NIL, Title IX, Power 5, future of Lax et al

[44WeWantMore]

Even so-called “non-revenue” sports generate money for someone … just look at the college sports events that populate the ESPN streaming service, including lacrosse. ESPN is not showing those sports on their streaming and cable television platforms out of charity.

All college athletes should be unionized if their school is part of any media deal. Negotiated deals will vary by conference, but all college athletes should get a proportional share of the revenue.

DocBarrister

You know ESPN is less than three years from being another cow for PE to “milk and churn” right?

PE firms are like the aliens in Independence Day … destructive locusts that move from target to target. A day of reckoning will come, just as it did for the mortgage-backed security scam/industry.

DocBarrister

Should partners and associates, doctors and janitors get a proportional share of the revenues?
I assume you meant to say, "Each team gets a proportional share of the net revenues" (though leave it up to somebody to say that net can be gamed more easily than gross), and then the union and the employer can negotiate individual compensation by dividing that share of the net revenue.
But while union compensation structures tend to flatten compensation across employees, they will not be truly flat in a just agreement.
A starter will need more than a bench-warmer; a quarterback more than a tackle.

[OSVAlacrosse]

Even so-called “non-revenue” sports generate money for someone … just look at the college sports events that populate the ESPN streaming service, including lacrosse. ESPN is not showing those sports on their streaming and cable television platforms out of charity.

All college athletes should be unionized if their school is part of any media deal. Negotiated deals will vary by conference, but all college athletes should get a proportional share of the revenue.

DocBarrister

You know ESPN is less than three years from being another cow for PE to “milk and churn” right?

PE firms are like the aliens in Independence Day … destructive locusts that move from target to target. A day of reckoning will come, just as it did for the mortgage-backed security scam/industry.

DocBarrister

Should partners and associates, doctors and janitors get a proportional share of the revenues?
I assume you meant to say, "Each team gets a proportional share of the net revenues" (though leave it up to somebody to say that net can be gamed more easily than gross), and then the union and the employer can negotiate individual compensation by dividing that share of the net revenue.
But while union compensation structures tend to flatten compensation across employees, they will not be truly flat in a just agreement.
A starter will need more than a bench-warmer; a quarterback more than a tackle.

Maybe I do not understand this argument but I thought under the current NIL environment, the marquee players and names are already getting the big$$ and would that not continue? The new ruling does not limit direct payments from Nike to a player. I would think that whatever "equity" gets shared and provided by the University would be chump change or per diem to the QB or even the Tic Toc star women's basketball player. I think the biggest issue would be that so few schools and even fewer with D1 men's lacrosse are in the category to have a big $$ athletic department to create this fund. Outside of the Big 10 Big 12 ACC and ND do the other programs have any "profit" left in athletics? I did not include SEC as they do not have a men's lacrosse program.

[Farfromgeneva]

Even so-called “non-revenue” sports generate money for someone … just look at the college sports events that populate the ESPN streaming service, including lacrosse. ESPN is not showing those sports on their streaming and cable television platforms out of charity.

All college athletes should be unionized if their school is part of any media deal. Negotiated deals will vary by conference, but all college athletes should get a proportional share of the revenue.

DocBarrister

You know ESPN is less than three years from being another cow for PE to “milk and churn” right?

PE firms are like the aliens in Independence Day … destructive locusts that move from target to target. A day of reckoning will come, just as it did for the mortgage-backed security scam/industry.

DocBarrister

And what will locusts do to those production and related budgets to spend on your projections? Think milk and churn not invest

[Farfromgeneva]

Even so-called “non-revenue” sports generate money for someone … just look at the college sports events that populate the ESPN streaming service, including lacrosse. ESPN is not showing those sports on their streaming and cable television platforms out of charity.

All college athletes should be unionized if their school is part of any media deal. Negotiated deals will vary by conference, but all college athletes should get a proportional share of the revenue.

DocBarrister

You know ESPN is less than three years from being another cow for PE to “milk and churn” right?

PE firms are like the aliens in Independence Day … destructive locusts that move from target to target. A day of reckoning will come, just as it did for the mortgage-backed security scam/industry.

DocBarrister

Should partners and associates, doctors and janitors get a proportional share of the revenues?
I assume you meant to say, "Each team gets a proportional share of the net revenues" (though leave it up to somebody to say that net can be gamed more easily than gross), and then the union and the employer can negotiate individual compensation by dividing that share of the net revenue.
But while union compensation structures tend to flatten compensation across employees, they will not be truly flat in a just agreement.
A starter will need more than a bench-warmer; a quarterback more than a tackle.

Not net “can” be gamed. It “will” be gamed.

[Ezra White]

Even so-called “non-revenue” sports generate money for someone … just look at the college sports events that populate the ESPN streaming service, including lacrosse. ESPN is not showing those sports on their streaming and cable television platforms out of charity.

All college athletes should be unionized if their school is part of any media deal. Negotiated deals will vary by conference, but all college athletes should get a proportional share of the revenue.

DocBarrister

You know ESPN is less than three years from being another cow for PE to “milk and churn” right?

PE firms are like the aliens in Independence Day … destructive locusts that move from target to target. A day of reckoning will come, just as it did for the mortgage-backed security scam/industry.

DocBarrister

Should partners and associates, doctors and janitors get a proportional share of the revenues?
I assume you meant to say, "Each team gets a proportional share of the net revenues" (though leave it up to somebody to say that net can be gamed more easily than gross), and then the union and the employer can negotiate individual compensation by dividing that share of the net revenue.
But while union compensation structures tend to flatten compensation across employees, they will not be truly flat in a just agreement.
A starter will need more than a bench-warmer; a quarterback more than a tackle.

Not net “can” be gamed. It “will” be gamed.

My impression of NIL is that, broadly, it is being used two ways: (1) to recruit potential stars and (2) to reward and retain those who actually become stars. I think the rules regarding NIL essentially open the door for rich boosters to bribe young athletes. Even if half the recruits don't pan out, a school might still win a NC with the other half.

[Late Slide]

Even so-called “non-revenue” sports generate money for someone … just look at the college sports events that populate the ESPN streaming service, including lacrosse. ESPN is not showing those sports on their streaming and cable television platforms out of charity.

All college athletes should be unionized if their school is part of any media deal. Negotiated deals will vary by conference, but all college athletes should get a proportional share of the revenue.

DocBarrister

You know ESPN is less than three years from being another cow for PE to “milk and churn” right?

PE firms are like the aliens in Independence Day … destructive locusts that move from target to target. A day of reckoning will come, just as it did for the mortgage-backed security scam/industry.

DocBarrister

Should partners and associates, doctors and janitors get a proportional share of the revenues?
I assume you meant to say, "Each team gets a proportional share of the net revenues" (though leave it up to somebody to say that net can be gamed more easily than gross), and then the union and the employer can negotiate individual compensation by dividing that share of the net revenue.
But while union compensation structures tend to flatten compensation across employees, they will not be truly flat in a just agreement.
A starter will need more than a bench-warmer; a quarterback more than a tackle.

Not net “can” be gamed. It “will” be gamed.

My impression of NIL is that, broadly, it is being used two ways: (1) to recruit potential stars and (2) to reward and retain those who actually become stars. I think the rules regarding NIL essentially open the door for rich boosters to bribe young athletes. Even if half the recruits don't pan out, a school might still win a NC with the other half.

You are right, but bribe makes it sound so insidious. Which it probably is, but otherwise legal. A few kids I currently know were drawn out of the portal because of the offer of NIL money to offset tuition or for spending money. That's very powerful to a 21 yo in the age of Instagram telling you that affluence is a baseline and everyone drives restored vintage Broncos.

[NovaLax17]

A Sports Illustrated article in about 2015 noted that 80% of former NFL players were in financial distress or bankruptcy. These are adults with financial advisors provided by the League. Imagine how kids in college will handle an abundance of cash? The IRS will have a field day.

[Backinshape]

I would like to see an alumni base raise enough money to endow the tuition of a roster. Doesn't seem like it would be a reach for some of the Ivy league teams. Raise 72 million dollars and pay the tuition of all the players with the interest. It's feasible under the current constructs.

[Wheels]

Doubling back to this, the recent SCOTUS ruling known as Chevron will have a dramatic effect on Title IX. The Chevron case, at its heart, leaves open to appeals any regulatory interpretations based on government expertise.

For Title IX, the actual language of the amendment contains 39 words.

There are over 400,000 words of interpretive guidance.

There will be 100s of lawsuits filed into the 400K words.

Big win for lawyers, no doubt. What it means for anything related to college athletics remains to be seen.

[Farfromgeneva]

Still can’t believe in calendar 2024 at least one knucklehead here wa confidently lecturing others about not understanding the power of the cable sub model and how it protects and insulates Rutgers. No awareness of the real world at all.


Paramount Writes Down Value of Cable-TV Business by $6 Billion
Move comes one day after rival Warner Bros. Discovery lowered valuation of its cable networks by $9.1 billion

Isabella SimonettiAug. 8, 2024 at 4:37 pm

The announcements from two of the country’s largest TV conglomerates come as cable-TV networks are suffering from the acceleration of cord-cutting, declining ratings and a weak advertising market. Streaming platforms are taking audiences and subscribers away from what was once the engine powering the media industry.

The decision by Paramount, home of channels including Comedy Central, MTV and Nickelodeon, to reassess the value of its cable-TV business is tied to its recently announced deal to merge with Skydance Media, according to a person familiar with the matter.

“The challenges of the linear ecosystem are becoming even more apparent especially given the pressure on linear advertising and the competition for ad budgets with connected TV and streaming players and the increasing pressure with cord-cutting,” said Robert Fishman, an analyst with MoffettNathanson.

Programmers are also facing pressure from distributors increasingly willing to play hardball when the time comes to renew carriage agreements. Earlier this year, customers of Charter Communications’ Spectrum TV service got free access to Paramount’s ad-supported streaming services with their cable packages under a new distribution deal between the two companies. That agreement followed a similar model adopted after a high-profile feud between Charter and Disney last year.

Shares of Paramount were up roughly 5.7% in after-hours trading.

Paramount, which also owns the namesake movie studio and the streaming services including Paramount+, said it lost $5.41 billion in the second quarter, largely due to the goodwill impairment charge it booked for its cable-networks unit. Revenue fell 11% to $6.81 billion.

The company said its streaming business—which beyond Paramount+ also includes Pluto TV—reported its first-ever quarterly profit. But Paramount+ lost 2.8 million subscribers in the quarter, which the company attributed to the exit from a hard bundle agreement in South Korea.


‘Yellowstone,’ another CBS series. Photo: CBS
Disney DIS 0.00%, one of Paramount’s rivals, also reported streaming profitability for the first time earlier this week, one quarter ahead of schedule.

Revenue in Paramount’s filmed entertainment business fell by 18%, the company said. Theatrical revenues suffered from the comparison with the year-earlier quarter, when “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” was released.

Paramount is currently being run by “the office of the CEO” made up of its three divisional heads—Chris McCarthy, George Cheeks and Brian Robbins. The CEOs earlier this year said the company’s goal was to reach $500 million in annual cost savings. On Thursday, they said the company would continue to “aggressively execute” that strategic plan.

In July, David Ellison’s Skydance Media agreed to a two-step deal under which it will buy National Amusements, the privately held movie theater company through which Shari Redstone controls Paramount. In the second step of the deal, Skydance will merge with Paramount.

The deal is subject to a “go-shop period,” where other potential buyers can make bids for both businesses, which ends later this month. The company said it expects the deal to close in the first half of 2025.

Write to Isabella Simonetti at [email protected]

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[a fan]

But while union compensation structures tend to flatten compensation across employees, they will not be truly flat in a just agreement.
A starter will need more than a bench-warmer; a quarterback more than a tackle.

Except this isn't a free market. The Player's Union will make the call as to what's "just".

And for many sports, there are more bench warmers than starters. Are they going to vote to get less than a starter?

I have no idea. We're clearly in Crazytown now.

[a fan]

Doubling back to this, the recent SCOTUS ruling known as Chevron will have a dramatic effect on Title IX. The Chevron case, at its heart, leaves open to appeals any regulatory interpretations based on government expertise.

For Title IX, the actual language of the amendment contains 39 words.

There are over 400,000 words of interpretive guidance.

There will be 100s of lawsuits filed into the 400K words.

Big win for lawyers, no doubt. What it means for anything related to college athletics remains to be seen.

If my industry is any indication? Full-time lawyers for Trade Groups in every business sector in America are poring through CFR's, looking for where they can gain an advantage post-Chevron.

[a fan]

.... and everyone drives restored vintage Broncos.

That's a great line.

[wgdsr]

But while union compensation structures tend to flatten compensation across employees, they will not be truly flat in a just agreement.
A starter will need more than a bench-warmer; a quarterback more than a tackle.

Except this isn't a free market. The Player's Union will make the call as to what's "just".

And for many sports, there are more bench warmers than starters. Are they going to vote to get less than a starter?

I have no idea. We're clearly in Crazytown now.

we're in such a period of change. no one knows how it's going to go, but everyone has a prediction.
we don't even know what conferences will be around, or if they'll even be nc$$.
getting revenue and non-revenue athletes under a roof seems like a big chore. maybe it won't be symbiotic.

me, i think the first initiative salvo doesn't come from somebody on the cut line, but a top qb/etc. recruit with some years to work with.

has there been even real negotiations in mlb, nfl, etc. before a walkout? we probably have to get there to get the institutions to sit down.

the nc$$ is probably hoping this gives them another 2-3 years.

[a fan]

But while union compensation structures tend to flatten compensation across employees, they will not be truly flat in a just agreement.
A starter will need more than a bench-warmer; a quarterback more than a tackle.

Except this isn't a free market. The Player's Union will make the call as to what's "just".

And for many sports, there are more bench warmers than starters. Are they going to vote to get less than a starter?

I have no idea. We're clearly in Crazytown now.

we're in such a period of change. no one knows how it's going to go, but everyone has a prediction.
we don't even know what conferences will be around, or if they'll even be nc$$.
getting revenue and non-revenue athletes under a roof seems like a big chore. maybe it won't be symbiotic.

Agree. We're in Crazytown, where no one knows what's going on, and no one knows what's coming.

me, i think the first initiative salvo doesn't come from somebody on the cut line, but a top qb/etc. recruit with some years to work with.

And I said precisely that a few weeks, as you know. I agree with you. And there's just too much money available for a lawsuit by a student with standing that was cut because of NCAA-imposed roster limits or other such nonsense.

has there been even real negotiations in mlb, nfl, etc. before a walkout? we probably have to get there to get the institutions to sit down.

That, or your aforementioned lawsuit. Again: who knows?

the nc$$ is probably hoping this gives them another 2-3 years.

I'm confident their lawyers are good, and told them that there is zero legal basis to what they are doing now.

[44WeWantMore]

I am also confident that their lawyers are good, and I believe they can get the NCAA a couple of years of breathing room.
I believe that the NCAA thinks they can use that breathing room to lobby Congress for an anti-trust exemption, like the MLB has, and maybe more.
Fr. Jenkins (at that time, the outgoing President of ND). made the request pretty clear.

[coda]

But while union compensation structures tend to flatten compensation across employees, they will not be truly flat in a just agreement.
A starter will need more than a bench-warmer; a quarterback more than a tackle.

Except this isn't a free market. The Player's Union will make the call as to what's "just".

And for many sports, there are more bench warmers than starters. Are they going to vote to get less than a starter?

I have no idea. We're clearly in Crazytown now.

we're in such a period of change. no one knows how it's going to go, but everyone has a prediction.
we don't even know what conferences will be around, or if they'll even be nc$$.
getting revenue and non-revenue athletes under a roof seems like a big chore. maybe it won't be symbiotic.

me, i think the first initiative salvo doesn't come from somebody on the cut line, but a top qb/etc. recruit with some years to work with.

has there been even real negotiations in mlb, nfl, etc. before a walkout? we probably have to get there to get the institutions to sit down.

the nc$$ is probably hoping this gives them another 2-3 years.

getting revenue and non-revenue athletes under a roof seems like a big chore. maybe it won't be symbiotic.

This is probably the one thing that needs to be figured out. They are really not even compatible for conference alignment , let alone NIL and all the new curve calls heading college sports way.

[a fan]

I am also confident that their lawyers are good, and I believe they can get the NCAA a couple of years of breathing room.

Nothing they are doing would last ten minutes in front of the SCOTUS. But they know it's years before a case would show up there, which is why they're playing this game, imho.

Picture being an NCAA attorney, defending this "new deal" in front of Roberts or Kavanaugh:

Kavanaugh: "So after we told you in the last case you lost that you have to follow US labor laws, and that collusion is illegal...you and your team went back and crafted this deal that....if I have this straight....caps the number of student-employees each member school has, how much they can get paid for their work, and you did all of this without so much as talking with one single student-employee or their Union? Is that right?

Good luck with that, is all I have to say.

They're trying to keep the party going, and keep the money flowing to all these middlemen who have nothing to do with what happens on a field/court. That's all we're seeing now, imho.

[Typical Lax Dad]

I am also confident that their lawyers are good, and I believe they can get the NCAA a couple of years of breathing room.

Nothing they are doing would last ten minutes in front of the SCOTUS. But they know it's years before a case would show up there, which is why they're playing this game, imho.

Picture being an NCAA attorney, defending this "new deal" in front of Roberts or Kavanaugh:

Kavanaugh: "So after we told you in the last case you lost that you have to follow US labor laws, and that collusion is illegal...you and your team went back and crafted this deal that....if I have this straight....caps the number of student-employees each member school has, how much they can get paid for their work, and you did all of this without so much as talking with one single student-employee or their Union? Is that right?

Good luck with that, is all I have to say.

They're trying to keep the party going, and keep the money flowing to all these middlemen who have nothing to do with what happens on a field/court. That's all we're seeing now, imho.

Tear it all down. I can personally say as a former college athlete, I never felt I was an employee and I never felt my son was a school employee when he played more recently. I would shut it all down and turn it into club. You want to work as a professional athlete, go play pro ball. Ain’t nobody forcing you to go to college.

[coda]

I am also confident that their lawyers are good, and I believe they can get the NCAA a couple of years of breathing room.

Nothing they are doing would last ten minutes in front of the SCOTUS. But they know it's years before a case would show up there, which is why they're playing this game, imho.

Picture being an NCAA attorney, defending this "new deal" in front of Roberts or Kavanaugh:

Kavanaugh: "So after we told you in the last case you lost that you have to follow US labor laws, and that collusion is illegal...you and your team went back and crafted this deal that....if I have this straight....caps the number of student-employees each member school has, how much they can get paid for their work, and you did all of this without so much as talking with one single student-employee or their Union? Is that right?

Good luck with that, is all I have to say.

They're trying to keep the party going, and keep the money flowing to all these middlemen who have nothing to do with what happens on a field/court. That's all we're seeing now, imho.

Tear it all down. I can personally say as a former college athlete, I never felt I was an employee and I never felt my son was a school employee when he played more recently. I would shut it all down and turn it into club. You want to work as a professional athlete, go play pro ball. Ain’t nobody forcing you to go to college.

I would say the one thing in this fight for rights that I could get behind is medical care, but that seems to be at the bottom of the list