Pay, NIL & revenue sharing
86 entries tagged Pay, NIL & revenue sharing, newest first. Open in the filterable browser.
“There is no cap on the amount of NIL deals. We would not agree to change that. That would be trying to restrict competition.”
Open to raising the revenue-share cap inside the settlement only if it stays soft; warned that a conference-built hard cap is 'not possible without our permission', though a one-free-transfer conference rule might survive.
“Now, it has steadied. A true salary cap would steady it even more.”
Riley backed a 'true salary cap' to stabilize the sport but said it would only work if the model can actually be policed and hold up against lawsuits and state courts.
“We have a revenue problem, either we grow the pie or we destroy everything that we're about. It's pretty damn simple.”
Told senators the system has failed and admitted the NCAA and conferences lost in court because they would not let athletes monetize their talents; framed it as a revenue problem.
“We agree today that college athletics are in crisis, and we agree that the system is broken and unsustainable”
Co-sponsor of the Protect College Sports Act; called the system broken and pushed amending the Sports Broadcasting Act to pool media rights and 'grow the pie'.
“Congress does need to fix the mess in the courts and create a national framework so the people inside college sports can enforce fair rules.”
Testifying before the Senate Commerce Committee in support of the Protect College Sports Act, Saban asked Congress to create a national legal framework so people inside college sports can enforce fair rules, distinguishing real NIL from disguised pay-for-play.
“When the system becomes whoever raises the most money gets the best players, then we are no longer talking about college athletics as millions of fans and I have known it.”
In written sworn testimony, Saban said athletes should be compensated for legitimate NIL but warned against turning NIL into a pay-for-play bidding war run through collectives, and called the PCSA a bipartisan effort to bring order.
“The College Football Playoff expanding to 24 teams IS THE RIGHT MOVE for College Football to survive in the current landscape.”
Griffin argued on X that a 24-team CFP is necessary for the sport to survive. He said it would bring in revenue to cover rising player pay and let more networks carry playoff games, with losing conference title games as the price.
“I found a system that quickly was defined by unlimited free agency and no salary cap and complete chaos.”
Yormark said he found a system of 'unlimited free agency and no salary cap and complete chaos.' He backed the SCORE Act as 'progress over perfection' and called for regulating agents, who he said charge excessive fees and push athletes into the portal.
“The money piece, in particular, is—got to be part of the conversation, and that's got to involve the student athletes.”
Baker said the SCORE Act addresses many problems but the hard part is cost and revenue. He added that any compensation structure must involve athletes themselves in the conversation.
“With every player, maybe the quarterback and the third-string lineman making the same.”
At the roundtable he convened, Trump floated returning to a scholarship-based system with modest, equal pay for every player. He said he would pursue an executive order while Congress works on the SCORE Act.
“So that's, I think the answer is the antitrust piece is the inherent problem in trying to create caps and limits.”
Asked why the House ruling wasn't appealed, Sankey pointed to the 9-0 Supreme Court loss in Alston and said antitrust law is the core obstacle to creating caps and limits.
“We have 37 disparate laws across the country, so what you can do in one State is different than what you can do in another State.”
Phillips backed the SCORE Act, arguing a national law is needed to replace 37 conflicting state NIL laws. He said House-era scholarship additions had not hurt women's sports.
“And how much does anybody talk about getting an education anymore? Nobody talks about it at all”
At the White House 'Saving College Sports' roundtable, Saban asked what the guiding principles of college athletics should be. He called for a system, possibly via antitrust legislation, that lets athletes in all sports improve their quality of life while still using college to prepare for life after sports.
“I think we're coming to a point where we're going to be at no return if we don't get our act together and try to speak with one voice and solve this.”
Bevacqua said college football drives nearly every decision in college sports. If regulation with real consequences fails, he proposed requiring schools to reinvest a percentage of football and basketball spending into their Olympic sports.
“99 out of a hundred student athletes in our league don't want to be employees”
Pernetti said the SCORE Act doesn't solve college sports' economic crisis. He argued the industry is designed to serve the top 1 percent and that nearly all of his league's athletes don't want to be employees.
“Get the donors out of it.”
At the White House roundtable, Meyer said NIL should mean real, market-based endorsements. He called for collectives to be made illegal and donors removed, with universities kept out of arranging player marketing, arguing the sport improves immediately if collectives go away under an antitrust exemption.
“We need some type of commissioner.”
On ESPN's First Take, Sanders called NIL unsustainable and said the sport needs a commissioner to set uniform rules for compensation. He also criticized the January portal window for disrupting academics.
“To be honest, I think it's teaching young kids how to run away from their problems. Number two, it's ruining college sports.”
On The Big Podcast with Shaq, said NIL plus the portal teaches kids to run from problems and is 'ruining college sports'.
“I love it that the kids can be compensated, but there should be rules and guidelines for that compensation, to hold them accountable to that”
Supports player compensation but wants rules that hold players accountable.
“It's like the salary cap and the second apron in the NBA. It makes you think more. You have to be more strategic, you have to be more tactical. It protects us from ourselves.”
Backed keeping the House settlement's revenue-sharing cap, likening it to the NBA salary cap and second apron.
“I wasn't trying to leave (Florida State). I didn't want to leave, so I just had to, and the portal was closing up.”
Blamed a bad agent, who allegedly texted schools pretending to be him, for forcing him out of Florida State and into repeated portal moves. (Quoted from ESPN in a Deseret News column.)
“Honestly, like, being with the transfer portal and NIL, it was actually a huge pay cut from the other schools. But it was, I believe, looking back on it, it was the right decision.”
Said transferring to Indiana was a 'huge pay cut' compared with other schools' NIL offers, but he chose development under Cignetti.
No verbatim quote recorded for this entry; summary of the source only.
The CFBPA's 10-point 'Platform for Change' calls for collective bargaining covering independent medical care, safer practice standards, long-term health protections, a protected offseason, revenue sharing with league minimums, and player-negotiated free agency/eligibility rules and season length/playoff expansion. It also wants union-facilitated group NIL and union certification of agents.
“You don't need more rules, you don't need more people, you need to enforce the rules.”
On The Triple Option podcast, Meyer said a commissioner without real power would change nothing, that the new College Sports Commission won't work, and that the sport needs an enforcement arm rather than more rules or more people.
“We've created a mess. Point blank. The whole industry is a mess. The only thing that's not a mess is the dollar signs.”
Called the whole college football industry a mess; the only thing not a mess is revenue. (Quoted in a Deseret News column.)
“I wish there was a cap.”
At Big 12 media days, Sanders called for an NFL-style salary cap with transparent, regulated pay, arguing that booster-funded spending decides who makes the playoff.
“We're living in a contractual — put it in the contract.”
After Nico Iamaleava's NIL holdout at Tennessee, Newton said the episode was good because it would push the sport toward governance. He called for contracts that withhold money from players who skip games, bowls, practices or meetings.
“It's not sustainable the way we are. It's just a matter of time.”
Predicted college football will consolidate into one 40–50-team 'super league', possibly 'the best era for college football'; warned that 'the adults have left the room.'
“If you're in high school and you're getting offered that, go wherever they're paying you the most.”
On The Dan Patrick Show, Burrow said he would have transferred from Ohio State much sooner if today's rules had existed, and told players to take full advantage of NIL money.
“It's not just about my name on the case. I did this for these guys around me.”
Said he brought the House case for athletes nationwide and is seeking solutions that 'actually help everyone' through the players' association Athletes.org.
“I feel like if I could've had NIL in my third year, I could've bought my dad a kidney, and maybe he wouldn't have died”
A four-school portal veteran, said the system rather than the schools failed him; his father died of kidney disease before NIL could help.
“Historically, over and over, time and time again, unless you force their hand to make a change, they're not going to do it by themselves”
Said leaders won't change unless forced, and urged schools to max out House revenue sharing, 'because if you don't pay your student-athletes, you're not going to have student-athletes.'
No verbatim quote recorded for this entry; summary of the source only.
Swinney has backed revenue sharing because it comes with a salary cap and promised regulation of third-party NIL, but he opposes the House settlement's 105-man football roster limit because it squeezes out walk-ons.
“There shouldn't be no regulations. You earned it. Free market.”
Reacting on his podcast to reports of huge NIL deals for transfer QBs, Hunter said college players should get whatever the market will pay, without regulation, because they have almost no time off.
No verbatim quote recorded for this entry; summary of the source only.
Sued USC, the NCAA and the Pac-12 for NIL compensation from his 2003–05 career, seeking to 'rectify ongoing injustices'; his Heisman had been restored earlier in 2024.
“This is an unjust settlement that would not only harm current athletes but future college athletes who are only in fourth grade.”
Huma announced the NCPA's opposition to the House settlement. He argued it would let conferences avoid sharing revenue, shut down NIL collectives so schools could 're-monopolize booster money,' allow cutting sports, and ban revenue sharing if athletes gain collective bargaining rights.
No verbatim quote recorded for this entry; summary of the source only.
In the NCPA's release, Huma wrote that the settlement had terms allowing conferences to prohibit revenue sharing, to eliminate much of the collective money, and to cut non-revenue sports.
“This NIL stuff's not real money. It's just starting money, I would say.”
Called NIL 'starting money' and said the media overstates what players make; life-changing money is in the NFL.
“We're going through change, but I would rather call it a necessary reset.”
At Big 12 Media Days, Yormark called realignment a 'necessary reset' and said it makes sense to take on a private-capital partner, as long as it doesn't compromise the league's long-term future. He also floated exploring new TV windows outside crowded Saturdays.
“It's whoever wants to pay the most money, raise the most money, buy the most players is going to have the best opportunity to win. I don't think that's the spirit of college athletics.”
At a Capitol Hill appearance with Sen. Cruz, said NIL plus free agency means whoever raises the most money buys the best players.
“But based on the time, effort and hours, we operate as employees currently.”
Griffin was the first Power Five football player to testify at a House NIL hearing. He said momentum favors athlete compensation and that, based on time and effort, athletes already operate as employees, though the NLRB would decide that.
“The thing I would change about college football is to let the talent share in the ever-increasing revenues.”
The morning after winning the national title, Harbaugh said the one thing he would change is letting players share in revenues, and called unionization the next step if institutions won't do it themselves.
“We're all robbing the same train here.”
At CFP national championship media day, Harbaugh proposed that everyone profiting from athletes (coaches, administrators, conferences, universities, the NCAA) take 5 to 10% less, plus a 10% tax on TV money, all pooled for athletes in every sport.
“We, the adults, have done a lot to really screw this thing up.”
At a pre-Citrus Bowl news conference, Ferentz said the sport was in worse shape than two years earlier and blamed the adults. He called for a college football commissioner and a summit of Power Five commissioners, ADs and coaches to 'blow everything up and try to start over.'
No verbatim quote recorded for this entry; summary of the source only.
In a letter to Division I schools, Baker proposed a new top tier of Division I in which the richest schools would pay at least half their athletes at least $30,000 a year through a trust fund. He also proposed letting all D-I schools sign NIL deals directly with athletes.
“If you want to go to a college, it should be because you want to play football there, not because somebody pays you more than the other guy”
Said he has no problem with players earning money but NIL arrived without limits or uniformity; the portal erodes team bonds; called college football 'kind of upside down'.
“Right now, the current status quo is unacceptable and won't survive.”
Harbaugh opened his weekly press conference with a monologue calling for a revenue-sharing system with athletes, calling the status quo unacceptable and saying schools that capitalize on talent should pay the talent.
“I will tell you what we've seen is that the longer we wait for our media deal, the better our options get”
Two weeks before the Pac-12 collapsed, insisted schools were committed and that waiting would improve the league's media deal.
“Somehow it's got to get fixed because there's no system around it.”
In his SEC Media Days opening statement, Kiffin called the state of the sport 'a disaster.' He said NIL had become pay-for-play and the portal was free agency twice a year with no salary cap, and that huge roster overhauls aren't good for college football.
“It changed my life, to say the least, for sure.”
Said NIL 'changed my life'; he did no NIL deals in his year at Oklahoma, but after transferring to USC he could support himself and buy gear for walk-ons and teammates.
“We need to separate divisions.”
In an interview with SI, Brown said amateurism is gone and argued that Division I should split into separate divisions (Power 5, Group of 5, FCS) with their own rules, that athletes should be paid within a regulated system with a salary cap, and that a commissioner should oversee college football.
“I wish we would stop hiding behind NIL.”
Brown said NIL had become a cover for pay-for-play and inducements, and urged the sport to stop pretending and openly standardize and regulate compensation.
“One thing the NFL has figured out is that they've got even playing rules for all 32 organizations.”
Ferentz compared the portal plus NIL to the early days of NFL free agency. He noted the NFL has equal playing rules, equal roster sizes and a salary cap, and said he would run recruiting like the NFL.
“But to take a kid out of high school and pay him eight million billion dollars to go to your school, I think that's insane.”
At the Little Rock Touchdown Club, Herbstreit said he had no problem with NIL for players with established brands, but wanted to end big booster payments to high school recruits and objected to power programs poaching starters from smaller schools.
“I also think that it's important we also kind of put up guardrails in place for the teams and the coaches and everyone to understand the do's and don'ts of it.”
Softened on NIL, calling parts of it 'really cool' but urging guardrails; predicted realignment would settle into at least three major conferences.
“We need some intervention, and then my bigger concern is: Who's going to do it, right?”
At Big Ten Media Days, Ferentz said the sport lacks basic operating rules, that nobody could fully explain NIL, and that it needs intervention from one stabilizing voice. He opposed bidding for high school recruits combined with unlimited transfers.
“The game on the field has never been better. Once you walk off the field, it's never been more chaotic.”
Fitzgerald agreed with Ferentz on the portal, NIL and a never-ending recruiting calendar.
“The government is the only person that can regulate this.”
Speaking at the Texas High School Coaches Association convention, Fisher said the patchwork of state NIL laws had created dysfunction and that only Congress could set uniform national rules.
“It's like the wild, wild west. I do know I love the game of college football and I don't want it ruined.”
Said NIL rules should be more uniform across schools, calling the landscape the 'wild, wild west'.
“There's no rules, no guidance, no nothing. It's out of control. It's not sustainable.”
Swinney criticized the unregulated NIL environment, calling it unsustainable and warning that players would make decisions for the wrong reasons.
“They should get paid; they should be able to transfer. Coaches do it all the time.”
Backed NIL pay and free transfer ('if coaches can do it, players should'), but said the lack of rules turned it into the wild, wild west.
“In my life, I've never voted or signed a contract where I don't know the financial terms of that contract.”
On The Dave Pasch Podcast, Kliavkoff said the Pac-12 supported 8- and 12-team formats. He voted no only because the proposal ran past 2025 without any agreement on revenue split, and because he wanted protection for the Rose Bowl's traditional window.
“To not be able to get paid for something like that, I say it's kind of crazy.”
Early in the NIL era, Williams defended athletes getting paid because their days are longer than most people's. He called transferring to run from competition 'a little weak-minded' but said coaching changes uproot players.
“No, no, no, you cannot be doing that.”
As interim NIL rules took effect, Emmert said he hoped Congress would pass an NIL law. He added that the bans on pay-for-play and recruiting inducements must remain the bedrock of college athletics.
“I believe we need the basic rights and benefits that will help our future.”
As part of #WeAreUnited, Hobbs said players lacked enforced health and safety standards and needed basic rights and benefits.
“Our strength as players comes from our collective unity and willingness to advocate for ourselves, because if we don't, no one else will.”
Pac-12 players threatened to opt out unless the conference met their demands. These included enforced COVID safety standards, a 50-50 revenue split with athletes, guaranteed medical coverage, six-year scholarships, and administrator pay cuts to protect all sports.
“They pay the students who tear the tickets and sell popcorn at our games. The least that the NCAA can do for those who bring so much money to the NCAA and its schools would be to pay them the minimum wage.”
Filed a class action claiming the NCAA and schools are joint employers owing athletes at least minimum wage, comparing them to work-study students who tear tickets and sell popcorn.
“We believe in the collegiate model, not the professional model.”
When the NCAA Board of Governors opened the door to NIL, Smith said the association would not move to a model where athletes are employees or are paid to play.
“And that's just not where I feel like where college football needs to go. There's an opportunity in the NFL, but not in college football.”
On ESPN's First Take, opposed California's NIL bill, saying college football is about team and school and that paying players feeds a 'selfish culture'.
“College athletics is about college students playing other college students, not employees playing employees.”
During California's Fair Pay to Play debate, Emmert argued against treating athletes as employees and warned that California schools could be barred from NCAA championships.
No verbatim quote recorded for this entry; summary of the source only.
After reports of the NCAA's roughly $1.1 billion in revenue, Manziel tweeted that the NCAA needed to 'PAY UP,' sharing his 2013 TIME cover titled 'It's time to pay college athletes.'
“I think that's a distraction. There are smart enough people at these universities to figure it out.”
O'Bannon said claims that paying athletes is too complicated are a distraction. His proposal was to open the books and share revenue with athletes in all sports, while letting stars earn outside endorsement money.
“to adapt, react and take advantage of this new world media order that's coming in a way others can't.”
Boasted around 2018 that the Pac-12 could exploit the 'new world media order' better than rivals, a claim AP noted aged badly after the 2023 collapse.
“Our team is worth 1.5 BILLION dollars but it wouldn't be fair to other students if we get a free hamburger.”
Responding to a Wall Street Journal valuation of Ohio State football at $1.5 billion, Burrow tweeted a jab at NCAA rules that barred players from even small benefits.
“I've said a million times that players aren't asking for millions of dollars a year.”
The lead plaintiff in the NCAA likeness case said his view had evolved: beyond likeness rights, paying athletes as employees was now a strong possibility 'within reason,' meaning modest pay rather than millions.
“I think the NCAA is one of the biggest scams in America.”
Called the NCAA a scam; proposed paying players about $60,000 per year of college held in a 401(k)-style account until a certain age; criticized medical care for injured players.
“And people are upset that student-athletes need a little cash. I tell you from experience that one time I had negative 40 bucks in my account.”
At Super Bowl week, Sherman argued athletes' schedules leave no real time to use the 'free education', and recalled having negative bank balances in college; defended athletes needing 'a little cash.'
“Then there are [players] walking out with an $800 scholarship check a month.”
Defending suspended Georgia RB Todd Gurley, Manziel said college players who build a brand should be able to profit from it, and contrasted the billions flowing to schools, networks and the SEC with players' monthly scholarship checks.
“And if it's different on each campus, so what?”
As the NCAA granted autonomy to the Power Five, Scott argued that cost-of-attendance stipends could differ from campus to campus, just as tuition, facilities and cost of living do.
“But there is absolutely no question that turning students into employees would take us in precisely the opposite direction that we need to go.”
Responding to the NLRB ruling on Northwestern players, Scott wrote that treating athletes as employees would be a terrible idea. Instead he called for NCAA reform with more academic support, better health care, and scholarships covering the full cost of attendance.
“The players are not blind. They see the dollars being made in the game. It's obvious.”
Responding to the NLRB ruling that Northwestern players were employees, said it was no surprise given the money in the sport and that players feel the amateur label keeps them from what they deserve.
“But as far as paying players, professionalizing college athletics, that's where you lose me.”
Asked about the Northwestern players' union push, Swinney said he opposed paying players and professionalizing college athletics, and suggested that any improvements, such as a post-graduation annuity or stipend, should be tied to education and graduation.
“Turning them into professional athletes is not the solution to the challenges we face right now.”
Emmert defended the new $2,000 cost-of-attendance stipend as support for students, not pay for play, which he said was not up for discussion. He also warned that realignment was causing damaging cross-country travel and fear-driven decisions.
No verbatim quote recorded for this entry; summary of the source only.
At SEC spring meetings, Spurrier proposed that head coaches pay each of the 70 players in their traveling party $300 per game out of their own pockets. Seven SEC coaches, including Nick Saban, Les Miles, Will Muschamp and Dan Mullen, signed on.
“We want to maximize the number of students who learn these skills, not cut programs in order to pay salaries to a few.”
In a HuffPost column, Brand rejected the 'capitalism' argument for pay-for-play. He said most athletic programs don't generate enough revenue to pay players, and that paying a few would mean cutting sports that benefit many students.
“'Amateur' defines the participants, not the enterprise.”
In his centennial State of the Association address, Brand said athletes are not paid because they are students, not employees. He also argued that college sports should run their business side well, since amateurism describes the participants rather than the enterprise.
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