Yesterday was about the potential for helter-skelter situations in college football as schools switch conferences and conferences keep expanding. That is not the only nexus of chaos in college football; today I want to focus on two other ongoing issues. The first issue involves NCAA athletes, the NCAA itself, the Congress of the United States and the fifty States that comprise the United States. What could possibly go wrong?
The underlying “problem” that needs “resolution” here is how to regulate the ways and means by which college athletes can be compensated for the use of their name, image and/or likeness (NIL). The current status is that various states have passed various pieces of legislation trying to regulate this mess; it should be no surprise to learn that all those varying State laws are not the same. The NCAA as an institution has all but admitted publicly that this problem is way too complex for them to handle; and so, conference commissioners and coaches and even a couple of university presidents have said there needs to be Congressional action.
It seems like a week does not go by where some Congressthing and/or Senator introduces a bill that nominally has bipartisan support to clean up this situation. Surprise once again; all those introduced bills are different one from another. The most pragmatic noise I have heard regarding this situation came from Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) who said that there was no hope of any congressional legislative action unless and until the colleges themselves all get behind a single bill. That sounds simple and obvious; that also sounds like something that will be a bone of contention among various school groups and something that could test the wisdom of Solomon.
I have no interest in the machinations and horse-trading that will have to happen to get schools on board behind a single set of objectives or that will have to happen to get legislation through the House and the Senate. But I do have a couple of ideas for foundational pieces that being in any legislation of this kind, and I will offer them here at no cost to anyone:
- Transparency: The NIL deals between an athlete and a “commercial partner” should be public record. Athletes can be paid for being athletes at the collegiate level these days; there should be no under-the-table money.
- Limitations: While I have no personal reason to want to limit the kinds of sponsorships athletes can accept, I recognize that there might be some linkages that need to be out of bounds. Athletes should not be allowed to accept money from hate groups for example; athletes at church-related schools might have to accept that they cannot endorse pornographic websites. This will be a thorny area, but I think it must be included.
- School Funding: When NIL money flows to athletes via the school they are attending, the school must pay into a fund that will be used exclusively to pay for health insurance for the athletes for a period of time after the athlete uses up his/her eligibility. Call this the Readjustment to Real Life Fund if you will. Schools derived benefit(s) from the athlete; this is a way for the school to ease the athlete into the real world.
- Stability: NIL deals should be for more than one year in duration. They need not be for four or five years, but they should be for more than one. AND, if the athlete chooses to transfer prior to the end of an NIL contract, he/she owes a portion of the already collected funds back to the source of the funding.
The overarching danger I see here is that this sort of legislation will create some sort of US Government oversight entity and that entity will do what every regulatory/oversight entity does – – it will make rules and regulations. The potential here is for this new entity to create a rule book that equals or exceeds the one the NCAA has had for years that runs to multiple hundreds of pages – – and it only deals with things like recruiting.
Be afraid; be very afraid …
The other college football issue for today demonstrates to me two things:
- Some college athletes are not that bright.
- Some college football players believe that “the rules” do not apply to them.
A bunch of athletes in Iowa – – at both Iowa and Iowa State – – have been suspended from their teams and face legal action for betting on college sports. I have said here before that I think the NCAA’s rules on athletes gambling on sports are overly restrictive. The NCAA makes it improper for a college football player to bet on the World Series because the NCAA also offers college baseball. By extension, it would also be improper for a college baseball player to bet on the FIFA Women’s World Cup because the NCAA also oversees women’s soccer. I think that is just plain stupid.
However, some of the suspended players in Iowa did not merely cross the line into Stupid Land, they went barreling into that territory with guns blazing.
- Two players stand accused of betting on games in which they participated. When I was a kid and I did something stupid – – at least twice a week – – my father would tell me, “You must be twins because no one person can be that dumb.” Well, I think that statement applies to any athlete who bets on a game they play in.
- Another player demonstrated that he knew what he was doing was not the right thing because he is accused of using his mother’s name to conceal his identity as the one making the wager.
- A former Iowa State defensive end, Enyi Uwazurike, is implicated in this matter from his time at Iowa State. I guess he thought this sort of behavior was okey-dokey because he left Iowa State and was drafted by the Denver Broncos. Yes, he has been suspended indefinitely by the NFL for – – you guessed it – – violation the NFL gambling policy/rules.
The good news is that all this came to light and that there is no reason at the moment to conclude that any of the wagering activity threatened the integrity of any actual games. Moreover, it is a good thing that this is being given media attention because that might be an object lesson to athletes at other schools regarding the impropriety of such behavior(s). This good news can be minimized, however, if there are not severe punishments handed out here. If the only punishment is to make these miscreants take some sort of personal ethics seminar that lasts 4 days, the message sent will devolve to:
- “It’s the wrong thing to do, but it’s no big deal.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………