Until Saturday, an engaging college football newsletter, brings a blend of sports updates and insights to your inbox. Today’s newsletter kicks off with a quirky perspective: while Far Cry 6 might not top your list of favorite games, the friendly crocodile Guapo surely stands out.
Let’s dive into something exciting – we’ve stepped into a new era for college athletics, leaving the age-old amateurism behind. Our journey starts way back on August 3, 1852, in New Hampshire, where we saw the birth of intercollegiate sports as a money-making venture. On that day, a local railroad sponsored a rowing match between Harvard and Yale, marking the start of sports as a business. It also gave rise to the first amateurism scandal when it was discovered that Harvard’s leading rower wasn’t even a student.
For ages, college sports have tangled with the concept of amateurism, evolving slowly through time. It took a century for scholarships to become the norm, and another several decades for the NCAA to let athletes earn through their names, images, and likenesses (NIL), while schools continued reaping the financial benefits.
Fast forward nearly 173 years from those early days, and we’re witnessing a transformative moment. That long-discussed House v. NCAA case is nearing its conclusion. A U.S. District Court Judge, Claudia Wilken, recently reviewed a settlement proposal, and approval seems imminent. Our detailed explainer highlights, “If approved, schools will be able to directly pay athletes around $20.5 million through revenue sharing in the 2025-26 athletic year.” Additionally, $2.8 billion will be allocated as back-pay refunds to athletes who, post-2016, missed out on NIL compensation.
This potential deal will signal a radical change. While the NIL and transfer portal tweaked a few norms, actually paying athletes represents a groundbreaking shift. Major programs have anticipated this change. For instance, SEC schools are planning to distribute their $20.5 million budgets based on a formula: 75% for football, 15% for men’s basketball, and 5% each for women’s basketball and other sports. Once finalized, athletes could see their earnings soar to low six figures, alongside scholarships and NIL income.
Stewart Mandel aptly summarized this change after observing Wilken’s courtroom sessions: “The NCAA and its members are finally acknowledging theirs is a multibillion-dollar commercial enterprise, not an after-school activity.”
Judge Wilken might sound familiar; she presided over the 2014 Ed O’Bannon case which led to EA Sports’ college football game hiatus until it could comply with legal standards.
In Quick Snaps, there’s plenty to watch for next week. The transfer portal reopens, and all eyes are on teams like Stanford, which just appointed a new head coach, and Texas Tech, which might be looking to bolster their roster.
Tulane’s suspension of QB TJ Finley after his arrest over a stolen vehicle charge unfolds with his lawyers claiming he was scammed. Meanwhile, even high-profile figures who’ve sold over 25 million albums can’t seem to smooth over the complexities of NIL in sports.
In the world of basketball, the SEC’s dream season concluded as Florida clinched the men’s college basketball title, cementing what might just be the greatest season ever for a conference. The SEC saw 14 out of its 16 teams make the NCAA Tournament, shattering previous records and proving their commitment to elevating the sport.
Reflecting on past perceptions, the change from the days of #SECBasketballFever, a hashtag that poked fun at SEC basketball’s past struggles, is staggering. Yet through highs and lows, stalwarts like Florida have consistently held the conference’s banner high, with Seth Emerson noting top championship contributors over the past twenty seasons.
On the women’s front, Geno Auriemma, without skipping a beat, secured UConn’s record 12th title with the help of star player Paige Bueckers, maintaining UConn’s dominance in women’s basketball.
In this transformative time for college sports, we’re witnessing history in the making, with changes that promise to reshape the future landscape. Stay tuned as these stories unfold.
