Via ESPN: Virginia law allows schools to pay athletes for NIL
How screwed is everyone else, though, once this is adopted in SEC states in regards to their war chests compared to everyone else's?
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Is there anything from stopping teams from just having NIL "scholarship" athletes that don't count as a scholarship now?
What is a scholarship athlete if it all comes from the same pot now?
VT does this. That LB from VMI (Stone?) was going to be getting enough
NILCollective Money to cover the majority of his tuition. Another example of something similar - my BIL's high school teammate is a depth player in the secondary at Tulane getting $7k/month inNILCollective Money but no tuition.Edit: Corrected for accuracy
So this just makes that scenario a lot easier.
LMAO the unknown walk on kid from fucking VMI- who ended up not making the team, was legit in demand for "NIL" , yep. What a fucking cesspool
Corrected my use of the term NIL. But I don't think he got cut, I thought he quit?
Is this Evil Adam Sandler?
Uncut Gems Adam Sandler.
So, "Yes".
Loved Sandler in that movie. He was great.
I mean, isn't the money already unlimited if one cheats enough?
This just allows Virginia schools who (maybe) don't cheat (as much) to continue to "play ball".
I agree with this, mostly because it just brings everything out in the open. But the money in college sports is ridiculous.
Bill Self has been paying players cash ever since he has been a head coach. Bruce Pearl as well. Now these scum bags can do it in the open.
But so can everyone else and they don't have to cheat to do so. It really levels the field for cheaters, though really fucks over the schools without big money donors.
what is all that cheering and cork popping I hear coming from Lynchburg?
It better be sparkling apple juice they're uncorking.
they only drink that ol falwell baptist wine up there
And this is how Liberty uses their funds to buy athletic prowess going forward
Or, more likely:
This sent shivers down my spine... because this take is 100% on target. They were probably doing it already, now it will just be overt and above-board.
Liberty wins the next how many championships in basketball with an average roster cost of 2-5 million.
You could build a solid basketball roster with the right amount of cash. I would target players that aren't looking to head to the NBA after year 1 but are difference makers at the D1 level. You pay them enough and by year 3 of a recruiting class you have a serious team on your hands.
is that the total roster, or the per-player cost?
Well it took them 5 minutes to be on equal footing with our football program without cash payments... so yeah.
"The law could either give Virginia schools a significant recruiting advantage or provide a catalyst for similar changes elsewhere."
- From the ESPN Article
I'm going to go ahead and bet on provide a catalyst for similar changes elsewhere
Can we just speed this up to the point where the entire system collapsed?
The arms race this is going to create is going to bankrupt entire athletic departments. If you're not in the SEC or B1G or don't have some absurdly rich boosters bankrolling everything you do like at SMU or Liberty, you're already fucked. Better to just get to the end game now so the average fans aren't grifted for more money in hopeless efforts.
all the real players right in the mix of the photo opp, while I'm assuming Liberty just watched from the corner soaking it all in.
This reference will never not be funny.
Back in the day, the cups and tickets had images of the players on them.
We should bring that back and funnel a portion to the players. This week's game is the Kyron Drones day. His picture is on the cup and he gets a portion of every drink sold in Lane Stadium for that game.
Next week is Tuten.
Or raise ticket prices and parking prices 200%.. and give that to the players. People will pay that, apparently.
TIL, I am not people.
well, duh. You're just a lowly ass pocket blessed to be stuffed with airplane bottles (or is it a ziplock bag?)
In a free market, pay for play, capitalism system now- let's test it. Instead of little "taxes" given to the players like proceeds from souvenir cups or begging like panhandlers for 5 dollars here, 10 dollars here- raise ticket and parking prices- significantly and pay the players with that. See what the "demand" is for pro football and basketball at Virginia Tech. I'd rather that then the school having its hand out for money every which way.
Agreed.
Want pro football? Pay pro football prices.
Just rip off the band-aid already.
I am already having significant issues swallowing a $90 increase for football tickets and a $70 increase for WBB each.
HokieBird just staring down little brother....
Is it just me or does this look like the Cavalier's belt squeezed its belly up into its armpit?
nah... that's just back fat
Hokie Bird right there should have just said F it and given Cav Man a Stone Cold Stunner in front of everyone.
Personally, living in Lynchburg and having to deal with all the 'LU is on the upswing' stuff was intolerable before - it's gonna be amplified to the Nth degree after this.
Just when you drive around town and see all the shit that is almost unnecessary that they have been building, just to use up money from that Online Tuition Diploma Mill fund, it's insane. Now imagine them funneling that all directly into players.
Do you really think top level recruits will give two shits about having to abide by the 'Liberty Way', when they will be making a shitload more money than VT or UVA could ever hope to match? Hell, they hardly abide by it now as it is, with what I've seen around town.
I somehow missed in the spreadsheet that you're in Lynchburg, too.
Not even the administration abides by the 'Liberty Way'.
Isn't the Liberty Way "Do what I say and not what I do?"
dingdingdingding
I thought it was do what I say and I'll watch what you do
Does this mean that Tech will starting funding the BB and WBB programs again?
How does this impact the people who have already entered the portal? Any chance some come back? Like for basketball?
Do you honestly believe we had the money, but couldn't pay them?
No I'm just curious about any immediate impacts from this law going through
I thought the guys leaving were likely based on conversations with the coaches about their eventual playing time (or likely lack thereof). If they're not likely to play because they aren't good enough to earn PT, I doubt we want to be paying them to come back.
While this certainly isn't bad for us, I don't think that its going to create any advantage that is more than purely temporary. Politicians and Administrators have to pat themselves on the back even for modest accomplishments.
In essence, we are eliminating some middlemen and knocking down some of the last barriers to 100% Pay for Play.
Ultimately, though, most states are going to enact similar laws and likely in the very near future. Can you imagine states like Alabama and Texas allowing any other State to have a potential advantage over them in regards to Football?? Hell, they would vote to eliminate Public Water Treatment before giving an inch on Football.
So the end result will be what it already is---whoever has the most money and is most willing to throw it at players most freely will benefit the most in College Sports going forward.
Keep in mind that Tech and UVA do have one disadvantage to the other state schools at D1 in that they are capped at only using Student Fees to account for 20% of their athletic budget while JMU, Liberty and ODU will not be capped currently.
To raise student athletic fees $50 per Undergraduate per semester they would need to find $12M more to add to the overall athletic budget.
That said, I do not know if all of NIL and employees needed to do it through the school will now count as part of the Athletic Department budget. If it does, they could raise fees $1 for every $4 additional dollars that count.
Why are VT and UVa capped but the others are not?
I guess it's time to get off this college sports fan train.
It was fun at times
Wait no hear me out, suppose we built a large wooden badger...
Do we fill it full of animal poop from all the cows and pigs on campus, tow it to Charlottesville, and release it and set fire to it as it rolls into town? Or did you have something different in mind?
This sounds like a great idea regardless of the state of college sports. I'm in
I heard on the radio this morning that there is language in the legislation that bars the NCAA from suing VA schools for how they implement/allocate NIL money as well. Not sure what to do with this information, I just thought it was an interesting nugget.
Yeah I think a year or so ago when states started passing NIL legislation, the NCAA tried to argue that their policies should supersede state law. That got a lot of hearty chuckles - that wouldn't hold much water at all in court and states know that. Yet again, NCAA is powerless.
Here is the next legal question on this. If they schools are paying money directly to male athletes in football/basketball, does this violate title IX? Do they have to give corresponding amounts to female athletes. Do they get around title IX by calling the athletes "employees?"
The really big stinker in the room is Tech has already been considering layoffs for parts of the athletic departments as there is NO money.
"Tech has already been considering layoffs for parts of the athletic departments as there is NO money." Huh??? I'm told there are millions generated by the athletes and thus they need a piece of this pie. And to your question, of course it violates Title 9... they will ignore it.
I don't get why we're so broke all the time
Need to keep up the charade to make the fans feel like things are so dire that they increase their giving.
Schools like UVA and UNC have far more significant donor support for non-rev sports. VT's athletics prominence and donor interest really started with our football success in the 90s. We haven't historically been strong in non-rev sports and thus don't have the funding (donors or institutional) to put there. Football really funds our entire athletic department to a large extent.
We certainly could put more institutional money toward those sports (and VT has done this over the last decade), but it's not sustainable if it takes away from the cash cow (football). Non-revs are a net loss.
Not sure where you got that there is no money. Saw a tweet from TSL saying that the past two years, the revenue has exceeded expenses. And despite costs staying the same as last year, this year we made like 6 or 8 million more in revenue, so trending in a positive direction.
Also noteworthy is that we greatly raised expenses in two years go (presumably for Pry and the larger staff he hired), and we still raised revenue to exceed those higher expenses.
we spend 24% on coaches, 24% on facilities and 21 on admin support
Clemson is at 19%, 16%, and 19% respectively.
Clemson spends twice as much on game travel expenses, twice as much on recruiting.
UNC is 24% 15% and 21%, but spend even more money that Clemson on game day and travel stuff. Clemson has 3x the donor contributions. 90 mil vs 27 mil. and have 13 mil more in ticket sales. They have 18 mill more in licensing/sponsorships
We make 10 million less in ticket sales than UNC. We make more in media rights and donations but they have more institution/government money. But they also make 10 million more in licensing/sponsorships.
UVA makes more in donors and licensing/sponsorships. Think about that for a second. UVA is a better brand, ewww.
"They have 18 mill more in licensing/sponsorships"- while our AD tells Nike we are lucky to even be associated with them and accepts peanuts. Great.
20 years ago I would agree but Nike has really gone down hill lately. I sit here wearing a 25 year old Nike shirt that has a little fraying at the neck and year old shorts that I'm about ready to through cause they are falling apart.
Are they actually Nike or Nike branded Fanatics junk?
actual Nike. I have some new stuff that is good but it seems very hit or miss lately.
Ah back when Nike made quality goods from sweat shops in India and Indonesia.
Even for the MLB stuff, Fanatics is just making everything to the exact specs Nike tells them. They have gone unbelievably cheap over the last few years, the NFL quality is a shell of it's former self at the same price.
Nike keeps signing huge deals with athletes who aren't worth it, so they have to cut costs somewhere
Where can we find a company like Nike, but with higher quality and fewer athletes under contract?
I want to see what Fanatics does with the NHL, but I'd be absolutely willing to go with them on a big contract. I know their merch is shit and their website sucks, but they're legitimately a behemoth and rapidly taking over the entire sports world. It's inevitable that they'll have a big share of the collegiate market, so why not get in early and let them use us as their flagship going forward.
To be clear, I loathe what they've done over the last 10 years, but I'm also a realist who can recognize where everything is going. They're eventually going to have both the MLB and NHL deals and wouldn't be shocked if they end up with NFL or NBA as well. Adidas is dropping off, Nike is scaling back, and everyone else has been effectively squeezed out.
Was the 10 million in ticket sales less than UNC from a year when Fuente was still here, or is it current? We weren't selling out games and finally started selling them out again this past year, so wondering if that's still true.
Meanwhile, Memphis sports teams will have Fed Ex patches on their uni's this coming year. Its over- college sports, pretense of student athletes- over. Its the G League and UFL now.
I'm still completely stunned we haven't leveraged our partnership with Amazon more for athletics.
We are working with Amazon to have them pick up the TV contract when ESPN doesn't renew next year. (I wish).
We have alum Dave Calhoun CEO at Boeing, but he's a short timer there now.
He (Boeing) is sponsoring Drone Soccer through Tech
Man, a Boeing sponsorship would blow the doors off a FedEx sponsorship.
Too many whistleblowers on the field for Boeing to get on board. Yikes. I'll see myself out.
I suppose this could work out in some way that Im just not seeing. But right now I'm just 🤢🤮