Federal Legislation for College Sports

[IrishLax]

Feel like we need to have a dedicated thread for this. Right now, there are two bills circulating that would drastically alter college sports and it's starting to gain more and more steam.



Some of the provisions could really hurt Notre Dame or make it impossible to stay independent. Others could save the sport from all of the private equity nonsense and the "Big 2" power imbalance.

 

[irishff1014]

I haven’t had a chance to read anything yet but we have a lot more issues for the politicians to be worried about.

 

[Bluto]

Interesting topic.

This goes beyond the ridiculous salaries in my opinion. I’m thinking many of these schools are gonna be screwed financially if revenues dry up and they are then saddled with paying the costs of maintaining the facilities they developed or plan on developing in order to keep up with the Jonses.

That’s kind of what happened with UCLA and why they are now in the B1G. I’m pretty sure Clemsons 55 million facility (which is coming up in being 10 years old) ain’t cheap to operate and maintain and based on my experience in public works probably a huge money pit at this point. Cal’s new stadium is nice and all but comically large given the state of that program over the past two decades.

If budgets do get tight “deferring maintenance” is the go to in many cases and once you get into that cycle it’s almost impossible to dig out of.

 

[Meatloaf]

The most straightforward way to fix college sports is to grant the NCAA antitrust exemptions and give it legislative teeth.

 

[KPENN]

I’m glad our president has his priorities straight

 

[Meatloaf]

I’m glad our president has his priorities straight

Look away from the 2.3T in debt!

 

[TNUtoNotreDame]

Anything the government touches it turns to crap or into bureaucratic nightmare. And this comes from a government employee. We need to do something about the game, but President Trump is not the answer to fixing this issue. And neither would Kamala.

 

[DillonHall]

How are the major college football issues going to get fixed without federal government intervention? ESPN and some sham committee?

 

[Bluto]

Anything the government touches it turns to crap or into bureaucratic nightmare. And this comes from a government employee. We need to do something about the game, but President Trump is not the answer to fixing this issue. And neither would Kamala.

So let me get this straight, you’re openly advocating for how useless you are?

 

[Bluto]

How are the major college football issues going to get fixed without federal government intervention? ESPN and some sham committee?

The sorting hat from Harry Potter?

 

[Bluto]

Coffee is just kicking in…lol.

 

[TNUtoNotreDame]

So let me get this straight, you’re openly advocating for how useless you are?

Yeah, my job could be outsourced very easily. Middle management is not brain surgery. The fact is is we are so inefficient and waste so many resources that is shocking.

Hence the reason I also own a business Because eventually AI will take most of my industry.

 

[benneboy]

Again none of the compensation portion of this needs fixed. It's open market. You go back to putting caps on how much a player can be compensated we're set right back to the days where the cheaters prosper and their that follow the rules can't compete.

 

[IrishLax]

Anything the government touches it turns to crap or into bureaucratic nightmare. And this comes from a government employee. We need to do something about the game, but President Trump is not the answer to fixing this issue. And neither would Kamala.

Yeah I think a lot of the bills are transparently trying to make things artificially "cheap" for colleges such that they don't have to pay market rates. Part of this is coming from the SEC because they have great cash flow for revenue sharing but their schools/boosters are comparatively broke and they have signed some very stupid, very expensive contracts. The Big Ten explicitly supports the SCORE Act which would really cement their position in college sports and preserve a lot of status quo while reigning in some other costs. The SAFE Act, by contrast, has a lot of support from smaller schools that basically want to form a new cartel with media rights pooling.

Anyways, funniest part is Underwood catching strays:

 

[NDdomer2]

Dudes starting to ramble and repeat like Biden

 

[stpeteirish]

Feel like we need to have a dedicated thread for this. Right now, there are two bills circulating that would drastically alter college sports and it's starting to gain more and more steam.



Some of the provisions could really hurt Notre Dame or make it impossible to stay independent. Others could save the sport from all of the private equity nonsense and the "Big 2" power imbalance.

More socialism. From the former small government party. Solution is separate entity for major college football with a commissioner who can set rules without the courts ruling on every damn thing they try to do.

 

[RudyVerse]

Thought I heard on a ND podcast this would actually help ND but cannot recall which or how substantive their point was.

 

[IrishLax]

How are the major college football issues going to get fixed without federal government intervention? ESPN and some sham committee?

I think this is a really good point, which is that the actual status quo sucks and doesn't work. It's not sustainable to have a media company running all of college sports with everyone being permanent free agents, no regulated post-season, etc.

The entire problem is that the NCAA fought tooth-and-nail against any kind of revenue sharing or player compensation for decades and then (understandably) lost in court. Whichever direction it goes from here there will be winners and losers but private equity buying out Big 12 athletic departments should scare the shit out of everyone.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

PE will be like a virus that spreads. It’ll start w/ media rights, NIL platforms or more specific revenue streams. The “haves” will benefit most. The “have nots” will wither. What little authority that remains w/ the NCAA will weaken further.

Universities will resist the label but CFB would become openly semi- or fully pro. If you think CFB has lost most of its traditions now…just wait. The coaching churn will go to hyper drive. The portal use be aggressive by all teams. Financial modeling will dictate roster decisions. Forget player development.

Who owns team’s IP?

Are athletes employees?

What about Title IX?

Attorneys are about to get richer.

 

[Rizzophil]

I think this is a really good point, which is that the actual status quo sucks and doesn't work. It's not sustainable to have a media company running all of college sports with everyone being permanent free agents, no regulated post-season, etc.

The entire problem is that the NCAA fought tooth-and-nail against any kind of revenue sharing or player compensation for decades and then (understandably) lost in court. Whichever direction it goes from here there will be winners and losers but private equity buying out Big 12 athletic departments should scare the shit out of everyone.

Agree that’s scary

agree that anything the federal government touches turns to crap

agree that the whole system is broken

 

[ACamp1900]

It absolutely needs a centralized governing body that actually works,… the problem is espn and the sec will have to willingly give up the control they’ve grabbed and good luck,… the fix isn’t that hard in theory but yeah:

Regionalize everything again, do away with the modern concept of conferences

Diversify how the playoffs are selected, no more obvious bias everywhere

Cap NiL and have officers on each campus that actually enforce things

That’s a start but yeah, we know the reality, the corruption and bias is paying off for all the right people currently, good thing the federal government is willing to step in and fix that,………..

 

[tirishman505]

The most straightforward way to fix college sports is to grant the NCAA antitrust exemptions and give it legislative teeth.

Maybe limited exemptions, but the ncaa’s and its member conferences’ vulnerability to anti-trust lawsuits requires them to be fair to ND’s independent status

 

[ndfanatic78]

Without laws that are actually punishable through the courts nothing will ever change. Doing this through private organizations will leave it open to corruption because institutions will be able to ignore the ruling body, unless they have legal authority., Which means, there has to be some kind of government over sight. Its not socialism, its regulation, and either its done or we have what we have now. I really don’t care either way, but regulation is not an inherently bad thing. How its applied and how its designed matter.

 

[Irish5Saint]

I think this is a really good point, which is that the actual status quo sucks and doesn't work. It's not sustainable to have a media company running all of college sports with everyone being permanent free agents, no regulated post-season, etc.

The entire problem is that the NCAA fought tooth-and-nail against any kind of revenue sharing or player compensation for decades and then (understandably) lost in court. Whichever direction it goes from here there will be winners and losers but private equity buying out Big 12 athletic departments should scare the shit out of everyone.

Because it would be a mess if they didn’t.

Scumbag lawyers like Darren Heitner and Atheltes.org make money off of suing the NCAA and charging insane commissions to be agents for athletes. The continual litigation is a problem that has to be addressed (and no a CBA doesn’t solv

 

[FU BK]

Great, as if college sports aren't screwed up enough already, lets get politicians involved. That is the answer

 

[IrishinSyria]

I haven’t had a chance to read anything yet but we have a lot more issues for the politicians to be worried about.

We’re talking about a sport where public schools are throwing tens of millions of taxpayer money at coaches, and hundreds of millions at stadiums and facilities, politicians have always been involved.

I share skepticism that federal legislation or other action (cough antitrust cough) is likely to improve outcomes but there’s no leave the politicians out of it route available.

 

[IrishinSyria]

The most straightforward way to fix college sports is to grant the NCAA antitrust exemptions and give it legislative teeth.

It’s always surprising to me that the MLB exception hasn’t been extended to other sports.

Like obviously coordination between competitors is good when the product being sold is hopefully competitive games. Just doesn’t seem like the thing anyone had in mind when Sherman got his act.

 

[TorontoGold]

PE has been involved in this situation for YEARS. This isn't an overnight NIL thing. Look at Under Armour, PE jumped in 2003 and got them listed in 2005. Nike bought up a bunch of sportswear brands around the same time too.

A lot of what lead to the expansion of money in the NCAA has already been driven by PE. Cats outta the bag and this what the schools wanted before. Government saving profit orientated entities from making money when all parties involved are driven to make money is only going to fail.


@NCAA and @NCAASchoolsWhoSellTheirSouls

 

[irishff1014]

We’re talking about a sport where public schools are throwing tens of millions of taxpayer money at coaches, and hundreds of millions at stadiums and facilities, politicians have always been involved.

I share skepticism that federal legislation or other action (cough antitrust cough) is likely to improve outcomes but there’s no leave the politicians out of it route available.

I would have to agree with you there. They just have to prove they didn’t you the tax payer money for that. Which I am sure they can’t do 100%.

 

[BilboBaggins]

I for one welcome congressional involvement. The uncertainty is the problem. Congress needs to set the rules of the road and colleges can adjust accordingly.