UConn Competition Gets Team NIL Deal - Fair? (Merged)

[AmeriConn]

 

[billybud]

fair....

 

[Beemer]

It's certainly more fair than having 1 or 2 players get deals & the rest of the team getting nothing.

 

[topogigio]

I've said it before, NIL will prove to be the kiss of death for big time college athletics. No one thought the ramifications out. Fair or not fair is irrelevant, NIL will eat up and destroy all!

 

[Charliebball]

I don't begrudge the student athletes sharing in the wealth of collegiate athletics but how long until the next school comes up with a deep pocketed corporate sponsor that offers 50k per athlete? It will lead to simply recruiting by dollars, overriding everything else that goes into the college selection process..........not a good thing in my book.......

 

[JordyG]

Of course it isn't fair. Who said that anything about economics or social hierarchies is fair? To paraphrase a line from the movie "Terms of Endearments", my mother and father told me a lot of things about life, but they never said it was fair, and anyone that thinks there should be equality of outcome in anything is delusional.

 

[Carnac]

It seems to me that a "NIL collective" needs to be formed in Connecticut to level the playing field for UConn athletes and recruits.
If a recruit is undecided between two programs that are for the most part equal in every way, and one has a similar NIL deal in place for its athletes and the other does not. THAT dynamic MAY sway that recruit to the school with the NIL deal. It certainly won't hurt.

Some recruits come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. This type of player benefit may be an inducement they would find hard to refuse or ignore. Dawn Staley has her program on top right now. South Carolina was already attractive to recruits. This will make it even more attractive.

This NIL deal will certainly help it stay there by aiding the coaches to consistently recruit the top athletes in the country every year by providing them with an additional arrow in their quiver, especially if other top ranked competing programs don't have a similar program for its players in place. Remember that old adage.......money talks.

 

[Carnac]

I don't begrudge the student athletes sharing in the wealth of collegiate athletics but how long until the next school comes up with a deep pocketed corporate sponsor that offers 50k per athlete? It will lead to simply recruiting by dollars, overriding everything else that goes into the college selection process..........not a good thing in my book.......

Not very. It's already happening in D-1 P5 football. It's only a matter of time until this seeps down to WCBB.

 

[JordyG]

It seems to me that a "NIL collective" needs to be formed in Connecticut to level the playing field for UConn athletes.
If a recruit is undecided between two programs that are for the most part equal in every way, and one has a similar NIL deal in place for its athletes and the other does not. THAT dynamic MAY sway that recruit to the school with the NIL deal. It certainly won't hurt.

Some recruits come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. This type of player benefit may be an inducement they would find hard to refuse or ignore. Dawn Staley has her program on top right now. This NIL deal will certainly help it stay there by aiding the coaches to consistently recruit the top athletes in the country every year by providing them with an additional arrow in their quiver, especially if other top ranked competing programs don't have a similar program for its players in place. Remember that old adage.......money talks, and.................

Usually I agree with you my friend, but here I don't quite see your point. Are the UConn athletes or UConn administration supposed to petition Starbucks or Amazon and say, "Look here, we are a national institution of renown with multiple championships. It's only fair that you recognize our stature by supporting our athletes because we wish to level the recruitment field". Or perhaps, "We're great, you're great, give us money and we'll tout you as even greater". Corporate America and especially the Machiavellian's out there could give purple flatulence about any of that. If they want you, they'll come running. Yeah, it would be nice if UConn were to receive such largesse going forward, but if companies don't want something you can't force compliance, no matter how much players may band together.

 

[MSGRET]

Unfortunately this would be unfair to 5 current players on UConn's roster because they are international players who under current Government policies they are not allowed to make money on a student visa.

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[CL82]

I wasn’t in love with the whole NIL debacle and it is rapidly dissolving into exactly what many of us feared it would be, a de facto pay for play scheme. But Connecticut approach is the way to handle it, in my opinion. They made it easier for athletes to connect with sponsors and presumably render services for payment.

On the other hand SEC teams have predictably, well, let’s call it pushed the limits. It’s one thing to say hey given your high profile as a major athlete we would like to hire you to exploit your name in some capacity and quite another to say merely by virtue of being on an athletic team you will get $10,000 as a claim of right.

 

[Ozimoto]

I suppose this is an attempt to keep everyone content to maintain a roster. Otherwise, you will have the more marketable athletes getting "the big bucks" while the supporting cast gets nothing. Not exactly a formula for "team unity" given human nature.

 

[GEAinAustin]

Agree with Jordy G, and this has been discussed before. Big time athletic programs have been doing this for years, the only difference is ,it is now legal and out in the open. Curious to why you call it a debacle, and a play for pay scheme? The revenue athletes bring in to school coffers, i.e, T.V contracts , far exceed scholarship amounts.

 

[Bald Husky]

It won't be long before Brand names will be on the Huskies uniforms as they are in most sports now. Very sad, might as well officially make WCBB the developmental league for the WNBA. It basically is now, but if they make it official, they will be paid.

 

[eebmg]

So what happened to the Texas Tech (football) agreement (also 25K) ? Did they get an uptick in recruiting?

Texas Tech boosters to offer $25K per player

A Red Raiders booster said the deals will serve 'as sort of a base salary for the whole locker room.'

theathletic.com

Also, I had asked this before about the Texas Tech with no reply.

Is the 25K per year or over the course of a 4 year program. Is it at the end of 4 years? Prorated if less years?

 

[jdote33]

So what happened to the Texas Tech (football) agreement (also 25K) ? Did they get an uptick in recruiting?

Texas Tech boosters to offer $25K per player

A Red Raiders booster said the deals will serve 'as sort of a base salary for the whole locker room.'

theathletic.com

Also, I had asked this before about the Texas Tech with no reply.

Is the 25K per year or over the course of a 4 year program. Is it at the end of 4 years? Prorated if less years?

That would be pretty great. 25k per year, leave college with a degree and 100k.

 

[KY Card Fan]

...a de facto pay for play scheme. ...

Nothing de facto about it. The horse is out of the barn and here we go....

After there were several big upsets the first weekend of college football, a pundit said something like "that's what's going to happen when guys who are earning next to nothing are asked to block for millionaires."

$25K is next-to-nothing when players like Bueckers and Van Lith are making millions. The effect of all of this on team chemistry could be devastating.

 

[CL82]

Nothing de facto about it. The horse is out of the barn and here we go....

After there were several big upsets the first weekend of college football, a pundit said something like "that's what's going to happen when guys who are earning next to nothing are asked to block for millionaires."

$25K is next-to-nothing when players like Bueckers and Van Lith are making millions. The effect of all of this on team chemistry could be devastating.

In basketball I think it is a little easier to manage. Paige and Azzi are notoriously generous with their nils. sooner or later though it seems as if number of shots you get to take, or maybe your role as a lockdown defender will start to be viewed through the lens of does this enhance my marketability for N I L dollars?

 

[Carnac]

Of course it isn't fair. Who said that anything about economics or social hierarchies is fair? To paraphrase a line from the movies "Terms of Endearments", my mother and father told me a lot of things about life, but they never said it was fair, and anyone that thinks there should be equality of outcome in anything is delusional.

FAIR is a place where they judge pigs.

Usually I agree with you my friend, but here I don't quite see your point. Are the UConn athletes or UConn administration supposed to petition Starbucks or Amazon and say, "Look here, we are a national institution of renown with multiple championships. It's only fair that you recognize our stature by supporting our athletes because we wish to level the recruitment field". Or perhaps, "We're great, you're great, give us money and we'll tout you as even greater". Corporate America and especially the Machiavellian's out there could give purple flatulence about any of that. If they want you, they'll come running. Yeah, it would be nice if UConn were to receive such largesse going forward, but if companies don't want something you can't force compliance, no matter how much players may band together.

If a NIL deal were to be formed, it be strictly voluntary of behalf of the donors. No. The administration nor the athletes should not petition anyone for anything. In light of what SC has going, my thinking is that an alum or a group of alums would on their own volition form something similar to what SC has to level the playing field.

Of course we have no way of knowing how SC's NIL deal came into existence, but it did. One only need look at how the various levels of NIL deals and opportunities at various colleges and universities across the country has affected recruiting in football. Remember when Nick Sabin (Alabama) publicly accused Jimbo Fisher (Texas A&M) of buying practically all of his recruits this year? He later retracted that accusation and issued an apology, but alas, the genie was out of the bottle. WCBB (I don't think) will ever reach THAT proportion, but I can see the day when the availability of lucrative NIL deals will sway recruits one way or the other. THIS is what I had in mind.

UConn Competition Gets Team NIL Deal - Fair? (Merged)

the-boneyard.com

 

[Sifaka]

Of course it isn't fair. Who said that anything about economics or social hierarchies is fair?

JordyG is right on the mark. Here is the basis of all market decisions:

There is a price axis, a quantity axis, and no fairness axis.
Equilibrium is the point at which buyers and sellers agree, and a transaction occurs. Unless someone is forcing the buyer to open her wallet, or price controls are imposed on sellers, the point of equilibrium is as close to “fair” as you are going to get. Markets don't give a damn about fair.

 

[Carnac]

So what happened to the Texas Tech (football) agreement (also 25K) ? Did they get an uptick in recruiting?

Texas Tech boosters to offer $25K per player

A Red Raiders booster said the deals will serve 'as sort of a base salary for the whole locker room.'

theathletic.com

Also, I had asked this before about the Texas Tech with no reply.

Is the 25K per year or over the course of a 4 year program. Is it at the end of 4 years? Prorated if less years?

Like the little girl said in the 1982 sci-fi movie Poltergeist..............."They're here."

 

[KY Card Fan]

I can see the day when the availability of lucrative NIL deals will sway recruits one way or the other.

That day is here, my friend.

 

[Charliebball]

Not very. It's already happening in D-1 P5 football. It's only a matter of time until this seeps down to WCBB.

Not sure it will reach the epic proportions of college football or men's basketball which are exponentially bigger income producing sports for the schools and the NCAA but even if it doesn't, it changes the nature of recruiting down to dollar bills for many recruits, especially those who come from less advantaged circumstances.............

 

[AmeriConn]

It won't be long before Brand names will be on the Huskies uniforms as they are in most sports now. Very sad, might as well officially make WCBB the developmental league for the WNBA. It basically is now, but if they make it official, they will be paid.

Say it ain’t so!