Was a Gator booster and season ticket holder for over 25 years. This season was first one that I have not renewed and fist time since 1991 that I have not attended any games. I am tired of getting messages about donating to the Gator collective. I am not making donations to professional athletes. My booster fees and ticket money was supposed to help cover the program costs. I'm not going to be part of that. The booster fees and ticket prices have gotten so high it's harder to justify that expense for 6-7 days of entertainment. I have no problem with athletes making money off of their Instagram accounts or whatever. But this is well beyond that. I used to LOVE bowl season and would consume so many games that I was nearly rotting on the couch. This year, the only one I watched was ours. I have no idea how each conference is doing this year. I will continue to watch games on TV. But will spend my time and money going to more softball, baseball, and gymnastics competitions. In the meantime, the weather has turned really cold so the redfish are piling up in the creeks. Time to think about which new fishing reel I'm going to buy.
You fellas are expressing similar sentiments to my own. I have an extremely low tolerance for stupid. I, too, am wondering how much longer I will remain a college football fan. It's the only reason I have a YT subscription. The news is stupid, most shows are stupid, the NFL is too stupid, and CFB appears to be headed that way. If CFB goes the direction of everything else, I will no longer need television and it will save me a few pesos!
Legally, the only thing that can really end it would be for Congress to come in and pass National legislation that would preempt all of the various State NIL laws that we have now. From an interstate commerce standpoint, this is why the Supremacy Clause exists, i.e. for the Nation to have one law that applies nationwide instead of a patchwork of State laws on something that is truly interstate commerce. Should Congress pass such a law, I would think they would also need to carve out an exemption to the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, to allow the NCAA to make one set of rules that will in effect restrict commerce. Now, politically, in order for Congress to wade into this mess, I would imagine they would also have to somehow also create a system that requires a certain percentage of all revenue raised from college athletics be put back into some kind of pool of money that can only be used to benefit college athletes and to restrict the amount paid in staff salaries to a certain percentage of said revenue. That would be the only way I can see Congress having the political will to do something, it would have to be seen as something that would restore some sanity to the system as it exists now, while also ensuring that a majority of the revenue created by the college athletics is used to benefit the athletes themselves. I am not certain what that would look like, but I would imagine it would include a certain minimum cash stipend for athletes that would be indexed to inflation, a pool of insurance money for career ending injuries, a certain minimum level of academic support, including support for a certain number of years post-athletic eligibility, etc.
Or why not just use the nfl model that has been perfected over the last century. F congress and legislators getting involved in sports.
Pretty sure the legislators helped mold what the nfl is today. The NFL really never had to deal with impermissible benefits. College always has and always will. You aren’t just going to turn College into the NFL, they’re too different.
Not so fast, my friend....the only thing that would prompt the Congress to wade into this swamp was is if they were going to get a guaranteed piece of the action.
I became a gator fan in 65 going to UF games and sitting in the south endzone ($1.50 general admission tickets) But my grandmother took me to that 69 Gator Bowl. Like you its not the losing its the turnover of transfers and such. I want our boys to come and play their career here. Its gonna take an amazing coach to keep players on campus and buy into the team/family idea.
The only big obstacle is having a draft. Contracts hold teams together. Make them employees and let them sign contracts. The imaginary nil value would be gone. Once kids sign and blow up, it’s too late.
We’re not doing a college draft. That’s bonkers. You can’t force a kid to go to school at some po dunk school that may not even offer the field he wants a degree in, it just isn’t happening. What you’re talking about is an nfl minor league. That will have to be separated from the schools, and the nfl has made it pretty clear they don’t have any interest in doing it. That’s a whole different conversation anyway. That also isn’t going to end college football, and we’re right back where we are now, except we’re likely paying for crappier players. The top teams are still going to do whatever it takes to aquire the top available talent.
College football is the minor league to the nfl. It always has been. Now they are paying in tge open and their ponzu scheme of putting the payroll on the fans is spinning out of control. They need what the nfl has, rules and contracts. Free employees tgat do whatever they want when they want is not a business I want to be in. This is the most brilliant and dumbest business model all at the same time.
As long as the teams are affiliated with the schools, you’re not getting a draft. You aren’t going to force the kids to go to school somewhere they don’t want to go to school. It ain’t happening. You will have to create a real minor league that isn’t associated with the schools.
The NFL should have a minor league like MLB You get drafted and go pro or you go to college without this NIL agent nonsense
I like the baseball setup very much and wish that a similar system was implemented across all sports. Unfortunately, the rules are made by the pros, not the colleges, so the other leagues would have to implement that on their own. The colleges don’t really have a say in the matter. That still won’t get rid of NIL though. It’s here to stay.
You do realize college baseball players can get NIL as well. Also MLB is the reason there is a 3 year rule. They are the ones that instituted it, not the NCAA. It part of the MLB draft rule 4. All they have to do is change their own rule if they want to start drafting college players. But why? They get a free minor league to go with their own minor league.
New NIL deal to benefit entire UT Baseball program How a new NIL collective hopes to boost Clemson baseball, softball Baseball finds itself making NIL pitches in recruiting, too
I’m with you on your stance. I’m a much younger Gator fan. Been a fan the minute I was accepted back in November of ‘95. I’m in my mid 40s and am tired of hearing about the collective. The twitter stuff is obnoxious to me. The head of the collective went on a drunken tirade on a Miami Hurricane twitter spaces. It was the most unprofessional thing. To think this guy is handling the collective, OOF. Good call not giving money to this because I did the same. The intention was for a kid to make money off his NIL. Such as endorsement deal and the like. This has evolved into pay for play and we are seeing it with both Texas schools and Miami.
I said the draft is tge only problem. It’s not needed, but being somewhat tied to a team is. Unrestricted random freeagency is just a bs way to run any organization. For shits and giggles if we were discussing a college draft, just maybe an optional draft for maybe the top 300-400 players who would be eligible for contracts?? That would leave the actual student athlete to his choice of education and the kid that can run fast but can’t spell cat can have his contract. The problem with nil isn’t the kids bank account nor his grades in basket weaving class, it’s the instability caused by an unrestricted freeagency with no rules whatsoever. I’m not for a draft but I am for players having contracts to schools and having something binding between students and schools. Schools invest in player development and deserve some type of reward also. It has to be a two way street.
