“While he didn’t name the player, 247 Sports does mention that backup running backs Antwain Littleton and Ramon Brown entered the transfer portal this offseason.

Littleton is now set to play for Temple, while Brown hasn’t landed with a new program.“

“Give me $100,000 or I walk! “

Walk then. Where do you think we’re getting $100K?

*Now without a team.*

Clown activities.

So if they were to become employees, theoretically they could be fired or traded for non-performance or other contractural provisions. Remind me, what does that have to do with getting an education?

Once upon a time, sports were tied to education based on the premise that, in order to have a sound mind, you should also have a sound body. You see that belief as early as grade school, where there is always a PE class mixed in with the academics. Sports have long been ingrained into university education with intramural sports, and club sports, and then varsity sports. You can't really argue that varsity sports haven't benefited universities, as the leading sports schools have become leading academic institutions as well, and have acquired leading endowments. Athletics have also boosted integration, and have strengthened bonds between schools and their alumni.

But, now the chickens are coming home to roost, and the athletes want a bigger piece of the pie. Will fans and alums tire of the player mobility, and the obvious lack of sports being an "amateur" endeavor, and cease their support? Will everyone just accept the new system, and pour money into NIL funds? Will Congress get involved and impose some special solution? Will universities spin off their sports teams as minor league professional teams? I have only questions, and no answers, but in the end, I think the deciding question is how much the fans will stand for. At one extreme, if they fill the NIL funds with money, current trends will continue. At the other extreme, if they stop buying tickets and stop attending game, there will be a fast reversal. I expect that the end will be somewhere in the middle between those two.

It's early, yet. The fans may grumble awhile then accept it, i don't know. I also don't know if the reaction at the highest levels is the same. OSU fans may well react differently than Ohio fans.

TV ratings for the football playoff were up 45% year over year. There's not much to suggest yet that fan interest is being impacted by player movement.

Here, all of the people insisting that's the case are still posting here at the same rate, and still supporting Ohio sports.

I also recall a few years ago on this board, where many, nee most, posters were citing that CTE was going to crush interest in football at all levels, and OHIO would finally be able to funnel most if not all resources away from football to the benefit of MBB. Those takes didn't age well.

I guess I am showing my age which is 75. However, I miss the good old days when we had actual “amateur” athletes. Players used to be happy getting a free education room and board which nowadays would be 20,000 a year or $100,000 or so over their career. Leave it to the courts, the NCAA, and the big money to ruin the whole concept of amateurism.

Interesting article by Gene Frenette on the NIL/Transfer Portal's impact on
college sports.

The article is on MuckRack

Seems the attitude among coaches, administrators, etc. is "everyone for
themselves" and just like Gordon Gekko "Greed is good".

Participation at the scholastic level is certainly down. https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2023-01-...

Except for the CFB playoffs, which only includes the top 4 teams playing 2 games (increasing to top 12 teams and 11 games), attendance is down across the board at college football games. This is true during the regular season and then magnified during bowl season. Same can be said for college basketball at the majority of the 350-some DI teams. And not just the mid and low majors.

A discussion on 97.1 The Fan in Columbus last week involved big college sports fans admitting to watching 0 college basketball games this winter when they used to watch multiple games per week. The reason they gave was how difficult, if not impossible, it is to create a connection with teams where the roster is overhauled every season. I know this is the case for me, a fan of MAC basketball for over 40 years. Additionally, I used to be able to give you the names of multiple players for powers like Kentucky, or Duke, or Kansas, or Indiana, or . . . I would have difficulty coming up with more than one name for these teams today.

That was back in the day when coaches were paid like faculty and never made more than the president. Today coaches make millions and some make almost 10 million. The players see the money and want their share. It is no longer an amateur operation. It will be ever changing and will not be like it was before, except maybe D2 and D3 and some D1 who will opt out when the P5 break away.

18-22 year olds participate in the labor market, dude. What is it, specifically, about 18-22 year olds who are good at sports that makes them incapable of it?

If you want to convince yourself that people making money is bad for them, knock yourself out. But it's completely illogical.

Why not just call a spade a spade? You like college sports how they are, and worry paying athletes will change a thing you like. That makes sense, and it's honest. But trying to pretend this is somehow about the best interests of the kids, and these poor, poor athletes can't understand how jobs work is patronizing nonsense.