I think NIL, and these realignments based on maximizing NIL, will bring about the death of college sports more quickly than some realize.
Put yourself in the position of a donor who has $1,000 or $5,000 or $10,000 to spend per year on an alma mater. In the past you would have given most or all of it to the alma mater athletic department. Much of that money would have gone to non-revenue producing sports including the Title 9 sports. But now many donors will spend it on NIL instead to support their own favorite teams, and those athletic department revenues will shrink rapidly.
Without that money, I think that many schools will simply shut down their non-revenue sports unless they can identify an "angel investor" for them. Once you lose women's sport X, you also have to lose men's sport Y under Title 9.
The NCAA won't matter anymore. Title 9 won't matter anymore. Either your sport self-funds or it doesn't. And there will be little reason for the top schools NOT to form their own semi-pro league with NIL standing agreements already in place for top recruits. Adios college sports... welcome to "club" status.
I don't think it will take very long for this to happen. It was only a few months ago when NIL was not yet available. And look how far it has gone. JMO...
Put yourself in the position of a donor who has $1,000 or $5,000 or $10,000 to spend per year on an alma mater. In the past you would have given most or all of it to the alma mater athletic department. Much of that money would have gone to non-revenue producing sports including the Title 9 sports. But now many donors will spend it on NIL instead to support their own favorite teams, and those athletic department revenues will shrink rapidly.
Without that money, I think that many schools will simply shut down their non-revenue sports unless they can identify an "angel investor" for them. Once you lose women's sport X, you also have to lose men's sport Y under Title 9.
The NCAA won't matter anymore. Title 9 won't matter anymore. Either your sport self-funds or it doesn't. And there will be little reason for the top schools NOT to form their own semi-pro league with NIL standing agreements already in place for top recruits. Adios college sports... welcome to "club" status.
I don't think it will take very long for this to happen. It was only a few months ago when NIL was not yet available. And look how far it has gone. JMO...
Last edited:
