Rick Cleveland's article on NIL issues.

[maroonmadman]

Pretty good read. More questions than answers at this point but he brought up an interesting point:

"The other huge issue I see is potential jealousies that could arise. Let’s say the star quarterback gets a huge endorsement contract, while the left tackle, who protects his blind side, gets little or nothing. How will that work out?"

This is where teams will start to have problems. I think universities should work out some sort of "profit sharing" deal with athletes. It would work as follows: Star athlete gets X%, school gets X% and allows Star athlete to use schools likeness and images, X% goes into a pot which is divided up among the rest of the team. This would help to temper any jealousies. Percentages would have to be worked out but that's the gist of it.

Cuss, discuss.

 

[BlueRidgeMtns]

I guess the star QB will be buying his O-Line gifts similar to NFL QBs buying cars/whatever for their O-Line... and by similar I mean anything from a Big Mac to Beats Headphones.

 

[Dawg1979]

i think its all a terrible idea. how long before someone pays a kid an "endorsement" to throw a game? this is opening a whole can of worms and i think it will ruin then end college sports.

 

[maroonmadman]

i think its all a terrible idea. how long before someone pays a kid an "indorsement" to throw a game? this is opening a whole can of worms and i think it will ruin then end college sports.

It's 'endorsement.' Your spelling is off but your point is very valid. It could open the game up for that. Not sure how that would be covered. Any player caught doing such a thing could kiss a Pro contract good bye.

 

[dorndawg]

i think its all a terrible idea. how long before someone pays a kid an "indorsement" to throw a game? this is opening a whole can of worms and i think it will ruin then end college sports.

That would be a federal crime. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/224

 

[ronpolk]

Pretty good read. More questions than answers at this point but he brought up an interesting point:

"The other huge issue I see is potential jealousies that could arise. Let’s say the star quarterback gets a huge endorsement contract, while the left tackle, who protects his blind side, gets little or nothing. How will that work out?"

This is where teams will start to have problems. I think universities should work out some sort of "profit sharing" deal with athletes. It would work as follows: Star athlete gets X%, school gets X% and allows Star athlete to use schools likeness and images, X% goes into a pot which is divided up among the rest of the team. This would help to temper any jealousies. Percentages would have to be worked out but that's the gist of it.

Cuss, discuss.

The jealously thing will happen no doubt about it. But it’s life. No matter where you go, someone is going to be better than you or get more recognition than you. Best to learn that lesson early.

 

[hatfieldms]

Do the left tackles in the NFL get upset when the star QB makes more than them to the point it causes issues? I’m guessing no

 

[Seinfeld]

And the QB deal is kinda like the whole CEOs are making too much money argument for me. You want to make QB money? Go be a QB. Oh, you can’t because it’s hard as hell? Well, that’s why QBs get QB money

 

[maroonmadman]

Do the left tackles in the NGL get upset when the star QB makes more than them to the point it causes issues? I’m guessing no

I'm going to assume you mean NFL. Lots of NFL QBs give their O-linemen fairly pricey gifts as reward/incentive. Rolex watches ain't cheap.

 

[hatfieldms]

Sure they are not cheap. But they do not come anywhere close to making up the salary difference in the two contracts

 

[maroonmania]

Say what you want but IMO NIL is just a legal way for program boosters to buy players for their school. Amateur college sports is dead although I realize with the biased and ineffective way the NCAA operates its been dead for quite a while.

I'm in the camp at this point that just says the fairest way to do things is just to eliminate all rules for recruiting and allow everyone to do what they want to get players and keep players once they are on the roster. That is actually more fair than the selective way the NCAA has been enforcing rules where elite programs can do what they want to buy a player and lesser profile programs get hammered for even trying to get into the game.

 

[maroonmadman]

Sure they are not cheap. But they do not come anywhere close to making up the salary difference in the two contracts

That is true. But: "The average salary of an offensive lineman, any position, in the NFL is $1,267,402, according to "Sports Illustrated." The number is derived from the base salaries of the more than 300 offensive linemen in the league. The average salary does not include bonuses or other compensation."

$1.26 mil ain't chump change. Most college o-line guys won't get anywhere near that, if they make anything at all.

 

[ronpolk]

Sure they are not cheap. But they do not come anywhere close to making up the salary difference in the two contracts

There is big disparity between OL too. A good left tackle is going to be more than a great center. Just is. It’s part of life. I don’t expect it to be a big enough deal that it causes unrest in the locker room.

 

[hatfieldms]

I agree

 

[maroonmadman]

Let me put it like this. High School Stud O-lineman is trying to choose between School A and School B. School A has a profit sharing deal whereby everyone gets a slice of the pie. School B allows their student/athletes to keep all of their NIL money. What school do you think Stud O-lineman chooses?

Lets say both schools are equal.

 

[randystewart]

I still firmly believe that 99.99% of college athletes are going to be very disappointed. Very few of them are going to make any real money and most of the ones that do make money are going to be in the couple thousand dollar range for some local car dealership ad. The ones that will make money will mostly be derived from their social media following, which is why you will see attractive female athletes be the biggest beneficiaries of this. Now, schools with a good booster base are going to (have already) set up "programs" to pay all of the players, but that will still only be marginal money for most players and will only happen in the big money sports.
People are making a big deal out of all of this now, but it will die down and level out into a big bag of nothing outside of the "programs" schools put in place. For instance, you have a ton of grifters now trying to help launch player's individual brands. The reality is, outside of maybe a couple of players nationally, that nobody will give 2 ***** about a player brand. Very few people are going to buy a player brand over their team brand.

 

[irondawg007]

Just realized Mattress Mack in Houston was born in Starkville. Maybe he can enforce our team.***

 

[maroonmania]

I'm still trying to understand the ins and outs of the NIL rules. Let's go back to Cam Newton who apparently wanted 180K to sign with MSU while he was being recruited (or at least his Father did). OK, so under these rules, if we had a booster that would have paid Cam Newton 180K (or at least promised to do so once he signed his LOI) for a signed picture, or to do a commercial for his business, or for some other menial service, is that now legal?? I mean he would just be paying for name/image/likeness right?

 

[johnson86-1]

I'm still trying to understand the ins and outs of the NIL rules. Let's go back to Cam Newton who apparently wanted 180K to sign with MSU while he was being recruited (or at least his Father did). OK, so under these rules, if we had a booster that would have paid Cam Newton 180K (or at least promised to do so once he signed his LOI) for a signed picture, or to do a commercial for his business, or for some other menial service, is that now legal?? I mean he would just be paying for name/image/likeness right?

I believe the NCAA is still taking the position that it can't be for recruiting/retention purposes, but of course there's no real way to enforce that. So for Cam Newton, they would probably have had a deal in writing for the "endorsement" and a handshake that he would go to Auburn after signing the deal, or he would have signed with auburn first with a handshake agreement that he would get his $180k "endorsement" deal afterwards.

 

[MedDawg]

Pretty good read. More questions than answers at this point but he brought up an interesting point:

"The other huge issue I see is potential jealousies that could arise. Let’s say the star quarterback gets a huge endorsement contract, while the left tackle, who protects his blind side, gets little or nothing. How will that work out?"

This is where teams will start to have problems. I think universities should work out some sort of "profit sharing" deal with athletes. It would work as follows: Star athlete gets X%, school gets X% and allows Star athlete to use schools likeness and images, X% goes into a pot which is divided up among the rest of the team. This would help to temper any jealousies. Percentages would have to be worked out but that's the gist of it.

Cuss, discuss.

Not a lawyer, but I think that wouldn't pass for what the Supreme Court intended. Now, a separate fund/NIL company that divides among the whole team might/should pass legal stuff, but limiting what a single player gets or taking from his NIL money probably won't. Might take a lawsuit, though, to stop a school from doing it your way. It's fine with me if it goes that way. I'm all for getting non-star players what they can get.

Which again goes to my idea of a separate baseball NIL fund divided among the whole roster to cover MSU's cost of attendance. The star baseball players can make what they can separately from that. I just think the MSU baseball fans would donate/pay more than enough to make sure the whole roster gets the minimum coverage. The 20,000 State fans in Omaha gives me confidence of the coverage, and most of us know what Vandy and HOPE schools have been doing to cover their baseball scholarships.

 

[TheStateUofMS]

The quote you gave from the article is exactly the scenario I gave in a thread recently. It's the most obvious to me. That and these kids won't be worth as much as they think.

 

[MedDawg]

I believe the NCAA is still taking the position that it can't be for recruiting/retention purposes, but of course there's no real way to enforce that. So for Cam Newton, they would probably have had a deal in writing for the "endorsement" and a handshake that he would go to Auburn after signing the deal, or he would have signed with auburn first with a handshake agreement that he would get his $180k "endorsement" deal afterwards.

I wonder if it would be legal for a booster's company to go ahead and endorse the kid while still in high school, with the idea that it would be taken away if he signs with another school. Effectively the same as paying a kid to sign, maybe even better because up to now a kid can take the backpack full of cash and sign with another school.

I still don't know if it boosters paying a recruit $10,000 for a signed photograph will be punished. The NCAA may not want that to happen, but that has been my fear since NIL was mentioned as a possibility--that recruiting would become an auction.

 

[codeDawg]

The jealously thing will happen no doubt about it. But it’s life. No matter where you go, someone is going to be better than you or get more recognition than you. Best to learn that lesson early.

Most of the people against players being compensated never learned that lesson. It's really the basis of most of their bitching. Heaven forbid a black kid from MS get a solid cut of the billions of dollars the sport generates. That kid should be entertaining them for meals and public school cUz nOBOdy gaVe Me nO hAndOUtS!

 

[codeDawg]

The money is going to flow one way or another. Under the table, through endorsement deals, or through a regulated compensation system. Trying to hold this back is like trying to dam the MS river. There is just too much money involved to stop it.

What we CAN do is levee it. Let it flow in a regulated way. Right now it's all going to go into endorsements, but if there were a better system it would be more efficient and fair. Trying to stop it is just stupid.

 

[thekimmer]

I dunno. Why don't you ask Dak, Rogers, or Brady....

Pretty good read. More questions than answers at this point but he brought up an interesting point:

"The other huge issue I see is potential jealousies that could arise. Let’s say the star quarterback gets a huge endorsement contract, while the left tackle, who protects his blind side, gets little or nothing. How will that work out?"

This is where teams will start to have problems. I think universities should work out some sort of "profit sharing" deal with athletes. It would work as follows: Star athlete gets X%, school gets X% and allows Star athlete to use schools likeness and images, X% goes into a pot which is divided up among the rest of the team. This would help to temper any jealousies. Percentages would have to be worked out but that's the gist of it.

Cuss, discuss.

Certainly their O linemen are well compensated but its chicken feed compared to the scratch the QBs get not to mention the endorsment money.

 

[Dawg1979]

It's 'endorsement.' Your spelling is off but your point is very valid. It could open the game up for that. Not sure how that would be covered. Any player caught doing such a thing could kiss a Pro contract good bye.

haha. my bad. on phone with boss while typing.

 

[maroonmania]

I believe the NCAA is still taking the position that it can't be for recruiting/retention purposes,

Seriously, that is the most absurd statement I've ever heard from the NCAA and that's saying something. 95% of NIL activity is going to be EXPLICITLY for the purpose of recruiting/retention. Oh yea, there will likely be a handshake deal in place prior to the recruit actually signing and joining the team but the money paid will serve the same purpose.

 

[maroonmadman]

Not a lawyer, but I think that wouldn't pass for what the Supreme Court intended. Now, a separate fund/NIL company that divides among the whole team might/should pass legal stuff, but limiting what a single player gets or taking from his NIL money probably won't. Might take a lawsuit, though, to stop a school from doing it your way. It's fine with me if it goes that way. I'm all for getting non-star players what they can get.

Which again goes to my idea of a separate baseball NIL fund divided among the whole roster to cover MSU's cost of attendance. The star baseball players can make what they can separately from that. I just think the MSU baseball fans would donate/pay more than enough to make sure the whole roster gets the minimum coverage. The 20,000 State fans in Omaha gives me confidence of the coverage, and most of us know what Vandy and HOPE schools have been doing to cover their baseball scholarships.

What I'm suggesting would be strictly voluntary, a recruit would sign a deal of this nature when they sign their letter of intent. (LOI)

Then this idea popped into my mind: I'm no lawyer either but wouldn't this make it a legal contract and therefore harder to break a LOI? No more hat flips? No more Flipmas? We need a legal eagle to opine on this one.

 

[MaroonRacoon]

I mean, if I'm an offensive lineman, a literal slice of pie would be an intriguing offer...