FBS football recommended to split from NCAA

By: Jander75 on December 4, 2020, 6:04 AM | 13 comments

An independent commission recommended a complete split from the NCAA for FBS football. A few points I found interesting and non starters imho:
1. Only FBS football, no men's DIV I basketball
2. Recommend against paying the players
3. It would fall on the individual universities to govern the generated revenues and make sure other sports were covered.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/30444422/knight-commiss...

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Comments

bar1990

ATLIEN

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| 5 years 7 months #

So for those like me who were curious exactly what problems the knight commission was trying to solve, you can read the Knight Commission's press release, or even the entire report (it's only 30 pages).

However, the Knight Commission has concluded that the governance of NCAA Division I is no longer keeping pace with the rapid commercial growth of college athletics, particularly FBS football. Separating the sport of FBS football from the NCAA would end Division I's financially dysfunctional system of governance, in which the NCAA absorbs all national expenses for FBS football, without receiving any financial benefits from the sport or its College Football Playoff. Those expenses include enforcement, catastrophic insurance, legal services, health and safety administration, and research.

NCAA Division I governance would be reorganized around men's basketball – which funds nearly all NCAA operations and is the one sport that all Division I members offer. This structure will allow leaders to more fully focus on this sport, and align incentives, policies and administration in ways that will better serve the future of men's basketball.

The Commission believes its recommended governance model will help not only the NCAA but FBS football, while keeping college sports tethered to core principles of higher education. Each governing entity will benefit from being an independent, unified structure for the sports that it oversees, replacing the current fragmented model.

grummanhokie

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| 5 years 7 months # ^

I read the press release and then took a deeper dive and read the full report. I'm with the commission in that something needs to change in the world of FBS football. The NCAA is too slow to adopt changes, too wishy-washy in their enforcement of certain rules, and just not flexible enough to deal with the disparity between the revenues of Football/Basketball and the Olympic sports.

The couple of things that I agree with wholeheartedly:

Capping coaching salaries and operating budgets. Just because you're going to break out the big boys doesn't mean that you allow the bigger boys to keep running unchecked. Capping budgets/salaries helps to equalize the playing field. It's not like coaches are going to stop coaching because they only make $2mil/year vs. $5mil/year.
Not paying players but allowing them to be paid for their likeness. This is a no brainer. Players are already "paid" with their scholarships which can be worth $100-300k depending on the school, however there is no reason that the star QB/RB/WR/school star shouldn't be allowed to wet their beak with revenues from 3rd party jersey/memorabilia sales. Not paying players prevents an spending race that will benefit the larger schools from out-muscling the "smaller" NCFA schools.
Accountability. Just like the NFL gets shit on when something bad happens, the same should be for FBS college football.

I'm interested to see a few things if/when this comes to fruition:

Who decides to take this and run with it. I can see SEC/B10/B12 schools leading the charge and trying to implement the NFCA as they already contain most of the blue bloods.
What do athletic conferences look like now that FBS football isn't a part of the equation?
How many of the 59 G5 schools decide to make the leap? What's the process if a G5 school drops to "FCS" but then after a few years decides they want to jump to the NFCA?
Most interesting, which P5 schools decide to say "nah, enough is enough, we'll stick with the NCAA and join the FCS". I can see Wake Forest/Syracuse from the ACC, Illinois/Rutgers from B10, Vandy from SEC deciding to stop the spending and stick with it.

vtnerf

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| 5 years 7 months # ^

Could be interesting to see the discussion in Cville over the decision. With the historic push to not focus so much on big sports (football) they may struggle with this. They may "stay" put, and focus on the Olympic sports. And I'm sure there would be a chance to cross over for a game a year, maintaining the Commonwealth Cup game. That being said, I can also see see Liberty raising every hand they have to make the jump up.

KingJames

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| 5 years 7 months # ^

You can't cap coaches salaries, already went the to the courts in the 1998, it's a violation of the Sherman act and has been ruled on in the US Appeals courts.

Edit: added specific details

grummanhokie

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| 5 years 7 months # ^

True, but one of the things that the report pointed out was that the NFCA should attempt to obtain an anti-trust exemption. See page 16: "For example, the governance entities may determine it is necessary to seek antitrust protection to cap coaching salaries. These are decisions that are best decided after the new structures are formed, not before."

KingJames

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| 5 years 7 months # ^

Has anyone ever done that for coaches? The only ones I know that exist are for players.

There are millions of entities skirting around antitrust stuff, but this would be a big change from my knowledge (which isn't a lot).

gjpvt09 | 5 years 7 months # ^

Most interesting, which P5 schools decide to say "nah, enough is enough, we'll stick with the NCAA and join the FCS". I can see Wake Forest/Syracuse from the ACC, Illinois/Rutgers from B10, Vandy from SEC deciding to stop the spending and stick with it.

If they like their basketball money, they'll stay in conference for the football money too.

msmcfa

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| 5 years 7 months # ^

I need to read the full report, but this will be interesting - very curious to see how things play out and with what speed. Thanks for sharing.

Jander75 | 5 years 7 months # ^

Thank you for linking the report, good future reading!

gjpvt09 | 5 years 7 months #

Expect the P5 and at least the American to move ahead with the new league. No way they don't go after the money.

MWC, Funbelt Sunbelt, MAC, C-USA may have concerns jumping ship. I see MWC and Funbelt moving as partners with the PAC12 and SEC. MAC schools and C-USA might as well be FCS level right now.

BYU and ND could certainly join a conference to do this.

I'm more interested in say a NDSU or JMU jumping up to get access. If you look at JMU's new facilities, they are clearly making a play for a bigger conference. The new arena is absolutely spectacular.

macraw83 | 5 years 7 months # ^

I doubt there are any MAC schools that can afford the jump. The AAC might go, but there are a few schools that would probably stay behind. There are a handful of schools in CUSA/SBC that seem to be aiming for long-term success, so I could see either those handful of schools joining the AAC, or those two conferences completely reorganizing into a group that jumps up and a group that stays back. Likewise, the MWC has a few schools that would want to jump up, but I don't see a way for them to be successful unless they can either join the PAC or the Big XII.

As for current FCS schools looking to jump up, assuming this happens in the first place it'll mean a 3-way split in Division 1 football. I don't see most G5 schools that can't afford the jump up to willingly relegate themselves to FCS, so there's definitely going to be a middle subdivision created, and I would expect many top-tier FCS schools to jump up into that. There is no way that JMU jumps all the way from the CAA to competing with the blue bloods all at once.

Jander75 | 5 years 7 months # ^

You can add Liberty to your list, they have better facilities, coaching and players than us at this point...

APrimusHokie | 5 years 7 months #

Nvm thought I was on my RTC thread still😂