compensation would violate the court ruling

 

[AdventureHasAName]

You can't put the toothpaste back in the tube. The NCAA is reaping what it has sown.

It's not the NCAA's fault. The NCAA had rules. The Supreme Court (in its infinite wisdom) invalidated them. And the Congress doesn't have the political will power to do the right thing and implement an anti-trust exemption.

 

[AdventureHasAName]

Any way the NCAA schools worked together to limit player compensation would violate the court ruling

Not at all. The conferences can do it individually - that was explicitly stated in the Supreme Court decision. The Big Ten (or the SEC) could state no member school's players may accept NIL money tomorrow if they wanted to.

 

[RU848789]

Any way the NCAA schools worked together to limit player compensation would violate the court ruling

Maybe, but not necessarily. The Alston decision was narrowly focused on NIL and was silent on creating limits on benefits unrelated to education.

 

[Nycrusupporter]

It's not the NCAA's fault. The NCAA had rules. The Supreme Court (in its infinite wisdom) invalidated them. And the Congress doesn't have the political will power to do the right thing and implement an anti-trust exemption.

Anti trust exemptions are only given when players have protections like a union. And the NCAA and the Power Conferences have had no interest in that because it puts everything on the table.

 

[Nycrusupporter]

Not at all. The conferences can do it individually - that was explicitly stated in the Supreme Court decision. The Big Ten (or the SEC) could state no member school's players may accept NIL money tomorrow if they wanted to.

This is not true

 

[AdventureHasAName]

This is not true

This is from the majority opinion affirming the lower court's ruling granting an injunction against the NCAA:

"And the court emphasized that its injunction applies only to the NCAA and multiconference agreements; individual conferences remain free to reimpose every single enjoined restraint tomorrow - or more restrictive ones still."

 

[Russ Wood]

I think we will look back and see that introducing the Portal and NIL at the same time was a big mistake.

Except the transfer portal and NIL were not introduced at the same time.

The transfer portal debuted on Oct. 15, 2018. It is simply a database, and a compliance tool. It looks like something someone designed in the late 90s.

If you've ever seen an Excel Spreadsheet you've basically seen the transfer portal.

College athletes across the nation began signing endorsement deals on Jul. 1, 2021.

 

[ancienthooper]

There are intelligent and fair options to do portal and NIL, but as usual, the deep thinkers at the NCAA screwed it all up.

 

[jaydogsmooth1]

NIL has to get regulated, across the board, in some way or form
Right now, it's the wild west and it's not sustainable long term, nor is it healthy for the sport itself

Now, if we make a serious run due to NIL in the next few years, nobody will be complaining
The old mantra is NIL sucks everybody hates it, and it's going to ruin the sport... until you start NIL'ing

 

[High Quality H2O]

Limit the transfer portal because that can be controlled.

Simplest solution.

Limit the amount of transfers you can take in as a school.

Do it on a rolling period basis to give teams/school flexibility and preserve the right for student to transfer.

Could be roughly the size of an average recruiting class over a 3 year basis.
For example basketball can take 3 in a rolling 3 year window. Take all 3 in one year and nothing for the next two or take 1 every year. Football could get 20 or so in a 3 year period…etc.

However constrained demand (landing spots) not constrained supply (Players) will reduce the movement.

This also keeps more familiar names at your school to limit the rooting for the laundry feel and rewards programs for recruiting and developing well.

It’s actually in the spirit of college athletics too. You are holding programs more accountable to look after their kids and more invested in their success because you can’t send the whole team packing every year.

Levels the playing field with the big dogs.

 

[MiloTalon13]

This is from the majority opinion affirming the lower court's ruling granting an injunction against the NCAA:

"And the court emphasized that its injunction applies only to the NCAA and multiconference agreements; individual conferences remain free to reimpose every single enjoined restraint tomorrow - or more restrictive ones still."

Read Kavanaughs concurrence
Majority had narrow focus
K took on the larger issue

 

[LotusAggressor]

NIL has to get regulated, across the board, in some way or form
Right now, it's the wild west and it's not sustainable long term, nor is it healthy for the sport itself

Now, if we make a serious run due to NIL in the next few years, nobody will be complaining
The old mantra is NIL sucks everybody hates it, and it's going to ruin the sport... until you start NIL'ing

If Rutgers makes a serious run because of NIL, that will be the reason it gets regulated.

 

[SJScarlet]

Read Kavanaughs concurrence
Majority had narrow focus
K took on the larger issue

Yes and the opinions stated in that concurrence have no legally binding force at this time. If someone sued and it went to the Supreme Court, it is true they would likely rule as Big Brett insinuates in his opinion.