California legalizes college athlete endorsements
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Umm... It's hard to say. I'd like to think not, mainly due to how tight Adidas was with the coaches. That part is still not kosher here, that's more or less construed as working with/through the school to facilitate it all.
Yep, the real thing this does is move bagmen above board. But also make them a lot more common since instead of being a risky thing for the athlete it's totally legit. People focusing on the handful of athletes that would get legitimate endorsement deals are missing the forest for the trees. The real impact of this will be big money donors paying recruits in exchange for them signing a napkin. And it won't just be the five star guys, they'll be the ones getting big money, but it'll impact the lower level recruits and non premier sports as well.
Not one single player in the country is going to give a **** if they're "on scholarship" if they're getting the same amount or more directly from donors.
Agreed...BUT...all things being equal do things change? There have always been more bag men at Auburn than Minnesota. What's the difference?
Yeah, but the shoe companies definitely still steer players to certain schools through AAU programs. This will just bring it out of the dark and completely legitimize it. You go to Duke and Nike is going to guarantee you a shoe contract. Coaches don't need any involvement at all.
This is also going to give boosters who own businesses a legitimate means to pay players. Come to Alabama and Bob's Trucks is going to pay you a bunch of money to shoot some commercials. If the player doesn't pan out the commercial airs once at 2 in the morning so they can at least say they used it.
It being legit makes a huge difference IMHO. Right now there's risk involved. Like, I'd never walk up to a player and hand them $100 and even if I did most players would know better than to take it. However, once this goes through? Who knows, maybe after a big game I do just that and as long as I give them a scrap of paper to put their autograph on it's all above board and acceptable.
The first one happens either way, we already know that, and less-visible variations of the second do, too. I still think it's better to bring it to light and make it public knowledge versus keep it all as dark money.
It's not like the current system of hiding it all with no real teeth or power against it whatsoever is "working". Same thing, just less visible.
Yeah. There are very rabid fans/donors associated with other programs. Not to mention if they are a business owner they are 1) helping support the program they cheer for, 2) getting advertising for their business and 2) the money paid is an advertising expense for their business.
- Mar 27, 2006
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And?
First of all, it's not that risky now. Go read Stephen Godfrey's bagman article. The system has been gamed. There's very little risk if you aren't stupid. But even if you could go hand Brock Purdy a hundred bucks for an autograph, who cares? If people want to pay it, ok. That's capitalism. That doesn't ruin anything about my enjoyment of college football.
I agree it's happening already but no where near to the degree it will. The fact is the top players probably aren't making anywhere near the money under the table they will legitimately. I also think the pool of players getting payed will increase quite a bit.
I'm not necessarily against paying players. I've thought for years it's inevitable. It will be interesting to see the aftermath of it all.
Not to mention, why the hell would a business concede to using the likeness of a nobody to advertise their business? The car dealership in Tuscaloosa is going to want Tua doing their radio and TV ads; not the 5th string walk-on QB that will never play a down of football for the Tide. Yes, that car dealership will do a lot to help Alabama win, but they still have to run a business, and they're not going to just toss money at someone that won't be beneficial for them.
They wont be getting much advertising if the recruit they endorse rides the bench his whole career.
For sure, doesn't even need to be a commercial, just do a photo shoot, print up some fliers, boom all legit. Pay the player as much as you want.
Furthermore, universities themselves would need to negotiate 'companion' contracts because the athlete 'solely' seeking endorsement, IMO won't carry the weight. Also, the 'showmanship' in college football just climbed the ladder. I can imagine contracts will be tied to W's and L's because their value would drop significantly if they are on teams which can not win. This is going to result in marketing by universities campaigning that they have the highest paid athletes. I've said it before and I'll say it again. This is Pandora's box.
Living in Colorado, I had a co-worker ask about that when our division was sold to a company from Arizona. It was for medicinal purposes.
I'm a big fan of capitalism, but in this case it won't work. Take, for instance the entity of college football as a whole. Without some form of parity, it fails. The ESPN contracts will fall apart without the interest of the lower 90% of the teams. The only way I see this succeeding is if the NCAA restricts the number of likeness contracts per team. And 'easing' into this free enterprise ideal over several years.
My friend (very high up in a P5 conference front office) feels this is a terrible idea. I hope you guys who want to know 'how high' can understand the need for anonymity. P5 conferences covering multiple states will have their own juggling to do over this matter to maintain the integrity of their conference. Imagine the political landscape when it comes to realignment. Wow! Where is this going?
Because the schools will manipulate the external endorsements just as they do now.
GrappleCy alluded to this in his post and not to put words in his mouth but it goes like this...bag men will funnel money through that Tuscaloosa dealership (and whatever else) to indeed pay many more kids than just Tua. Think like an SEC bag man; you could easily find room in your car commercials for all 22 starters and more. It will all just be a way to wash dirty money that buys players.
