NIL was portrayed as the "kids' opportunity to earn money based on their Name, Image and Likeness" that grew from the decision on Ed O'Bannon's lawsuit.
Many of us (or maybe just naive me) believed that meant they could do commercials or special events for a local business, for example, or license their names to be used on apparel, video games or any number of other commercial opportunities that bring value to a business and income to the player. That, as I understood it (naively obviously) meant the kid could contract with an agent who would manage his deals for a percentage.
That is not what it's become.
If the courts uphold this decision, and Dartmouth's players joining a union becomes the norm, the players will have been deemed to be employees and won't it be fun to watch what happens when they strike the week before the NCAA tournament to secure more money or benefits and less practice time?
If the collegiate model implodes, what will replace it? The G-league or something like that? Who's going to pay for the losses they incur? Not the alums or legislature.
I went to a couple Albany Patroons games when I lived near Albany when Bill Musselman was the coach, but that was just out of curiosity. No way would I be a season ticket holder for such a team and neither will most people in the country.
The NCAA is weak enough already but if they're castrated like this there won't be enough TV contract money for anyone, not even the B1G, to maintain long term viability.
I wonder if the NFL and NBA are worrying about this issue too, because the expense of developing immature (body and skill wise) players for their leagues would end up costing the owners a lot of money the colleges take care of today. Like the African Academy for the NBA or the Dominican League for baseball.
