In reply to: How is that exploitation? posted by bill_brasky
Which is the way it works for literally everyone else in this country. Honestly 20k seems low for King.
How much do you think he's making off the products in the link?
Many boosters are unhinged by reality. And they’ll be even more so when schools insist that they’re becoming uncompetitive on the field because the endorsement deals their players receive are uncompetitive.
King’s deal is low because it’s day one. They wanted to be first to the post, probably for the recruiting cache’.
Prepare to see teams ranked by average endorsement contract - it’s absolutely coming, and the result probably won’t benefit ND. I’d love to be optimistic and assume all these deals will be decided by traditional market mechanisms, but that’s simply not going to be the case.
My initial inclination is that the booster/bag man level of money is going to be peanuts compared to the legitimate value of endorsement deals for high exposure players, and ND is going to have a lot of high exposure players.
What makes you think ND is going to be harmed by this?
Key word being "legitimate."
It behooves the network to have a very strong ND team. Why not use their reach to ensure ND football players make more than everyone else.
Exploiting athletes since the get go
On one hand, you could argue that ND is perfectly positioned to maximize recruiting with a strong NIL program. Huge fan base, NBC contract, etc. equals the best opportunity to earn money while you play in college.
On the other hand, you could argue that what will happen is that the under-the-table payers will simply shift to the "legal" venue that NIL affords, and cut the biggest and best deals like Auburn for Bo Nix, Miami for King, etc. Untethered now, they will simply out-pay what Notre Dame can.
given 1) based on endowments, ND alumni probably worth more than Auburn alumni in aggregate and 2) ND athletes get much more national exposure than Auburn athletes making them more valuable from a marketing perspective.
For #1, assuming that boosters will simply make NIL payments recruiting reasons without regard to business benefit, ND should be able to compete (assuming for better or worse that there are at least a few ND fans with deep pockets who might not need a ROI on any "marketing investments" involving ND players).
For #2, again ND should have the leg up given the national fanbase it enjoys
These kind of conversations will be commonplace now:
“So, Mr. Big 12 2nd Team QB, I haven’t seen your name affiliated with any endorsement deals this year. Your school not taking care of you? Transfer here and we’ll have something lined up before fall camp even starts!”
“Really, Mr. Elite 11 QB, you’re considering ND? Yes, yes, it’s a fine school, but what kind of endorsement deals do they have lined up? Our last 3 starting QBs all had deals before the end of their freshman years.”
I really think people are fooling themselves if they think this kind of recruitment (for HS and current college players) won’t come to dominate the sport. This was obvious from the beginning.
I'm not sure why you think this is some kind of injustice.
Heaven forbid the kid make some marketing deals and future recruits are able to sign their own deals as well.
I suspect most posters on this board understand the benefits of - and support - a free market.
But I think there is some concern, perhaps warranted, that the uniqueness of college football is rooted in the absence of a paid-player professional structure, and that the participants are schools, with students playing the game (regardless of how real that actually is).
At least ND can now leverage our national profile and prestige to convince players they will get more lucrative deals to counterbalance the recruiting promises from other schools. Seems to me like we have a better shot at a more level playing field given our inherent advantage of people watching ND coast to coast.
We had one hand tied behind our back before. Maybe now we only have to start with one hand in our pocket.