Tim Sands speaks as a member of the ACC Board and the Chair of the NCAA Division I Board of Directors. Good read.
Power 4 Leaders Must Act Before College Athletics Becomes Unsustainable
A few interesting paragraphs:
Other than running out of money or debt capacity, there are some controls that can moderate the emotion-driven spending frenzy. In some states, like the Commonwealth of Virginia, there are limits imposed on institutional subsidies and student fees for athletics at public universities. These constraints are reasonable but arguably put Virginia institutions at a disadvantage in terms of competitiveness in revenue sports. In principle, the implementation of the House settlement with its revenue-sharing cap and clearinghouse for vetting name, image and likeness deals should provide spending controls that will slow down the race to a financial crisis, but allegations are rampant that they are already being violated. The result may very well be implosion of the business model, when fans no longer identify with the associated teams with their transient mercenary rosters, and when universities undergo existential financial trauma exacerbated by their unlimited appetite for athletics spending. When the haves number a dozen or two and the have-nots are the rest, there will be no competitive balance and fan interest will crater, except perhaps for a handful of surviving programs and their devoted fan bases. The impact on Olympic sports and the student athletes who benefit from them would be severe.
...
As I write this, the Power Four conferences have signed on to the House settlement, but we do not yet have signed CSC participant agreements. We have a cap on the amount of revenue that can be shared with student athletes ($20.5 million per institution this year) but an epidemic of circumvention strategies involving collectives, apparel companies and multimedia rights partners. We have dozens of different NIL laws promulgated at the state level. We have lawyers and union activists arguing that student athletes should be employees, and student athletes saying overwhelmingly that they do not want to be employees. We have tampering rules in place that are being roundly violated, seemingly by almost everyone. We have unlimited transfer opportunities that threaten academic progress. And we have former professional athletes suing to be eligible for college athletics. Wake me up when this is all over.
Are student athletes saying that they do not want to be employees? First I'm hearing this.
By contrast [to suggestions about professionalization and collective bargaining], there are steps that the NCAA DI membership can take now in the interest of fairness, safety and academic integrity that are largely under the control of presidents and chancellors, especially those from Power Four institutions. We could protect the student-athlete model by introducing duration-of-eligibility rules, similar to long-standing rules in other nonprofessional sports organizations, to promote safety for competitors and opportunities for high school graduates, and we could create a permissible contact period for recruitment after the season ends and before the opening of the transfer portal. Ideas such as these, and many others, are currently being discussed in various venues.
Within conferences, we have more options if we are willing to stand up for the student-athlete model at the risk of introducing temporary competitive disadvantages. A conference could elect to restrict transfers into or within the conference in support of academic progress, perhaps through the vehicle of institutional revenue-sharing contracts. A conference could also decide to unilaterally implement a common-sense transfer rule that balances freedom to transfer with academic progress. For example, a student athlete could be allowed one or two transfers for any reason before having to sit out a year of competition for subsequent transfers, in order to spend that year focused on demonstrating progress toward a degree.
Some decent proposals. Are they enough?
Presidents and chancellors are far from powerless, and with that power comes responsibility to act—the sooner, the better.
Well, somebody better do something. I agree, the current status is not quo.
Discuss.
(Posted on Off Topic, because it impacts all sports, just not one in particular.)
Comments
From what I'm hearing, the $EC and B1G are in DC lobbying to change Title IX...and remove football and basketball. In addition, they are working on a collective bargaining deal so they would become their own league. This is already killing college sports, so coming out now is late to the party.
I see it as having a decision. Either mortgage everything to maintain a .500 level with the big dogs that will dump gobs of money into football and basketball, or retreat back a tad, understand there is an entire university to operate with 30,000 other students (and other athletes) on campus, and be happy with a regional schedule. How things have been are not going to be how they look in 5 years. Or less.
We simply don't have the donors, atmosphere, tradition of pulling big donations to allow us to run with the $25million teams/year out there. I mean it took 5 years of seeing this in order to come to terms that it's actually happening and we're falling behind.
Who are they intending to collectively bargain with?
The new players union, for those playing in that league.
Im with Sands here .... This shit is insane.
Um, its still sustainable? This is news to me.
I have been saying for about a year now, I expect the entire system to crash and burn in less than 5 years (4 now).
If it doesn't its because shady money will get involved. But it's a house of cards.
And just like House of Cards, NCAA football (and college sports in general) died in 2019.
2019? The year that uva won a natty in basketball and also beat us in football for the first time since 2003? Yeah we should have known that was a sign of the end times
I'm looking forward to reading the whole piece, but I really appreciate the quote at the end of OP
It's about time that the schools (a.k.a. their leadership) take accountability. The NCAA is nothing but a collection of member institutions. Since 1984, they've lost court case after court case and just shrugged their shoulders. For 40 years, they've chosen to be reactive instead of proactive.
If they want to inspire change instead of being forced to change, then they need to take an action beyond hoping and praying that a lawsuit will land in the hands of the right judge.
"Before" it becomes unsustainable? It already is.
This fan is already at this position. I don't care about recruiting anymore as it is always in flux. I don't know who is on the team and playing till the first game of the season. I have no idea who will be here next year to see develop into a better player. All I care about is the games we play and then sometimes I don't care about those either.
This. These are professional teams wearing university colors. I still enjoy it most of the time, might not in a few years, who knows?
I wouldn't even say they are professional teams as those players are under contract for multiple years. Yes they can get traded but I haven't seen a professional team turn a roster over through trades/free agency like CFB teams have done the past couple years.
Professional as is "players getting paid to play the sport and they don't need another job to support their love of sports".
That quote was exactly what I zeroed in on too. But you beat me to it. At this point, I am hoping the entire business model collapses. Unfortunately, adding in additional text, the track record of universities reigning in spending on anything is pretty poor. Essentially unlimited student loans backed by the government just allowed them to raise tuition to whatever levels are needed to do the spending. Parents and kids are finally catching on and we are seeing the start of people turn away from a 4-year degree as not being worth it. Universities need to control costs and spending in a lot more than just athletics. Donors are going to stop supporting athletics (some already have) and parents/students are going to stop paying tuition on the academic side too. Whole model will collapse under its own weight if adjustments are not made.
"The result may very well be implosion of the business model, when fans no longer identify with the associated teams with their transient mercenary rosters, and when universities undergo existential financial trauma exacerbated by their unlimited appetite for athletics spending."
I would argue this should read unlimited appetite for all kinds of spending.
when fans no longer identify with the associated teams with their transient mercenary rosters
The transition has already started in our fan base. For the 1st time in 5 decades, I was less than enthusiastic watching a Va Tech bowl game, the Duke's Mayo bowl with Minnesota. With many Tech players choosing not to play.
Ha... I just realized I don't even remember us playing Minnesota. I've watched every bowl game since I went to Tech.
Deled post
Maybe I don't see all the other moving parts from a person outside looking in, but to me, the fixes seem pretty straightforward...
I am sure there's other things that could be added to the list, but I think those are good starts to ring in this wild wild west we have in college sports (mainly football and basketball).
But those are both illegal under US labor/antitrust laws. The only reason other leagues have been able to do this is because of collective bargaining and congress passing laws.
That's why the $EC and B1G are in DC...working on this now.
...and Sands position in all this puts us further at odds with P2, making it less likely we get included in what they are working on. Not sure if that's good or bad anymore....
As much as I agree with you on the potential invite impact, Sands isn't wrong. It is also time somebody stood up and said something.
One thing I don't think people have thought of is that the players are making so much money in the current system (reportedly 40 to 50 million dollar rosters at some schools) that when a CBA could potentially come to fruition, the players may tell the NCAA to fuck off and that they aren't going to agree to anything.
So then they dont get paid at all? Bold strategy Cotton.
A players association would be a mess in college as there is too large a gap between whi gets paid and the wide majority of players. The worst player in the NFL was one of the best in college. ~300 players get draft each year, thats 3 full teams rosters. There are 130 some FBS teams. That means in college right now less than 10% will be drafted. less than half of those get a decent rookie contract. There is probably another 10% of college players that get paid in college because they don't translate to the NFL. So 20% of players that actually get significant money in college and 5% of those have substantial NFL contracts (although unknown at the time). The other 80% of players have WAY different goals and probably 90% of them think they are in the top 10% going to the league. This will be a mess.
No that's not what I'm saying, I'm saying at a certain point if the money the players get paid continues to increase every year (2024 Ohio State had a 20 million dollar roster, 2026 LSU and Texas have 40 million dollar rosters) then the players will have all the leverage at a negotiation, why would they agree to stop the system that benefits them so much?
Either the money is there or it isn't. It's just like any other industry. And if it isn't, then the players will be forced to accept less, or nothing. They can't go to the nfl, they (effectively) can't go to the cfl. They'll stay in college and earn less.
Also, not many schools are paying $20m+ for a roster.
But the players that are making stupid money will not be on board with any sort of regulation or CBA.
It's hard to see this ending with anything other than the SEC and B1G becoming their own NFL Lite style entities.
If the top of the sport breaks off, It's not going to be the SEC and the B10. It's going to be the 16 bluebloods.
Whose on that list? Theres a lot of cross over...Mich, anOSU, Bammer, Nebraska, LSU, etc...
And they won't if they don't have the money. Some of the Texas schools would go (there's already 2 in the $EC.)
8 bluebloods: Mich, OSU, Bama, Nebraska, ND, Texas, OU, USC
Nuevoriche: LSU, Auburn, UGA, FSU, Miami, UF, PSU, Tennessee, Clemson, Oregon
Neuvoriche would also include Texas Tech. They are paying every sport big NIL these days.
It's not just about spending; it's more about eyes/viewership/fan interest. I don't know that Texas Tech as a brand moves the needle in the same way as these other schools.
Do the cleveland browns move it in the NFL. They need willing spenders, and beggars can't be choosers.
but thats my point the players not wanting a CBA are a small minority. They wont have a voice as the rest will accept a deal that doesn't impact them. Those not wanting to change will not have a spot so they'll have to accept it.
This assume no break off from FBS.
My favorite snippet from all of that:
The conferences and universities are not all playing by the same rules, i think we all knew that. None of this is getting fixed without a proper NCAA players association, a watchdog committee, and a collective bargaining agreement between the players association, NCAA (if it still exists) and the conferences.
Mehhh I think they're all playing by the same rules. Some schools have the money, most don't
Are 'investors' donating millions to these collectives just for the love of the game or do they get a return on their investment?
I wish i had dumb money to throw around like this
You and me both. If I did, I would
In my best Mr. Burns impersonation, "If I had that kind of money I sure as can be would not waste it like that"
To be clear, I would need to have, like...T. Boone Pickens money for that. Which I do not have
I tried to win that 2 billion dollar powerball, I did not succeed.
I didn't try, and it's been successful.
I got my $2 worth of day dreams.
Finally reading this piece...
I really like how he didn't make this about athlete compensation, but instead made it about Athletic spending as whole. I know how painful the 'weights all weigh the same' comment is, but its absolutely ridiculous that the facilities need to be upgraded every five years. And we're not talking repainted, or maintained...
And I really appreciate him having the balls to mention coaching salaries.
Also, it's bold move to do this right after we hired the guy who is going to push us to spend more than we ever have before... I'm not saying Sands is wrong for pointing this out, but there is a tad bit of hypocrisy here.
Two (tightly related) things here that really stand out to me:
Pointing out that this is basically a Prisoner's Dilemma at scale. Everyone wants to wind this down. But if you wind this down and others don't, then you get screwed.
"We have a plan that should work, but we can't be sure because y'all keep fuckin with it, and if y'all keep fuckin with it, then everyone's gonna get fucked"
Overall, I think this is a pretty thoughtful piece. It's not terribly actionable, but as he mentions in the piece, it can't be. I would love to ask him a bunch of question about it, but I think I would need to increase my donations by 100,000x to get that sort of face time lol
Edit: The other aspect of the hypocrisy is that universities at large are more expensive than ever before (and that's not just due to athletics fees). VT tuition is not affordable for most middle class Virginians (google tells me that the median household income in Virginia is between $92k and 93k, but VT tuition + board is $33k). So arguing that we real in spending on Athletics, without finding ways to decrease cost of attendance, while the university's endowment approaches $3B... It's just a lot to untangle, and a lot of it is much much bigger than athletics.
"The other aspect of the hypocrisy is that universities at large are more expensive than ever before (and that's not just due to athletics fees). VT tuition is not affordable for most middle class Virginians (google tells me that the median household income in Virginia is between $92k and 93k, but VT tuition + board is $33k). So arguing that we real in spending on Athletics, without finding ways to decrease cost of attendance, while the university's endowment approaches $3B... It's just a lot to untangle, and a lot of it is much much bigger than athletics."
And to see the proof of this, all you have to do is look at the small liberal arts colleges that do not have expensive sports programs but are still $40,000, $50,000, $60,000 a year. Like you, I'm all for cutting athletic spending. But The Educational-Industrial Complex as a whole needs to rein in a whole lot more than just athletic spending.
The hypocrisy was not lost on the talking heads and he's getting lambasted on socials by the national blowhards
I wouldn't call it hypocrisy - he doesn't want to play the game but he doesn't really have a choice not to.
Exactly. You can believe in disarmament without unilaterally disarming.
Fair point (at least in regards to Athletic Spending) - hypocrisy is perhaps a strong word.
I do maintain that it's a little... myopic? misguided? missing the forest for the trees? to focus on the issue of athletics while ignoring the wider issue around higher ed right now.
Becomes?
I thought we were already there
This is too late. Color me shocked that Tim Sands is late to the party on something regarding athletics
I do like his focus on academic related eligibility; I get laughed at but have been on that bandwagon for awhile. It is the one thing schools have total control over. They can't control how much money an athlete makes. They CAN control who is eligible to represent their school in competition.
Matt Brown (owner of Extra Points - one of the foremost experts in the college sports business) shared his take on Sands' piece:
The TLDR of the piece is "you're right and it's still you're job to fix this"
So given what we've seen since this was published (changes to the BoV, Sands retirement, etc), I'm guessing that Sands learned he was going to get pushed out (prior to the public announcement), and this was his middle finger/opportunity to share his honest thoughts without repercussions or blowback.
I have no doubt about this.
Regardless on this is why he is being pushed out, or the decision was made before it needed to be said and I am proud that he said it.
The moment student athletes became professional athletes the ship had sailed. the speech is nice but a hand grasping sand on the beach. There is no going back in the current system. none.
So let's propose a new system.
I say follow the intention to pull football and basketball but go all the way. No half steps. Cut the entanglement. Let's stop pretending these are part of academics and treat them for what they are. businesses. Run them separately as a business with professional athletes, who by contract must seek a degree. not students who by contract must play a sport.
The rest of sports remain on university side, under Title IX and managed together as part of an academic institution.
Stop making sense, profitable college sports are all about emotionalism and greed. Logic and sound fiscal decisions have no seat at the table.