Donor fatigue: Some college football fans wonder why they have to pay for players

Once the sparkle of newness wears off, and the big donors get sick of donating big money to high school kids that never play or leave the school, they will stop donating large sums of money. Then you will see the large, wealthy and passionate fan bases take over NIL and recruiting. The less wealthy alums and states like LSU, Mississippi schools, Alabama schools, FSU, etc... will start to fade and the well off and passionate like Texas, Texas A&M, Notre Dame, etc... will excel.

Something needs to be done or college football will be very one sided. We have already seen what happens when a team gets financial advantages in recruiting that no one else gets. They dominate the scene. That is why Sabin retired, he knew he no longer had an advantage, and he knew they did not have the money to retain the players currently on the roster and there was going to be a mass exodus whether he stayed or not and did not want to tarnish his image.

 

No doubt, while making hundreds of millions.

 

You can't seriously believe that college players are getting paid for their NIL. Really??? Come on.

It is completely pay for play, which is funded by fans who derive zero benefit from the players NIL.

You keep saying it won't go away, deal with it. Correct. NIL payments won't go away.

But pay for play will go away. Count on it.

There is no chance this current rotten system lasts.

 

Really great post Rick! Spot on.

 

All those players of years past helped build that infrastructure also along with the fans. The fans fund it all but this is getting out of hand. Schools need to absorb this payroll.

 

MLB has let the top teams buy the talent forever. I dunno, the ones at the top are making the rules.

 

Yep... It's still college football and we still get to see it live or on TV... and it's very successful right now. If ain't broke, don't fix it. The NIL will level out.

 

Nil wil determine championships just like it’s been for a long time already. Money buys rosters.

 

Just need a couple difference makers.

 

Okay, since it is the off-season and we need to discuss something. First is basketball. It involves major athleticism with some toughness (just the nature of the current beast) and one great player makes a WORLD of difference in the quality of the product on the court. And so the so-called "blue bloods". The O-A-D has made it a damn mess for a LONG time.

Now to football. Yes, the Bamas, UGas, OSUs and Clemsons have had some "creative accountants" on staff and around the program. Now with the NIL everyone can aspire to be "elite". And to be that is a huge error for several reasons. The first is, except for a Lagway, a single player signed will not be The Piece like a player can be in basketball. WAY too many moving parts in football. And so, what we have today isn't so much about getting up to speed as it is about the fear that your program is going to lose out. That is called "groupthink". But to me, the second error is just as bad. Football is a tough sport and to do the "hired mercenary" business in football via the HS ranks is pretty much the antithesis to toughness. And so, the teams who embrace winning should temper their beliefs that buying players is THE way to do it.

 

There’s no other option. It’s not a guarantee to win but if you don’t buy a roster, you’re guaranteed not to win.

 

I think the natural order of things will be every year or two, a new different university will make a coordinated effort to push the NIL envelope higher. It won’t correct or retract, there is no “salary cap”. And I’m sure every university donor class has a Steinbrenner or Jerry Jones who is very happy to let the universities self impose a good faith salary limitation to clear the way for them to plow through unimpeded and buy up a championship. That will push the cap higher for that year, and they will either win or fail and fall back to the bullpen, only for the next hot shot take a stab. I don’t believe there is a ‘correction’ just new players taking a seat at the table. And you’ll always have the georgias, OSU, and Texas with unlimited NIL money to have a standing seat at that table

 

Who going to donate $100,000 or a $1,000,000 every year to kids that have not produced anything for the college and may never? This will get real old real fast and is not sustainable for a few large donors to foot the bill.

I'm sure these donors can find much better use of their money than this.

 

It's been that was for a while now... There was NIL before there was legal NIL. Nothing has changed, it's only being shone in the light of day now.

 

I'm afraid the current system will be here for a minute. I'm all for the kids making some money, although, I wouldn't mind there being some kind of cap for universities. I'm not smart enough to come up with a solution, but I hope there will be one; eventually. We certainly can't expect the NCAA to resolve the situation. They are basically worthless.

Like the guy says in the Dr. Pepper commercial. "What is it?" (The wind swirls) "It's the transfer portal, and it's out of control!" Truer words have never been spoken.

I hope they channel some of that stadium money into NIL for the time being. When we get a Natty, there will be plenty of funds for remodels.

Did he say natty? "Yeah, now that we have Lagway"

Go Gators

 

This is a huge problem for many other sports teams that are NOT in the power 4 conferences... never going to happen. The biggest hurdle is being an employee of the state, school, conference... name it.

Why is that one fact so damned hard for people to understand? Student Athletes will never be employees of colleges and universities. Nor will they ever share in those profits DIRECTLY from TV and other revenue/s.

Otherwise they will be semi-pro at worst and professional in reality... That disqualifies them from being campus students... and student athletes.

 

I would summarize the entire issue with that phrase, “creative accounting”. The programs that succeed in the NIL + transfer portal era will be the ones with the best creative accounting using funds provided by rich donors and motivated fans.

Fans need to realize that donors are also motivated by tax breaks, so the creative accounting strategy will be different for million-dollar donors versus hundred-dollar donors.

 

What do you mean by this? Wouldn't it simply be they would no longer be "amateur athletes?"

Go GATORS!
,WESGATORS