Maybe it will be terrible and maybe it will be good. The idea of a basketball or football player at a major school being an “amateur student athlete “ has been dead for a long time.
We, well maybe I should just speak for myself, I am part of problem. I value UK basketball and football more than I should. I wouldn’t even care to have cable, satellite, or a live streaming service if not for UK sports. Or there are cheaper packages without the SEC network. Someone knows we are willing to pay for it. Ticket prices aren’t getting cheaper—not many empty seats at Rupp. Most of your biggest college football stadiums are full on Saturdays in the fall.
It’s not an after school extra curricular activity for college students. It’s a money machine funded by fans and consumers of advertised products.
So yeah, football and basketball players have every right to want their cut. Agents are going to get their cut too. Universities will have to hire people to manage this side of the business. Also, Universities aren’t going to reduce their profits. So who pays for it? We all do. Unless we all quit watching/attendin ( we won’t). But when we whine about the death of amateur athletes and look for someone to blame, you can probably find them when you look in the mirror. Nobody forces us to be fans. We choose to be. Without fan interest in college sports, there is no money in college sports. If money is ruining it. We, as well as fans of other teams, are to blame.