Probably been answered a few times but I don’t recall the answer .. where does the millions come from to pay these guys ? Any taxpayer funds being “ invested “ ? I mean one guy getting 5-6 million on 1 team , how much is being spent on all sports combined ? 15-20 million each year ? Where does it come from ?
NIL is exactly what the name is, Name, Image and Likeness.
Where before the players got the money it went to the athletic dept and coaches and administrators.
It’s simply licensing in a nutshell.
If I’m a T shirt manufacturer and I want to use UK players on my T Shirts I used to pay the university for the use of those players images. Now I pay the player.
There are no contracts other than what the player negotiates, or their agents actually negotiate.
There is not really a “pool” of NIL money the discretion of the university. Or, there wasn’t. Now the Big Blue Club and such are forming a pool.
And that’s going to be a conundrum.
And it’s still being figured out.
All this stuff you hear about a player asking for this much or being offered this much is just nonsense.
There are “promises” made and mostly they are honored. But not all are.
Some players are now suing for those unkept promises. Those are the cases to watch.
If they win then the promises are a de facto contract.
Pending appeal, of course. Then a settlement.
It’s really the Wild West right now.
Schools have been smacked down by so many court rulings they are afraid to take action.
I know Mitch wants to take action and build a fund to use at his discretion. And he is doing that.
I’m very skeptical of that. I know he asked a friend of mine for $5 mil for that fund. He asked Mitch how much say he would have over where Mitch would spend the money and was told no say. So he didn’t donate.
He will spend the money. Maybe not $5 mil. But he will spend it where he wants.
If you are from Manitou you probably know who I’m talking about.
What you cannot do is tell a player you will pay him this much money if he signs with the school. You can say “this is what could be available”.
Are those rules being skirted? I would be shocked if they aren’t.
I know we were told to not pay any money to any player and use the UK ties if they were not already signed.
You certainly cannot make it performance based. Like, you cannot say, I’ll give you $100K to use your N,I or L. And if you average 15 points per game I’ll give you $500K.
You just can’t do that. Or tie it to minutes or games played or anything like that.