NIL and the transfer portal are changing how college athletics has been run for decades, and while some of it is a positive development for players, coaches, and administrators, there are some aspects of the new landscape that have absolutely wrecked the integrity of sports like football and basketball.
Amid the chaos Brett Yormark, Greg Sankey, Jim Phillips, and Tony Petitti met on Capitol Hill to discuss their concerns regarding NIL and the transfer portal with Congress.
During a “Special Report” with Bret Baier on FOX News Thursday, Yormark admitted that the conferences can’t do this alone.
“We need help from Congress,” he said.
“From where I sit today, federal preemption, having a standardized platform that oversees and governs NIL is critically important,” Yormark said. “Today, 34 states see it very differently, and it’s relatively unruly.”
Big Ten Commissioner Tony Pettiti reiterated the need for assistance.
“The volume of laws that are being passed on a state level are making it really difficult for us to regulate and compete nationally,” Petitti said. “Every single time someone doesn’t like a ruling, or something comes from the NCAA, we end up in litigation. Those rules then get aggregated, and we’re back to the start.
“We’re hopeful that the combination of what we’ve done in the settlement will give us an opportunity, with some help from Congress, to really put a system in a place that has some stability.”
The House vs. NCAA settlement is set to give some $2.8 billion back to the student athletes, but outside payments will still be allowed, making it difficult to govern where athletics are—and aren’t—allowed to source money from.
Something is going to have to be done if there is going to be any order restored to the games that we love. Otherwise, we can just get used to stories like the one coming out of Knoxville, Tennessee, this week.
