Time for players to be contractually paid employees??

[MDUte]

Yes please!

Bowl Season director Nick Carparelli told @YahooSports in Phoenix that he expects NIL to soon come “in-house” and for athletes to sign binding compensation contracts with schools that will require them to play in bowls and CFP games, eliminating or greatly reducing opt-outs.

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) May 1, 2024

[utefansince79]

Perhaps also have contracts that last more than one season or two so they can’t transfer every off-season. Right now when the season ends, every player essentially becomes an unrestricted free agent.

[Central Coast Ute]

The contracts would have to keep them at their schools for 3+ years. Otherwise, the SEC will take the best players from each school.

[Stone]

This is the only way forward without killing college sports entirely. The current structure is absurd.

[The Miami Ute]

Since the NFl is at the apex of this pyramid, whatever configuration is finally decided upon should probably look like its contractual mechanism. Again, I have no problem with players moving at will but there needs to be some protection in place for the schools that discovered them and provided the stage for them to shine.

[Central Coast Ute]

This has been coming for a while. Recruits know this. People on here were speculating that a certain WR from Utah went to Miss to play with Dart. The real reason is that when they become contract employees, the SEC players will get paid more than anyone else. A kid would be smart to pass on any B12 team to go to an SEC team. We’ll even start seeing good players choose Vandy over B12/ACC schools because they’ll get paid more.

[MDUte]

Wow, I hadn’t thought this through but totally makes sense. I’m sure the handlers/agents of these portal kids are all steering them towards B10/SEC opps wherever possible. Thanks for calling this out Central!

[Rick Walker]

The WR of which you speak has an incredibly lucrative NIL deal setup. Supposedly $100,000 for year 1 and $700,000 every year after that in which he starts.

[UTEopia]

I just don’t know how a contract will prevent unrestricted NIL. I’m guessing you could have a non-compete that could try to limit the portal, but those are narrowly construed. The only way I can see a return to some type of normalcy is through Federal Legislation, but even that would be problematic.

[UofU Fanatic]

Additionally I think the FDIC recently made it illegal for companies to have employees sign a non-compete clause in the news recently

[The Miami Ute]

Yes, that ruling took place on 23 April. However, that’s doesn’t apply to people who are working under a legally binding contract like professional athletes.

[2008 National Champ]

True, but no NFL contract prohibits the player from outside marketing of himself which is the basis for NIL. The Supreme Court has ruled so that cat is out of the bag.

The idea that kids sign over their NIL rights to a school in exchange for becoming an employee doesn’t seem like it would stand up to serious scrutiny. It sounds more like a last-gasp attempt for the schools to take back control. It might work for a little while but just like every other rule the NCAA has tried implementing lately, I see it more likely to blow up in their face at the first sign of potential litigation.

[Central Coast Ute]

I don’t think NIL can be touched. Just like in pro sports, players sign contracts with their teams, and some of them can sign NIL deals with private companies outside of the league. For example, if the B12 pays their players $50k each, there is nothing stopping the players from signing an NIL deal with Nike or something. Not all players will get NIL deals, but all will be paid by the conference.

[2008 National Champ]

should have scrolled farther down before posting. You said it better than I did