2021 NCAA Football Thread

[Hongbit]

NCAA football exists now only because the NFL lets it.  Its a great feeder system that they don’t  have to pay for. They choose to support the NCAA rather than fight it.   I don’t think these NIL changes are good for that relationship.  The NFL can’t like it when Pittsburgh WR Jordyn Addison decides to enter the portal instead of the draft and is rumored to command an NIL deal that would be equal the 5th pick in the draft.   He’s currently viewed as a late first round prospect for next years draft.  That can’t be good for all the cost controls they’ve implemented with the rookie salary pool.    
 

 If the NFL could figure out a way to crate a developmental league that would actually make them money that could be intriguing.   Imagine if they had a 16 team league of only players 18-23 years old all that have NFL rights already assigned.   There’s a ton of opportunity with that and especially if they could use an existing infrastructure provided by one of these new startup leagues.   

Edited May 19, 2022 by Hongbit

[buddha]

6 minutes ago, Hongbit said:

NCAA football exists now only because the NFL lets it.  Its a great feeder system that they don’t  have to pay for. They choose to support the NCAA rather than fight it.   I don’t think these NIL changes are good for that relationship.  The NFL can’t like it when Pittsburgh WR Jordyn Addison decides to enter the portal instead of the draft and is rumored to command an NIL deal that would be equal the 5th pick in the draft.   He’s currently viewed as a late first round prospect for next years draft.  That can’t be good for all the cost controls they’ve implemented with the rookie salary pool.    
 

 If the NFL could figure out a way to crate a developmental league that would actually make them money that could be intriguing.   Imagine if they had a 16 team league of only players 18-23 years old all that have NFL rights already assigned.   There’s a ton of opportunity with that and especially if they could use an existing infrastructure provided by one of these new startup leagues.   

why would the nfl pay for what it can get for free?

[Hongbit]

Just now, buddha said:

why would the nfl pay for what it can get for free?

If done properly they could potentially make billions in a new income stream.  That would easily be worth the investment.    Making money is better than getting something for free.  

[buddha]

2 minutes ago, Hongbit said:

If done properly they could potentially make billions in a new income stream.  That would easily be worth the investment.    Making money is better than getting something for free.  

not sure it will generate interest without the college attachment.  minor league baseball isnt going around generating tons of money for mlb.

draft and follow might be a better alternative.  like they do in hockey.

[Hongbit]

1 minute ago, buddha said:

not sure it will generate interest without the college attachment.  minor league baseball isnt going around generating tons of money for mlb.

draft and follow might be a better alternative.  like they do in hockey.

I think football is the only sport it would work.   There’s just a different type of appetite for it.   Recruiting has gotten so big that these kids are big names that young.    I think if you were to also pair up NFL franchises and let a team from each conference share a team that would help to build a fan base.   

[gehringer_2]

The fact that NIL could end up  keeping top players in college is a really good observation. It will improve the quality of play in the college game, and the NFL did fine in the days before kids left school early, so the delay in accessing players is not a problem, but it will  be interesting how it plays out when college players with big NIL deals end up drafted at slots paying way less than their deals. Will their sponsors be willing to keep them on the doll as pros?  I imagine in some cases maybe.

I'm still curious to where the institutions see themselves fitting in all this. You will have big corps/boosters paying the NIL tab for players that are going to come and make up maybe 20% of a team made up of semi 'regular' students? It's gonna be pretty strange. The players being paid are pros so why not drop the pretense, drop enrollment requirements and just become hiring coordinators between players, their sponsors and their coaching staff? "we have the venue but everything else is up to you.(whoever 'you' ends up being)"

Edited May 19, 2022 by gehringer_2

[buddha]

31 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

The fact that NIL could end up  keeping top players in college is a really good observation. It will improve the quality of play in the college game, and the NFL did fine in the days before kids left school early, so the delay in accessing players is not a problem, but it will  be interesting how it plays out when college players with big NIL deals end up drafted at slots paying way less than their deals. Will their sponsors be willing to keep them on the doll as pros?  I imagine in some cases maybe.

I'm still curious to where the institutions see themselves fitting in all this. You will have big corps/boosters paying the NIL tab for players that are going to come and make up maybe 20% of a team made up of semi 'regular' students? It's gonna be pretty strange. The players being paid are pros so why not drop the pretense, drop enrollment requirements and just become hiring coordinators between players, their sponsors and their coaching staff? "we have the venue but everything else is up to you.(whoever 'you' ends up being)"

they need to become employees of the university, unionize, and sign a cba with the ncaa.  without uniform rules that can be upheld in courts, there will continue to be the wild west out there.

[buddha]

46 minutes ago, Hongbit said:

I think football is the only sport it would work.   There’s just a different type of appetite for it.   Recruiting has gotten so big that these kids are big names that young.    I think if you were to also pair up NFL franchises and let a team from each conference share a team that would help to build a fan base.   

im not sure getting rid of college football will play well in the south.  they have to find a way to keep those institutions involved or youre going to end up with a usfl/xfl type situation where people appreciate the novelty, but no one really cares.

[Hongbit]

35 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

The fact that NIL could end up  keeping top players in college is a really good observation. It will improve the quality of play in the college game, and the NFL did fine in the days before kids left school early, so the delay in accessing players is not a problem, but it will  be interesting how it plays out when college players with big NIL deals end up drafted at slots paying way less than their deals. Will their sponsors be willing to keep them on the doll as pros?  I imagine in some cases maybe.

I'm still curious to where the institutions see themselves fitting in all this. You will have big corps/boosters paying the NIL tab for players that are going to come and make up maybe 20% of a team made up of semi 'regular' students? It's gonna be pretty strange. The players being paid are pros so why not drop the pretense, drop enrollment requirements and just become hiring coordinators between players, their sponsors and their coaching staff? "we have the venue but everything else is up to you.(whoever 'you' ends up being)"

I brought the point up earlier or maybe even on the old board that another challenge for the university is these donors and collectives can cut that school right out and give straight to the player if they choose.   No need to donate to the general fund or endow scholarships to support the team as in the past.   Businesses can do the same and have another option and don’t have to pay the huge sponsorship or advertising to the university.   Not sure how they control it, but it can’t be great for fundraising and that’s the only reason why football is so important and accepted by faculty and academics at most research universities.  

[gehringer_2]

11 minutes ago, Hongbit said:

Not sure how they control it, but it can’t be great for fundraising and that’s the only reason why football is so important and accepted by faculty and academics at most research universities.  

That is an important point. If players or sponsors start competing for donor funds directly to NIL pools, then the University's interest in the endeavor becomes questionable. Right now it certainly seems like the least likely outcome, but you can at least envision an evolution of more or less minor league effectively at arm's reach from the U that plays in the University stadium Saturday while the university has a non-scholarship student team playing other schools there on Friday nights.....

In the current system, a school like UM clears enough after expenses to use revenue sports income for non-revenue sports and student recreation facilities, plus whatever cachet the football program adds to general donations, which they probably have some idea about. If whatever new system evolves does't result in at least that much revenue to the institution, it will be a problem.

Edited May 19, 2022 by gehringer_2

[buddha]

33 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

That is an important point. If players or sponsors start competing for donor funds directly to NIL pools, then the University's interest in the endeavor becomes questionable. Right now it certainly seems like the least likely outcome, but you can at least envision an evolution of more or less minor league effectively at arm's reach from the U that plays in the University stadium Saturday while the university has a non-scholarship student team playing other schools there on Friday nights.....

In the current system, a school like UM clears enough after expenses to use revenue sports income for non-revenue sports and student recreation facilities, plus whatever cachet the football program adds to general donations, which they probably have some idea about. If whatever new system evolves does't result in at least that much revenue to the institution, it will be a problem.

the sports program at um adds a ton of cachet to the school.  i know um presidents like to talk all high and mighty about divorcing it from their academic mission, but its not going anywhere, even if it does become officially professionalized.

[gehringer_2]

10 minutes ago, buddha said:

the sports program at um adds a ton of cachet to the school.

but they only care about that if it can be translated to $$ or something like academic ranking that they can in turn monetize. Obviously to the degree they can remain in control of the process the schools are going to do what they can to protect the benefit of football to revenue, but things are so wide open there are no guarantees they might not blow it for some short term high with bad long term outcomes.

There will also probably have to be separate orgs now for football, basketball and then all the rest as the economic systems in each are going to be different.

Edited May 19, 2022 by gehringer_2