Thinking Big

What could be done to dramatically change the course of college athletics.

It was always my hope that NIL would force innovation to support the financial growth of college athletics. I say that because when one course of action becomes more profitable than the alternative, the trajectory of an industry changes.

Destroying the ozone layer wasn't a priority until it became profitable for government and private industry to address it. Weight loss was once a much smaller business for Jenny Craig and Lean Cuisine, but with Eli Lilly and GLP-1s, everyone seems to be shedding pounds.

Camps, tournaments, and found money

Some schools are improving their NIL situation by funding it through expanded summer camps (just as I suggested in a previous article). Stanford Baseball had more than 500 campers this summer. Do the math: A campers × B camp fee = C dollars available for NIL (or, previously, for assistant coaches who maybe even depended on the revenue….no longer).

If you're a Power 4 school with little interest in allocating revenue-sharing dollars to a sport like baseball, this is one potential solution. It isn't an enormous one, but it is a meaningful one. I've helped organize golf tournaments that generated between $25,000 and $60,000 in NIL profit. That's not transformational money, but for many mid-major programs, it's incredibly valuable.

LSU is thinking bigger

LSU — which truly is Louisiana State University — has grand ambitions of generating enormous sums of money with athletics serving as the catalyst. A meeting scheduled three weeks from now is expected to lay out the full plan. I know the general framework of how it will be implemented, and to my knowledge, no one else is doing anything quite like it. Another state has already declined, or passed on, the opportunity to pursue something similar. It does indeed involve decision-makers at the highest levels of state government.

If you're unwilling to sacrifice or invest as much as others, then arriving at an inferior outcome shouldn't be surprising. The potential savings of billions of dollars for the state of Louisiana — which could unsurprisingly flow, at least in part, back into athletics — would only be possible by finding willing and motivated stakeholders who care enough to act.

The outsider problem

As a vendor, so to speak, in the NIL space, I've often encountered the friction that comes with not being an insider at a college or university. Schools generally prefer working with their own people.

Those in power are more comfortable working with wolves, so long as they're wearing sheep's clothing — or even if they're simply from the same family, genus, or species.

But when everyone is genuinely trying to create the best possible outcome, as LSU very clearly is, the incentives have to be strong enough to overcome inertia, because laziness is a pandemic worse than COVID ever was.

What else could fund this

Lotteries fund education. Could state lotteries also fund NIL? Lottery players don't seem particularly concerned about the rate of return.

Could state taxes fund athletics? Student fees continue to rise, so why couldn't certain state taxes? Individual 501(c)(3) organizations already support all sorts of educational priorities. Why couldn't athletics become one of them?

I also see FAST (Free Ad-Supported Television) as an opportunity to generate revenue for states through whatever distribution model a state-run public service channel chooses to implement — perhaps even directing some proceeds toward athletes.

What if a government contract switched from one vendor to another? How much might a business contribute to an NIL fund if it helped secure or retain valuable government business?

Who would object to a modest increase in liquor or tobacco taxes? Who would complain if tax penalties increased to subsidize NIL — especially if the money were routed through a mechanism that wasn't immediately obvious?

What if filing fees increased? Or property taxes? Parking tickets? Local sales taxes? Hotel taxes? What about selling state-owned real estate?

The merits of these ideas vary considerably, but who is actually thinking this ambitiously about funding NIL?

The importance of getting NIL right has only recently come into focus. Federal legislation and future governance changes could still reshape the landscape, but with the stakes this high, schools and states can't afford to be left behind.

QR codes and the broadcast

I spoke with a former high-ranking ESPN producer about using QR codes during broadcasts to allow donors to contribute directly to athletes for NIL. Oklahoma State was prevented from doing it, but that could eventually change. QR codes on broadcasts — or even on helmets — could become another avenue for funding both individual athletes and teams. The increasingly extravagant gifts given to athletes during bowl games and postseason play certainly don't appear to be slowing down.

When NFL players help fantasy football managers win championships in Weeks 16 or 17, there are often coordinated campaigns encouraging those winners to donate to the player's charity of choice. In many ways, that's not all that different from a system that could eventually direct money back to college athletes.

The lack of inventiveness isn't surprising, but it is disappointing. That's why LSU's coordinated effort across so many stakeholders is refreshing. The speed and momentum behind the initiative suggest it has a legitimate chance to succeed despite the challenges that naturally accompany any attempt at meaningful reform.

There's an old saying that losers focus on winners while winners focus on winning. In this case, though, I'm not even sure the losers are paying attention to the winners. Too many are simply focused on losing.

And they need to figure it out before they're replaced by someone who will.