Does Alabama football have what it takes to compete in this new world of NIL money wars?

[B1GTide]

B1G, your description above sounds like something that, in comparison to the absolute travesty that we have now, would NOT be in the best self- interest of the players. If that’s accurate, and if it’s not, please correct me, then why would the players want to do it? That all sounds like something that would have to be imposed ( by whom/what ? ) upon them.

Because the wealth would be spread out more. Right now 5% of the players get rich and the rest do all the work for peanuts.

 

[countrytider]

You compete by having the best coaching if you can't get the best players. And you have a stud QB. That evens almost all things up. I like that we have a stud coming that might just end up being the best QB in college football in 2026 and 2027.

What leads you to believe we will have the best coaching? Just curious.

 

[crimsonaudio]

There also needs to be some kind of salary cap.

The fact that a player like Carson Beck can make as much money in 1 season of college football as he would over a 4 year period in the NFL were he picked in the 4th round is absurd.

The only way to actually control all aspects of this situation is to make the players full-time professional athletes with contracts, CBA's etc.

The problem is that since the NCAA refused to allow some sort of real payment for the players, this is all legally "NIL" (though we ALL know that's garbage and virtually none of it is anything other than pay-for-play) - and the courts will absolutely not limit NIL.

Once again, the NCAA's incredibly short-sightedness has helped completely screw the sport. At this point I don't see how it's recoverable.

 

[Bama Lee]

I don’t know how one can say we don’t have the money to compete with certain schools, unless “those schools” are Texas and Ohio State. According to a USA Today article from last March, Alabama’s total athletic dept revenue was third behind OSU and Texas at $214mm annually. I recognize that that’s different than NIL money, but that money comes from somewhere. It can be diverted to NIL. We just aren’t doing NIL collectives correctly.

department revenue does not equal NIL budget. Plus we lost money last year

 

[jjv0004]

What leads you to believe we will have the best coaching? Just curious.

I was generalizing how a team in the NIL world can still have success without having the funds to get the best players. The jury is still clearly out on this coaching staff.

 

[TiderJack]

department revenue does not equal NIL budget. Plus we lost money last year

The athletic dept did lose money last year but that was primarily due to the coaching changes. We will be profitable again moving forward as we usually are IMO.

 

[countrytider]

I was generalizing how a team in the NIL world can still have success without having the funds to get the best players. The jury is still clearly out on this coaching staff.

Definitely and it’s a legitimate concern because we just don’t know if there’s a path to remaining a top tier program in the new era. It’s sad, but i guess in a sense a lot of people got what they wanted…knocking Bama off the pedestal. I just really hope it’s not for the long haul. I’m afraid without some major changes, we will fade away into mediocrity.

….and I don’t have faith those changes will happen, or if they even can happen.

 

[davefrat]

The problem is that since the NCAA refused to allow some sort of real payment for the players, this is all legally "NIL" (though we ALL know that's garbage and virtually none of it is anything other than pay-for-play) - and the courts will absolutely not limit NIL.

Once again, the NCAA's incredibly short-sightedness has helped completely screw the sport. At this point I don't see how it's recoverable.

I don't think NIL would even be a thing if the players became professional athletes or direct employees of the university and their actions were governed by employment contracts and there was collective bargaining.

Players could still make money off endorsements and things like that, but they would be contractually obligated to the team they signed with and in order to break those contracts there would have to be compensation for breaking the contract, even have liquidated damages clauses in the contracts and buyouts and all that kind of stuff.

If they were to become contract employees they'd be under the same limitations as any other contract employee.

I get a "retention" bonus from my company every year that stipulates that if I leave the company within the contract year, I have to pay back my retention bonus.

Make them professionals and bind them to contracts like every other contract employee.

 

[crimsonaudio]

I don't think NIL would even be a thing if the players became professional athletes or direct employees of the university and their actions were governed by employment contracts and there was collective bargaining.

Who do you know that's going to turn down an additional six or seven figures to do the same job somewhere else?

Players could still make money off endorsements and things like that, but they would be contractually obligated to the team they signed with and in order to break those contracts there would have to be compensation for breaking the contract, even have liquidated damages clauses in the contracts and buyouts and all that kind of stuff.

Only IF the NCAA has the wisdom and foresight to navigate those legal waters.

If you believe they're capable you have infinitely more trust in the NCAA than I do.

 

[NoNC4Tubs]

Because the wealth would be spread out more. Right now 5% of the players get rich and the rest do all the work for peanuts.

That 5% couldn't care less...

 

[davefrat]

Who do you know that's going to turn down an additional six or seven figures to do the same job somewhere else?


Only IF the NCAA has the wisdom and foresight to navigate those legal waters.

If you believe they're capable you have infinitely more trust in the NCAA than I do.

Nothing would stop them from moving from one job to the next, just like you or I can. But as I noted, there are ways to incentivize/disincentivize employees from moving to new job. I can take a job in the middle of my contract with my employer, but I have to pay them back thousands of dollars if I want to do that.

The NCAA is a bunch of morons, but if the players become professional athletes or employees of the university then I'm not sure the NCAA would any longer have anything to do with (or any say over) the teams and players that choose to go the professional route.

The NCAA doesn't regulate the employees of the member schools does it? They don't get involved in the hiring, firing and other disputes between a professor or a custodian and their employer at the University of Alabama, so why would they have any say over a football player who is an employee of the university? And they'd have even less interest were the teams separate entities from the schools and the schools simply had some kind of financial arrangement with the teams akin to what the schools have with any other commercial entity the university does business with.

To me, the NCAA has nothing to do with this at that point.

The NCAA would cease to exist in any way in a new world of professional college football, at least in terms of governance of football.

 

[NoNC4Tubs]

Nothing would stop them from moving from one job to the next, just like you or I can. But as I noted, there are ways to incentivize/disincentivize employees from moving to new job. I can take a job in the middle of my contract with my employer, but I have to pay them back thousands of dollars if I want to do that.

The NCAA is a bunch of morons, but if the players become professional athletes or employees of the university then I'm not sure the NCAA would any longer have anything to do with (or any say over) the teams and players that choose to go the professional route.

The NCAA doesn't regulate the employees of the member schools does it? They don't get involved in the hiring, firing and other disputes between a professor or a custodian and their employer at the University of Alabama, so why would they have any say over a football player who is an employee of the university? And they'd have even less interest were the teams separate entities from the schools and the schools simply had some kind of financial arrangement with the teams akin to what the schools have with any other commercial entity the university does business with.

To me, the NCAA has nothing to do with this at that point.

The NCAA would cease to exist in any way in a new world of professional college football, at least in terms of governance of football.

Well, the first "A" in NCAA is supposed to be "ATHLETICS"...

But yeah, the NCAA would just bow out anyways.

 

[crimsonaudio]

The NCAA doesn't regulate the employees of the member schools does it? They don't get involved in the hiring, firing and other disputes between a professor or a custodian and their employer at the University of Alabama, so why would they have any say over a football player who is an employee of the university? And they'd have even less interest were the teams separate entities from the schools and the schools simply had some kind of financial arrangement with the teams akin to what the schools have with any other commercial entity the university does business with.

To me, the NCAA has nothing to do with this at that point.

The NCAA would cease to exist in any way in a new world of professional college football, at least in terms of governance of football.

What most people fail to recognize is the power of the NCAA regarding liability - they cover / insure the schools in case of accident / injury in ways that schools generally cannot afford. And while a few big programs could probably add that to the cost pile the reality is a vast majority of schools operate in the red (roughly 99.975% of school AD's operate in the red typically, though in 2024 it's likely all did) so unless / until the major players break away from the NCAA nothing will change. But breaking away isn't the cost-free move many seem to believe.

The NCAA also acts like Jupiter protecting earth in that it becomes the target of lawsuits rather than individual school as it is the legislative body and it generates more annual income than any university AD in existence.

Again I circle back to the idea that I'm not certain this is fixable in a way that CFB survives.

 

[B1GTide]

That 5% couldn't care less...

Yep, which is why they need a CBA, to allow the other 95% a vote in this process.

 

[tusks_n_raider]

Definitely and it’s a legitimate concern because we just don’t know if there’s a path to remaining a top tier program in the new era. It’s sad, but i guess in a sense a lot of people got what they wanted…knocking Bama off the pedestal. I just really hope it’s not for the long haul. I’m afraid without some major changes, we will fade away into mediocrity.

….and I don’t have faith those changes will happen, or if they even can happen.

It’s going to have to happen eventually (changes) because the amount of money that people are blowing to buy players isn’t sustainable.

When the Majority of Blue Blood teams start running low on funds and falling back into the pack there will be a big push to reign things back in.

We aren’t freaking out yet compared to the rest because we’ve won 6 NCs in recent memory.

Other teams are starving for a NC and are spending insane money to buy one.

They WILL eventually run out of money.

 

[davefrat]

What most people fail to recognize is the power of the NCAA regarding liability - they cover / insure the schools in case of accident / injury in ways that schools generally cannot afford. And while a few big programs could probably add that to the cost pile the reality is a vast majority of schools operate in the red (roughly 99.975% of school AD's operate in the red typically, though in 2024 it's likely all did) so unless / until the major players break away from the NCAA nothing will change. But breaking away isn't the cost-free move many seem to believe.

The NCAA also acts like Jupiter protecting earth in that it becomes the target of lawsuits rather than individual school as it is the legislative body and it generates more annual income than any university AD in existence.

Again I circle back to the idea that I'm not certain this is fixable in a way that CFB survives.

It really wouldn't survive in any form we're used to.

It would become a purely professional endeavor that is somehow associated with a specific school.

Who/what protects any other business entity from lawsuits? That's what risk retention groups and insurance companies are for.

Does the NFL protect all the teams? Is there some kind of hybrid self-insurance by each team along with some second layer of coverage from the league? I don't know how they protect themselves, but they do. Adopt that model and tell the NCAA to have fun regulating intercollegiate badminton.

Although unlikely, it's possible that Alabama could get left out of the entire plan if the numbers don't work in our favor.

As Coach Saban is fond of saying, "it is what it is."

But if CFB as we know it isn't already dead, it's got one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

It’s going to have to happen eventually (changes) because the amount of money that people are blowing to buy players isn’t sustainable.

When the Majority of Blue Blood teams start running low on funds and falling back into the pack there will be a big push to reign things back in.

We aren’t freaking out yet compared to the rest because we’ve won 6 NCs in recent memory.

Other teams are starving for a NC and are spending insane money to buy one.

They WILL eventually run out of money.

Yep, because at the end of every year, there's only one national champion. So for the schools who didn't win it, all of that money for that year they dumped into the players is lost. You can't do that very long and fiscally survive.

 

[Power Eye]

department revenue does not equal NIL budget. Plus we lost money last year

I understand NIL funds are not the same as the revenue the athletic department revenue. I pointed that out in my original post. For FYE 2024, our total athletic department revenue was $234mm. I don't know where that puts us amongst other schools for 2024, but $214mm was third most for 2023.

Tennessee just did a 10% increase in ticket prices for purposes of NIL, so they are re-directing funds that would have gone to the athletic department to a collective I am assuming. Therefore, my thought is we aren't doing NIL collectives effectively. I'm sure it's not as bad as I think, but we need to get more creative and aggressive in my opinion. The money is there.

 

[fanforlife]

What most people fail to recognize is the power of the NCAA regarding liability - they cover / insure the schools in case of accident / injury in ways that schools generally cannot afford. And while a few big programs could probably add that to the cost pile the reality is a vast majority of schools operate in the red (roughly 99.975% of school AD's operate in the red typically, though in 2024 it's likely all did) so unless / until the major players break away from the NCAA nothing will change. But breaking away isn't the cost-free move many seem to believe.

The NCAA also acts like Jupiter protecting earth in that it becomes the target of lawsuits rather than individual school as it is the legislative body and it generates more annual income than any university AD in existence.

Again I circle back to the idea that I'm not certain this is fixable in a way that CFB survives.

I have to believe that this is fixable; the incentive is there. it will take a collection of heavy-hitting programs to engage, but anything is solvable given the proper attention. Otherwise, I'll be spending my weekends in a deer stand rather than a stadium.

 

[crimsonaudio]

I have to believe that this is fixable; the incentive is there. it will take a collection of heavy-hitting programs to engage, but anything is solvable given the proper attention. Otherwise, I'll be spending my weekends in a deer stand rather than a stadium.

I agree 100%.

I guess my negative attitude is based on the fact that anyone with eyes could have seen all of this coming - including the NCAA - yet they chose to sit idly by while the whole thing burned. I have no confidence in TPTB to make the needed changes to adequately address the issue.

So while I won't be in a deer stand, I'll more likely than not have a lot more free time in the fall in coming years. I watched less football in 2024 than any year in the previous few decades and my interest isn't increasing.