College basketball's portal recruiting hits unthinkable levels of financial chaos

[jibsey]

When the command comes down to the IRS this could be a pathway to strip tax-exempt status from universities.

They are non profits and considered charitable so it would be exceedingly difficult to lose tax exempt status. Universities who endorse political candidates could be challenged but even that unlikely. Also picking and choosing which University loses its tax exempt status for whatever reason is not an option so don’t for a minute think Harvard is losing theirs.
You would see UConn lose its tax exempt status about the same time as you see churches lose theirs.

 

[Jaydumo20]

People will pay if they generate money. Pretty straightforward.

I agree.

I gotta go spend time with my kids. This BY is bad for my health.

 

[Man's Field]

They are non profits and considered charitable so it would be exceedingly difficult to lose tax exempt status. Universities who endorse political candidates could be challenged but even that unlikely. Also picking and choosing which University loses its tax exempt status for whatever reason is not an option so don’t for a minute think Harvard is losing theirs.
You would see UConn lose its tax exempt status about the same time as you see churches lose theirs.

That's what I wanted to hear!

 

[HooperScooper]

Another good article on the subject. From John Fanta.

"This is an absolute cesspool," said one high-major coach, who has solid NIL money. "It's birthed by the far-too-long original sin of NCAA greed. The adults in the room gave NIL with no guidelines. No guidance. No rules. Imagine the NBA with annual unrestricted free agency, and no salary cap. And now imagine asking a team full of players earning six figures to go to class."

"The state of the sport is f---ed," a senior who just graduated told me. "You’ve got guys on one-year contracts, so they’re free agents every summer. Coaches are tampering with anyone that has eligibility because they can."

College basketball’s 'lawless, cesspool' transfer portal must be fixed | FOX Sports

College basketball's "lawless" transfer portal gets players paid, but its structure is lacking. FOX Sports' John Fanta breaks down why the entire sport suffers for it and what should be done moving forward.

www.foxsports.com

 

[bendm]

Good article from Matt Norlander of CBS Sports. If you have a few minutes you should read it if you're interested in what is going on. The gist of the article is that the NIL money this year is insane because this is the last year of this system. Although Norlander thinks even though with the new revenue sharing model things will be chaotic. Reading this article makes you appreciate how much the NCAA messed up with the implementation of NIL. No rules, no guardrails.

The article says there are 8 schools believed to have at least $10 million in NIL to spend this year. Then there's a list of at least 14 schools thought to have at least $8 million but less than 8 figures. UConn is in that bunch.

"The guys aren't worth the money they're going for," one high-major coach in the Midwest told CBS Sports. "I could spend $15 million, but the roster I'd put together wouldn't win a national championship. There are bad players going for big money."

The $10 million club: College basketball's portal recruiting hits unthinkable levels of financial chaos

The price of talent is spiking to record amounts -- again -- now with hundreds of millions at stake in college hoops' unregulated economy

www.cbssports.com

The only schools I was surprised not to see in this list were MSU, Zona, and Bama

 

[CONN78SEJ]

How is Seton Hall going to compete with this? I was going to add "how is Butler going to compete with this?" but it is possible that Matta blew $6-7 million on that collection of low major mediocrities that he is assembling.

NIL and the Portal will eventually destroy the Big East and it’s relevance on the national stage.

 

[LStudfellow]

Someone in the sports journalist field who is considered as a fair, honest news person should go back and write an article on exactly how we got here.

And how is that? Mark Emmert... with his unique blend of ignorance and arrogance.

Mark Emmert and his contemporary NCAA cronies (a bunch of university presidents and conference commissioners should be included in there, too) deserve to be held up and skewered for the way they bungled this whole thing, right from the get go. Their arrogant stupidity has as much to do with the current state of NIL and college basketball as any single thing since this whole movement toward paying college athletes started.

I can only imagine that someone... either a lawyer, or advisor of some type tried to explain to that putz that this outcome was something he should have been preparing for.

The fact that guy got a golden parachute is pathetic. He should have been fired and then sued for lying and malfeasance. The fact his reign as head of the NCAA has ever been held up as "successful" by anyone with half a brain instead of the abject failure it truly was is a freaking joke.

His ignorance was bad enough... But his sanctimonious attitude that came through time and time again when being interviewed about it shows how much of an epic failure he truly was.

Someone needs to slap Mark Emmert upside the head and lay this at his feet, once and for all.

 

[uconn_jack]

Question, when an nil package is offered and accepted by a recruit, can the University pull that back after they commit?

 

[uconnfan68]

When the command comes down to the IRS this could be a pathway to strip tax-exempt status from universities.

Do churches next!

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Question, when an nil package is offered and accepted by a recruit, can the University pull that back after they commit?

Whether they can is still to be seen. A couple schools have done this and there has been litigation threatened. Eventually the courts will decide on this.

 

[DRBackup]

I'm not sure I follow. If Paige & Caitlan Clark made their money on their own using personal NIL deals + school NIL AND made more than other college hoop players male or female and other super-duper-stars can do the same, why is the male power structure a big problem (not saying it doesn't exist) ? Is it that there is much more money for the 5th - 100th male hoop players?

It is tough to bring college football into mix for comparison. Whole different revenue /TV $$ and obviously just a male sport.

That is the issue. But it isn't an issue because one sport puts fannies in the seats from the top team to team #200. Not so for the other sport.

 

[shizzle787]

Wait.... don't forget Georgetown.

You laugh but they are possible tourney team next year.

 

[DRBackup]

As a culture we've accepted men make more than women. It'd be hard to claim that the boys club that runs college sports is exempt from centuries of systemic bias. But it's clearly getting way better.

LOL, no we haven't

 

[DRBackup]

I'm with you on a lot of this.
I found an intersting number in CT. Insider:
Uconn womens basketball exceeded 3.5 million in ticket sales. More than Alabama, Florida and Georgia mens teams. So for uconn, paying Paige less than Florida paid Clayton jr. would run counter to most claims. Although I admit i don't know those numbers.
You are way more correct than incorrect but this stat is enough to have a real conversation

Paige is the highest profile player on the highest profile team in the sport. That does not translate to other teams. It just doesn't.

As a for instance, the #35 team in the country, from a particular rating system is Cal. The Cal Bears women's team averaged just over 2200 per game in attendance. I didn't pick team #35 from the men's side, because at KenPom that was Creighton, and I bet the sold out every game. I dropped down one to VCU in the A10. They average a touch under 7000 per game.

 

[UconnU]

This isn’t sustainable. Next economic downturn the first thing the donors are going to say is “Well my team sucks anyway” and cut off the gravy train. Kids are going to have to make it via social media themselves.

 

[Jaydumo20]

You laugh but they are possible tourney team next year.

And nothing would make me happier. I adore the big east

 

[AZHuskiePop]

People will pay if they generate money. Pretty straightforward.

I'm with you on a lot of this.
I found an intersting number in CT. Insider:
Uconn womens basketball exceeded 3.5 million in ticket sales. More than Alabama, Florida and Georgia mens teams. So for uconn, paying Paige less than Florida paid Clayton jr. would run counter to most claims. Although I admit i don't know those numbers.
You are way more correct than incorrect but this stat is enough to have a real conversation

The reality is UConn women Basketball,on paper , * loses money every year.
The SEC basketball team get a distribution from the NCAA tournament participation in the men’s Tournament plus an % of heafty medias deals so there teams may or may not make money depending on accounting. Because each school uses different accounting procedures within a greater athletic, and even University budget it’s extremely difficult to get a truly accurate P&L .
But in theory NIL has nothing to do with team revenue - expenses or Profit .
My understanding of it is the school doesn’t provide any funds for NIL they simply act as an administrators or middleman between the groups providing money and the player. Each player in this set up is an independent operator a pure capitalist system , whose ability to generate income is purefuly a function of some group’s willingness to pay. I think Paige was the highest paid UConn NIL player despite the team losing money every year.
Thats why a quarterback for an elite team can get $10,000,000. That money has zero impact on the AD budget . Frankly it’s making legal what some of these top football schools and even basketball have been doing illegally for years , boosters providing cash payments under the table

*personally I believe the UConn women are revenue positive. Team or product line P&L’s tend to be exercises in creative accounting.

 

[SubbaBub]

If you are going to talk about markets, then you also need to accept there are laws that apply to markets. Right now, the law hasn't caught up to the reality of paid college athletes. Title IX, labor laws including collective bargaining, anti-trust, tax exemptions and a bunch of other laws that regulate interstate commerce should apply but since athletics are still considered scholastic endeavors then don't. There lies the tension. Amateurs? Title IX applies. Employees? A whole bunch of labor laws kick in. Once that box is opened, the likelihood of losing their non-profit status go way up.

The schools are exposed in either case, they will need Congress to clarify/bail them out.