The NIL State of Oklahoma State Athletics - Coaches Won't Say It, But It Impacts Results

$500,000 is a lot spread over 9-10 players. MBB an FB are both professional sports now and NIL is strictly pay for play. The coaches are not recruiting as much as they are making job offers. These new professional sports need contracts and salary caps.

I'm sure some will disagree, but it in the current state of college athletics OSU FB and MBB are basically dead in the water.

Not dead in the water but destined for mediocrity unless there are meaningful and enforceable salary caps. Otherwise the teams with a wealthier fan base will hire better players.

This once diehard fan is now just a casual observer until administrators retake college athletics over from the athletes and their lawyers/agents. I used to "care" about the athletes and their journey through life and competition while pursuing a degree. Now, I couldn't care less about them as a whole.

Here's a counter to RAs opinion that revenue sharing will help. It won't. Even IF there is (a) revenue sharing, (b) a collective bargaining agreement between an athletes union and the schools, and (c) a cap on the amount athletes can be paid under such agreement, it won't change how much athletes can make under an NIL arrangement. Thus we're right back to where we are today - NIL$ will be the difference in determining which schools get the best players. IMO, the only thing that will save college athletics is a change in the transfer rules. If players can't chase $$$ by transferring there's a chance we could get this thing sorta back on track. However, the lawyers will probably just find a way to sue under some sorta restraint of employment basis, the schools will cave and we'll be right back where we are today. If the networks and/or Congress don't step in and be part of the solution (which I can neither envision happening nor conjur the fix), they're just gonna sit on the sidelines and watch the goose that gifted us a massive golden egg slowly die a painful death.

RodeoPoke said:

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if college kids are getting $250k bonus with no contract and no commitment, it's probably time for me to choose some other form of entertainment.

Some dumb kid getting more for showing up to college than half of America makes in 5 years.

it just ain't right.

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The QB who transferred to Duke from
Tulane is getting $8M for 2 years. Pretty sure the OU transfer from WSU is getting similar ($4M/year). Its ridiculous.

Gumby, contracts will also be required, just like in all other professional sports. Also, NIL must not be pay for play. It will have to be restricted to actually marketing a commercial product marketed by a for profit business. Make the players employees of the school and require their salary to come from the school. I think this is the only way to monitor a team salary cap.

CowboyKip said:

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Gumby, contracts will also be required, just like in all other professional sports. Also, NIL must not be pay for play. It will have to be restricted to actually marketing a commercial product marketed by a for profit business. Make the players employees of the school and require their salary to come from the school. I think this is the only way to monitor a team salary cap.

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Yes, there will be contracts. Yes, they will be employees. And, yes as I pointed out, there will likely be a salary cap - a salary paying for their services, not their NIL. Thus NIL$ will still be out there - outside of the school's control and outside of the terms of a collective bargaining agreement. Heretofore, every thought or move to limit NIL$ and how they're generated and distributed by rule or law since its inception has been fraught with the likelihood of legal challenges and ultimate defeat. That ain't changing just like there's no way to limit what pro athletes get for their "NIL". As I supposed above, the only hope is to make it impossible to transfer and maintain eligibility. I know you're probably thinking an athlete's contract (the form of which was collectively bargained) would not allow a transfer. I hope that's the case but there is a problem. IF athletes are required to be students AND maintain certain academic standards (which differ school to school) and make measurable progress towards a degree, I suspect the athlete's union will not agree to a contract that will not allow transfers and thus the ability to pursue their academic careers at the school of their choice. The union's lawyers will take the position that limiting school choice within the period of eligibility violates something or other. In my opinion, the athletes and their lawyers will never give up the ability to transfer, ever. The genie is out of the bottle and the toothpaste is out of the tube. There's no going back. Accordingly, we'll be right back where we are now. NIL$ will determine the pecking order.

GumbyFromPokeyLand said:

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Here's a counter to RAs opinion that revenue sharing will help. It won't. Even IF there is (a) revenue sharing, (b) a collective bargaining agreement between an athletes union and the schools, and (c) a cap on the amount athletes can be paid under such agreement, it won't change how much athletes can make under an NIL arrangement. Thus we're right back to where we are today - NIL$ will be the difference in determining which schools get the best players. IMO, the only thing that will save college athletics is a change in the transfer rules. If players can't chase $$$ by transferring there's a chance we could get this thing sorta back on track. However, the lawyers will probably just find a way to sue under some sorta restraint of employment basis, the schools will cave and we'll be right back where we are today. If the networks and/or Congress don't step in and be part of the solution (which I can neither envision happening nor conjur the fix), they're just gonna sit on the sidelines and watch the goose that gifted us a massive golden egg slowly die a painful death.

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The only way revenue sharing with a salary cap would work is if they banned NIL collectives. Players could still partner directly with companies that want to use their name, image, & likeness for advertisements, but the collectives wouldn't be able to pay them as a way to get around the salary cap.

Professional sports have safeguards in place to ensure level competition. I don't see why collegiate sports can't as well.

NIL collectives are not for profit commercial enterprises and will have to be barred.

LS1Z28 said:

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Professional sports have safeguards in place to ensure level competition. I don't see why collegiate sports can't as well.

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Professional sports get told what order they get to "select" their HS kids, if they have any selections. Professional sports determines who is placed in which league, which teams they will play, and requires profit sharing "among the teams, not the players".

College football is not the NFL, and will never be anything like the NFL, it is simply too big to be managed in that manner, and the Pro teams have OWNERS, not a BOR and Donors.

everybody please just stop with any NFL comparisons or suggestions.

CowboyKip said:

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NIL collectives are not for profit commercial enterprises and will have to be barred.

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Barred by whom? The law? No way. By NCAA rule? The NCAA can't regulate an entity that doesn't operate under NCAA rules. Athletes barred from receiving compensation from an entity not controlled by the NCAA? The courts have already ruled in favor of the athletes.

I knew when the courts originally ruled in the athletes favor it would eventually kill the sport. I also predicted any efforts by the NCAA to limit how and how much an athlete could be paid would also fail. It was clear to me 2025 was coming back in 2019 or 2020 when the first states passed NIL laws. Don't fool yourself, NIL is here to stay. There's just no way you're going to prevent someone by law or rule from paying a professional athlete if they so choose.

The key to bringing sanity back to college sports is limiting or not allowing transfers. Transferring is the mechanism by which an athlete can generate the demand that allows him to be paid more than his salary.

You hit the nail on the head. Until someone steps up like chad richison did for wrestling......basketball and football will be bottom half of the conference. There is no excitement in the basketball sphere.....enough to make guys want to donate the money necessary to be successful. Football isn't as bad off but it's in a downward spiral.

Changes are supposedly coming in July.....a few sports analysts talked about it. As of July of this year......teams have to cut their rosters from 135 to 105. A spouse of an OK State coach was telling my father that they are also forcing a 20.4 million dollar cap per university atgletic department. 75% will be allocated to football, 15% to basketball and the remaining 10% to all other sports. The cap will increase by 2 or 4% each year.

AT4Pokes said:

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Changes are supposedly coming in July.....a few sports analysts talked about it. As of July of this year......teams have to cut their rosters from 135 to 105. A spouse of an OK State coach was telling my father that they are also forcing a 20.4 million dollar cap per university atgletic department. 75% will be allocated to football, 15% to basketball and the remaining 10% to all other sports. The cap will increase by 2 or 4% each year.

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I believe that is all common knowledge at this point, but does not change the discussion about NIL

College football has been trending towards a pro model for the past few years. I don't think we'll ever have a draft, but I expect us to end up with a players union and commissioner eventually.

It may end up looking more like the NFL than you might think, especially if we end up with two super-leagues largely independent of the NCAA.

LS1Z28 said:

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College football has been trending towards a pro model for the past few years. I don't think we'll ever have a draft, but I expect us to end up with a players union and commissioner eventually.

It may end up looking more like the NFL than you might think, especially if we end up with two super-leagues largely independent of the NCAA.

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Really doesn't matter what model they adopt or develop. Unless they can fix the transfer for $$$ situation, the sport will only get worse or die. And OSU doesn't have a chance if that's the case.

LS1Z28 said:

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College football has been trending towards a pro model for the past few years. I don't think we'll ever have a draft, but I expect us to end up with a players union and commissioner eventually.

It may end up looking more like the NFL than you might think, especially if we end up with two super-leagues largely independent of the NCAA.

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Well then, it will no longer be the NCAA then, will it - it will actually be a Pro league then, with fewer teams - which now makes it manageable similar to the NFL

We have a commissioner already. Unions don't really change anything, and could actually hamper any efforts to split the union members into 2 leagues (possibly)

Naw --- it's just not ever going to happen. Gawd I hope not anyway.

The attitude of "I'm not excited about it therefore I won't donate or contribute" only makes it worse, the same as canceling season tickets because people want to wait til it improves before they buy back in. It's the very definition of fair weather fans and we have way too many of them now days. I've missed 3/4 home games in the last 37 years so I put my money where my mouth is and my ass in my seat - no matter what.

Cdub234 said:

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The attitude of "I'm not excited about it therefore I won't donate or contribute" only makes it worse, the same as canceling season tickets because people want to wait til it improves before they buy back in. It's the very definition of fair weather fans and we have way too many of them now days. I've missed 3/4 home games in the last 37 years so I put my money where my mouth is and my ass in my seat - no matter what.

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well, I see that you've totally missed the point... it is NOT like that at all.

It's not a question of "excited about", it a question of my moral character and whether I believe my money would be better spent somewhere besides my entertainment budget.

You can blindly pay increasingly more for a diminishing return, and that is your choice, but it has nothing to do with how others make their decisions on how to use their money.

At present, I'm just sitting idle waiting to see what this mess morphs into, hopefully something that I could support, like moving down to 1-AA and reducing costs.

(How about that Division III NCAA Championship game last night, pretty exciting. Some of those kids are really fun to watch. The Div 1-AA NCAA National Championship is tonight!)

The whole thing should be turned over to the NCAA. Our FBS league does not even have a freaking NCAA National Championship - so what the heck are we even be paying for, some sort of bloated ESPN challenge match?.

I respect your attitude and support of the athletes, program and school. But as a 40+ year fan and donor, I have a different viewpoint.

Several years ago I made a 7 figure commitment to OSU athletics. That commitment is still outstanding but not yet due. I made that commitment to both benefit the athletes and various athletic programs. However, the current direction of college athletics has me searching for ways to amicably alter and maybe even withdraw my commitment. Athletes (many, not all) no longer play for the University or the program they participate in. They play for money, and only money. That is not a college sports model which excites me and not one that I am willing to help facilitate or fund. And playing for money only is not changing until all pay for play contracts are the same for every school, and, the ability to capitalize on NIL$ by transferring is eliminated.

Yes, I know my intended lack of support is not enough to change anything and only hurts the university. But until we can get back to a place where athletes attend and play for the University while accruing the same benefits that all athletes in their sport equally enjoy across college (within their school's division classification) athletics, I'll probably just casually follow OSU competitions instead of rabidly supporting such competitions with my $$$ and attendance.

My $0.02

GumbyFromPokeyLand said:

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I respect your attitude and support of the athletes, program and school. But as a 40+ year fan and donor, I have a different viewpoint.

Several years ago I made a 7 figure commitment to OSU athletics. That commitment is still outstanding but not yet due. I made that commitment to both benefit the athletes and various athletic programs. However, the current direction of college athletics has me searching for ways to amicably alter and maybe even withdraw my commitment. Athletes (many, not all) no longer play for the University or the program they participate in. They play for money, and only money. That is not a college sports model which excites me and not one that I am willing to help facilitate or fund. And playing for money only is not changing until all pay for play contracts are the same for every school, and, the ability to capitalize on NIL$ by transferring is eliminated.

Yes, I know my intended lack of support is not enough to change anything and only hurts the university. But until we can get back to a place where athletes attend and play for the University while accruing the same benefits that all athletes in their sport equally enjoy across college (within their school's division classification) athletics, I'll probably just casually follow OSU competitions instead of rabidly supporting such competitions with my $$$ and attendance.

My $0.02

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Perhaps you could ask to have it dedicated to NEW facilities only (e.g. wrestling), or perhaps endowed scholarships, we'll need more of those regardless.

Best of luck.

RodeoPoke said:

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GumbyFromPokeyLand said:

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I respect your attitude and support of the athletes, program and school. But as a 40+ year fan and donor, I have a different viewpoint.

Several years ago I made a 7 figure commitment to OSU athletics. That commitment is still outstanding but not yet due. I made that commitment to both benefit the athletes and various athletic programs. However, the current direction of college athletics has me searching for ways to amicably alter and maybe even withdraw my commitment. Athletes (many, not all) no longer play for the University or the program they participate in. They play for money, and only money. That is not a college sports model which excites me and not one that I am willing to help facilitate or fund. And playing for money only is not changing until all pay for play contracts are the same for every school, and, the ability to capitalize on NIL$ by transferring is eliminated.

Yes, I know my intended lack of support is not enough to change anything and only hurts the university. But until we can get back to a place where athletes attend and play for the University while accruing the same benefits that all athletes in their sport equally enjoy across college (within their school's division classification) athletics, I'll probably just casually follow OSU competitions instead of rabidly supporting such competitions with my $$$ and attendance.

My $0.02

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Perhaps you could ask to have it dedicated to NEW facilities only (e.g. wrestling), or perhaps endowed scholarships, we'll need more of those regardless.

Best of luck.

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At the end of the day, any donation to OSU Athletics is either directly or indirectly supporting a model I oppose. I'm probably going to either attempt to redirect to academics or non- sports facilities.

GumbyFromPokeyLand said:

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At the end of the day, any donation to OSU Athletics is either directly or indirectly supporting a model I oppose. I'm probably going to either attempt to redirect to academics or non- sports facilities.

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Yep, very sad days for college football.