Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Texas A&M Aggies - Sam Craft/AP Photo
It’s another day in paradise for college athletes in the NCAA. A new era is here after a monumental settlement reached by the Power Five conferences.
The time has come for College athletes to be fully compensated. You had to figure this was coming, especially after NIL became legal.
College Athletes to Be Fully Compensated
Starting in 2025, every school in the Power Five Conferences would earn about $20 million to pay its best athletes. This seems like a good idea because this would actually balance the parity better than just NIL collectives.
This could bring with it a more even level for smaller athletic departments when going against the bigger programs.
Positives
Keep in mind that NIL is still good to have as a side business, but players can now earn a full salary on top of the cake.
Additionally, now gone are the days when the big-name coaches at Power Five schools earned all the money. Players now get a piece of the pie without having to work for free.
Negatives
Some negative aspects change the narrative that college sports still have amateurism. Additionally, some of the new players might lose out to former players.
When you pay your players full-time salaries, plus NIL collectives on the side, it really feels like College Sports are now semi-pro sports.
On top of that, just earning a free scholarship isn’t enough incentive to want to go to college.
What About the Athletes who need the Money Now?
If that wasn’t enough, they now want to pay total salaries to players who played from 2016 until July 1, 2021. All of these players played before the legalization of NIL.
Some examples could include Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, whose average annual salary is $51,000,000, and Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, whose average yearly salary is $23,000,000 but is in new contract negotiations as I write this article.
They would be eligible for the money, but that’s a problem.
It’s a problem because they’re already multimillionaires in the pros. They’re being compensated way beyond their college playing days.
In addition, that money could be going to freshmen recruits who are just entering college and are starting out with nothing. “How is that fair?”
Luckily, those against it won’t have to worry about it as it will not affect them until the fall of 2025.
For now, let’s enjoy another great season of college athletics, starting with football in the Fall of this year.
What does everybody think of this year being the last year until players can finally be compensated and don’t have to work for free anymore?
Please let me know what you think.
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