USUFans.com

So, how is this "name, image, likeness" stuff going to work for USU in regards to recruiting?

Do we have any boosters who will be willing to commit cash, vehicles, endorsement contracts, etc. to unproven recruits? I think that's likely going to be the most important aspect of recruiting going forward. The school, the team, the coaches, etc. will take a back seat to the money for many recruits and I'm curious how you all think USU is going to compete in that world.

(FWIW, I think this is going to be a MAJOR windfall for a school like BYU.)

The whole thing feels kinda gross and definitely has the chance to make me less interested in college athletics. Hopefully it's handled well and we can still enjoy at least the appearance of amateurism.

I have no idea how it will turn out. I am guessing since we are in a smaller market there will be less opportunities for NIL for out athletes. I am guessing it will negatively impact recruiting for USU. I don't know all the rules, but if you have a high profile athlete and there is a company that is willing to sponsor them if they sign with a certain school that will change the landscape of college athletics. Not sure of all the rules, but it seems like it will turn into like free agency in pro sports albeit on a smaller scale.

I'm pretty sure endorsement contracts will be allowed as part of the recruiting process. I think it really will be like pro free-agency without salary caps or any reason to hope for parity.

If it ends up as ugly as it could, I wouldn't mind seeing the NCAA split up. The "haves" can cut the charade and just become professional minor-leagues and the "have-nots" can go back to something more like what we've had.

Honestly, I have very little hope for the future success of intercollegiate athletics at Utah State. We don't have enough boosters and sponsors that would jump into the endorsement game. Hell, the Utah Jazz players can hardly get endorsements beyond Bailey's Moving and Storage and Zions Bank.

I've been working on getting my mind right. I have come to terms with the fact that we are who we are and that is OK. We are never going to compete with the big boys - at least not in my lifetime. We can hope to play in a conference with like-minded and similarly positioned schools and compete for conference championships every few years. That is likely our realistic ceiling.

To put it lightly.... We are f*****

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Seems you're onto something here 3rdGen. At some point even the wealthy schools run out of or low on money, and the spoiled athletes who have achieve semi-pro status in college look to the next bidder for their services. This can have no good end as I see it.

Frankly speaking, the BIG SKY seems to have retained some sobriety in their athletic conduct and league outlook. The old SKYLINE CONFERENCE had a bit of resemblance to the BIG SKY. Probably too much to be said about money and collegiate athletics, but events are moving to that end.

NavyBlueAggie wrote: ↑

July 1st, 2021, 12:03 pm

Seems you're onto something here 3rdGen. At some point even the wealthy schools run out of or low on money, and the spoiled athletes who have achieve semi-pro status in college look to the next bidder for their services. This can have no good end as I see it.

Frankly speaking, the BIG SKY seems to have retained some sobriety in their athletic conduct and league outlook. The old SKYLINE CONFERENCE had a bit of resemblance to the BIG SKY. Probably too much to be said about money and collegiate athletics, but events are moving to that end.

Especially with the free transfer. I expect many will continue shopping their services to the highest bidder after signing.

This is the beginning of the end for major college sports. I suspect that it won't be long before profiteers start up minor league programs for basketball, football, and soccer that will feed the major league franchises. Other sports will create amateur circuits similar to AAU that will rely on fundraising and some sponsorship to showcase college-aged talent that doesn't have much of a future professionally (tennis, golf, softball, swimming, etc.). There may be some athletes that have hopes of making Olympic teams or competing professionally, like in track and field or gymnastics, and they will just work with personal trainers and coaches on their own.

The colleges and universities will save a bunch of money by not having to support athletics programs. I even think the traditional college/university will change. Most undergraduate work will transition to remote study. The campuses themselves will be used primarily as gathering places for Masters/Doctoral level research and lectures.

Yossarian wrote: ↑

July 1st, 2021, 12:18 pm

This is the beginning of the end for major college sports. I suspect that it won't be long before profiteers start up minor league programs for basketball, football, and soccer that will feed the major league franchises. Other sports will create amateur circuits similar to AAU that will rely on fundraising and some sponsorship to showcase college-aged talent that doesn't have much of a future professionally (tennis, golf, softball, swimming, etc.). There may be some athletes that have hopes of making Olympic teams or competing professionally, like in track and field or gymnastics, and they will just work with personal trainers and coaches on their own.

The colleges and universities will save a bunch of money by not having to support athletics programs. I even think the traditional college/university will change. Most undergraduate work will transition to remote study. The campuses themselves will be used primarily as gathering places for Masters/Doctoral level research and lectures.

Could this also make a college education more affordable?

About the only program I see benefiting immensely from something like this that we actually recruit against is BYU.

But it is hard to make an argument that NIL helps a school like USU that is in a small town and a distant third-fiddle in Utah in terms of eyeballs and fan base size.

I don’t think this will have the monumental impact that many are predicting. There will surely be an initial surge, as with any new toy. For most kids, this will likely mean a couple hundred dollars here or there from the local car dealer. What I hope this ends up being is mostly local businesses and small deals, rather than Nike paying $100k for an “endorsement” deal to get a top recruit to sign with Duke or Kentucky rather than Kansas.

Kids expecting to get hit with a waive of endorsement offers from local businesses are likely to be disappointed.

The only current USU athlete in either key sport that has any recognition outside Cache Valley is Justin Bean, IMO. Maybe he pockets a bit from this? If I’m Cafe Sabor or El Toro Viejo, I want the Justin Bean Burrito on my menu STAT. Guys like Jordan Love, Sam Merril, and Queta would have done well with something like this even at USU.

Whatever the impact this ends up having on USU, it was the right thing to do to allow athletes to get a taste of the profits they create for others.

This may actually help the athletes and teams, but hurt the schools themselves. Maybe large donors forego the athletic department/university monetary contributions and go directly to the recruits at fundraising parties. Slip a kid a note with the promise of a high-paying sponsorship, vehicle, etc. at a donor party if they sign with school X. Bypass the admin and red tape of the AD and just go directly to the kids.

I'm curious how USU will manage to pay off its stadium debt in this new world?

I see it negatively impacting USU in a big way.

I'm dying to get 22's opinion on this one. He may not be able to comment on this one because it's such an "unknown" topic (and touchy subject).

I don't see this being as detrimental as some here but I could be wrong. AD budgets cannot be used to pay athletes, it will have to be the boosters... and honestly, 90% of FBS schools don't have boosters who are willing to throw $20k into an envelope for an autograph signing or an appearance for a dinner.

The kids are going to get hurt the most, when they have expectations of receiving McDonalds Tennessee cash bags that don't come every month.

If a kid wants to create a podcast and get money from advertisements then cool by me but don't get your hopes up, it's harder than you think.

So what happens when Rocco's Pawn Shop and Dentistry pays big bucks to an athlete for a sponsorship then said athlete is benched or dismissed from the team for non- criminal violation of team rules and Rocco sues the university for damages?

Yossarian wrote: ↑

July 1st, 2021, 2:06 pm

So what happens when Rocco's Pawn Shop and Dentistry pays big bucks to an athlete for a sponsorship then said athlete is benched or dismissed from the team for non- criminal violation of team rules and Rocco sues the university for damages?

University isn't involved because the Rocco's money was supporting the name image and likeness of the athlete.... not the school.

My fear is Rocco tells kids that they will get $100k, but really only gives the kid $2,000 and a pat on the head.

John Hartwell goes into this topic quite a bit in his interview with Hans and Scotty yesterday.

... wrote: ↑

July 1st, 2021, 1:59 pm

I'm dying to get 22's opinion on this one. He may not be able to comment on this one because it's such an "unknown" topic (and touchy subject).

I don't see this being as detrimental as some here but I could be wrong. AD budgets cannot be used to pay athletes, it will have to be the boosters... and honestly, 90% of FBS schools don't have boosters who are willing to throw $20k into an envelope for an autograph signing or an appearance for a dinner.

The kids are going to get hurt the most, when they have expectations of receiving McDonalds Tennessee cash bags that don't come every month.

If a kid wants to create a podcast and get money from advertisements then cool by me but don't get your hopes up, it's harder than you think.

Let's be honest with ourselves. At the big schools it is very likely that big boosters were already slipping athletes money. Now it is just legal. Recruiting will now be about how much money can your boosters give me or what endorsements they will offer. I love college sports, but don't see how this ends well for keeping college sports.

Aggie84025 wrote: ↑

July 1st, 2021, 2:22 pm

... wrote: ↑

July 1st, 2021, 1:59 pm

I'm dying to get 22's opinion on this one. He may not be able to comment on this one because it's such an "unknown" topic (and touchy subject).

I don't see this being as detrimental as some here but I could be wrong. AD budgets cannot be used to pay athletes, it will have to be the boosters... and honestly, 90% of FBS schools don't have boosters who are willing to throw $20k into an envelope for an autograph signing or an appearance for a dinner.

The kids are going to get hurt the most, when they have expectations of receiving McDonalds Tennessee cash bags that don't come every month.

If a kid wants to create a podcast and get money from advertisements then cool by me but don't get your hopes up, it's harder than you think.

Let's be honest with ourselves. At the big schools it is very likely that big boosters were already slipping athletes money. Now it is just legal. Recruiting will now be about how much money can your boosters give me or what endorsements they will offer. I love college sports, but don't see how this ends well for keeping college sports.

Uh, yes. and for years.

I have a brother that works as an athletic trainer for pro, Olympic, and collegiate athletes. He was telling me about a conversation he had with former NBA player Pervis Ellison a few years back (long after his playing days). He said that Ellison told him he would go to alumni fund-raising parties when he was being recruited and in college. He would go back to the hotel room in the evening and his suit/tux pockets would be stuffed with wads of cash from the parties. I'm sure that wasn't an isolated incident.

Tom Holmoe has a really good perspective on this too:
https://1280thezone.com/byu-ad-tom-holm ... e-feature/

NIL is long overdue.

I haven't read enough about this topic, but, could a booster offer a $$$ NIL deal with a contract provision requiring the player to stay at their chosen school for 4 years? I suppose the answer is yes because this is now just contract law, right?

I’m an old Aggie from the 1960’s and have little insite into how this will all work but here is my take. Generally speaking if an athlete can pocket some extra cash I say good for him. It’s long over due. I think that this opportunity applies almost exclusively to 5 star athlete and maybe some 4 star athletes. To the best of my recollection over the last 50 years we may have had 1 or 2 four star athletes and zero 5 star athletes. If you look at the recruits this year none of them are in that category. We generally are recruiting 3 star players. There is plenty of room to up grade our recruits before we need to worry about being overrun with rich alumni. As for the transfer portal, the plays that are making bank won’t be there but the one more concerned about all the other issue will still be trying to improve their situation. My guess re the 14 transfers we picked up this year is they would still be in the transfer portal. So In my opinion this will not have a significant impact on the Aggie athletic program. Same is probably true for the rest of the Mountain West Conference. I like the conference and think it is where the Aggies fit.

I don't think this changes much with recruiting to be honest. We'll still get our same level of talent we typically get each year and your schools like Duke, Ohio State, and Alabama will still get their 5-star guys as usual.

What does concern me is being able to keep our talent with these new rules. Would we have been able to keep guys like Jordan Love, Bobby Wagner, Queta, or even Chuckie Keeton after his promising start? I don't know. I hope this can be regulated at some sort.

What does concern me is being able to keep our talent with these new rules. Would we have been able to keep guys like Jordan Love, Bobby Wagner, Queta, or even Chuckie Keeton after his promising start? I don't know. I hope this can be regulated at some sort.

Bingo

AD leaning in..

Change is always scary.

But I doubt it will be as earth-shattering as everyone suggests. The only ones who will really benefit are the 1% of athletes who make a name for themselves WHILE proving it on the field/court AND they have to be marketable personalities. The best p5 schools will still piss all over each other to pay for the highest recruits while USU goes out and finds diamonds in the rough and develops them into marketable stars - by that time they're likely off to the pros anyway.

As long as we can hang with the other G5's in terms of NIL opportunities, well be good - as always.

USU is the subsistence peasant farmer in this economy, not the merchant or the aristocracy.
A revolution stands to give us better chance of upside than downside.

A question. Hypothetically we have all of our scholarships filled and a very good player becomes available. Could a coach
approach a donor and ask him to pay said player for using his likeness until a scholarship becomes available.? Does the
player need to be on scholarship

I am really glad to see the AD getting prepared for this since it's coming either way. It'll be important to find ways to make it work here if we are to survive in this new climate.

AGGIEFIGHT wrote: ↑

July 2nd, 2021, 9:19 am

A question. Hypothetically we have all of our scholarships filled and a very good player becomes available. Could a coach
approach a donor and ask him to pay said player for using his likeness until a scholarship becomes available.? Does the
player need to be on scholarship

I don’t think the coach could, but the equipment manager might let it slip to someone close to that recruit. As long as there are scholarship limits and roster limits there will be players interested in finding the highest level they can get playing time. I do worry that the NIL will make it easier to talk about specific incentives for the top performers to transfer to programs with hats in the mall.

I have a very small, slowly-growing tax shop on the side...

I wonder if I could get a basketball player to post something on their social media in exchange for some Cafe Rio rewards points...

The more I think about it, the more I think that this hurts us more on the backend than on the frontend. This could even help us on the frontend. But on the backend, with 1 free transfer + $$$, it will be less likely we can keep our home grown stars.

The real test will be whether schools can prearrange sponsorships in behalf unsigned players, then use that as part of the scholarship offer. Several of you have alluded to that in previous posts, but I think that is the line, that if crossed, will make or break college sports as we know it. The question will be the role the schools are allowed to play in brokering these deals.

Some of you have suggested that only the top 1% will benefit. I disagree. The top 1% will make $millions, but there will be sponsorships available for many players, some large, and most quite small. All you need is a little name recognition in the local community to have some value.

Are we going to get the NCAA Football video games back because of this? If so, that's a definite benefit.

cval wrote: ↑

July 2nd, 2021, 11:53 am

The real test will be whether schools can prearrange sponsorships in behalf unsigned players, then use that as part of the scholarship offer. Several of you have alluded to that in previous posts, but I think that is the line, that if crossed, will make or break college sports as we know it. The question will be the role the schools are allowed to play in brokering these deals.

Some of you have suggested that only the top 1% will benefit. I disagree. The top 1% will make $millions, but there will be sponsorships available for many players, some large, and most quite small. All you need is a little name recognition in the local community to have some value.

Finally listening to the John Hartwell interview and it sounds like the schools, by and large, can't be involved in any of the NIL stuff. And the athlete won't be able to include the school's name or logo in conjunction with their endorsement opportunities.

That said, if would take absolutely nothing for a school to reach out to a sponsor or booster under the table and tell them X recruit is considering us, please go grease his palms. That's been happening for a long time, now they just won't announce anything or put dates on contracts until after the player is enrolled.