NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) has become a huge problem with college level athletics in the US. So much so that a Presidential Commission has been appointed to look further into the matter and see if changes are necessary.
Now some college athletes can become multi-millionaires overnight by simply endorsing a product or service. Even 18-year-olds still in high school are being given million-dollar deals.
I'm wondering if the same type of thing is happening is Europe or not.
Now some college athletes can become multi-millionaires overnight by simply endorsing a product or service. Even 18-year-olds still in high school are being given million-dollar deals.
I'm wondering if the same type of thing is happening is Europe or not.
Ban sponsorship.
For all levels, for all sports.
Why should any athlete of any description be 'rewarded' any differently than any other person that does xyz for a living.
For all levels, for all sports.
Why should any athlete of any description be 'rewarded' any differently than any other person that does xyz for a living.
I don't see the problem. Sounds like free enterprise to me. Isn't that the whole idea behind the USA? The real problem is colleges exploiting these athletes. They should be paid as professionals just like anyone else working for the college.
It is a pity but all crazy stuff is imported without doubt/questions/consideration so this one probably will be as well.
While the advertising becomes better the products quality seems to be less of a concern 🙂
While the advertising becomes better the products quality seems to be less of a concern 🙂
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I see a big problem. And you are wrong. They are not just like anyone else working for the college. In fact, they don't work for the college at all. They are students. Not employees. Nor are they being exploited by the colleges who grant them sizeable tuition and living expense coverage.
Without having seen the phenomenon (yet) : isn't there a risk that young athletes will be more busy with earning money instead of training?
They work there, they simply are not paid commensurate with the service they perform. In the UW's 2023 fiscal year, the football program generated roughly $101 million in revenue. Tell me again "they don't work there" BS.
Whilst certain universities do have easier degrees for the sporting types they don't tend to have the big teams as per USA. Outside football sports stars don't earn anywhere near as much so the problem doesn't exist. For context looking at the UK Wembley stadium* has a capacity of 90,000. There are 10 college stadia bigger than that in the states. We just don't have the same outlook on sports.
*wembley IS linked to a university, but they only teach sporting degrees.
*wembley IS linked to a university, but they only teach sporting degrees.
OK. I will tell you again. College football players do not work for the university. Here is an article that makes it quite clear for your edification:
https://mikefarrellsports.com/news/do-college-football-players-get-paid-what-students-need-to-know
Tell me again all you want, you are wrong. "Student-athletes got free tuition, housing, meals, and access to top-level training" That's payment from the university to the student for the work they do. If they don't show up and do the job, all the compensation goes away. That's the definition of a job and an employee. Seem like you willfully ignore all of this for some reason?
Sadly they are wildly underpaid. For their highly skilled services that produce a hundred million in revenue to the university the majority of these athletes don't go on to professional football. Many have career ending injuries destroying the prospect that they can get the hoped for pay day in the NFL. It would not hurt the "game" in anyway to simply be honest and declare them as professional athletes. Pay them proportionally to what they earn the university and stop the steal. How classicalfan, a guy with zero skin in the game, wants to keep the system in place that exploits student athletes is a mystery to me.
It is just a large corporation headed by a bunch of rich old white guys exploiting a population of mostly black young men. Wake up and smell the coffee.
The smart ones skip as much of the exploitation as possible. The youngest players in the 2025 NFL Draft were Jordan Phillips (20 years, 10 months). He declared for the draft after his sophomore season at Maryland. Kenneth Grant (21 years, 5 months) and Jonah Savaiinaea (21 years, 3 months) were also among the youngest, with Grant playing three seasons at Michigan and Savaiinaea leaving college after his junior year at Arizona.
Top NFL players that were former walk-ons
How about they pay the players, put a salary cap, including that for the coach, in place for every college team and lets play ball. That QB should be making $200k / yr at least.
Sadly they are wildly underpaid. For their highly skilled services that produce a hundred million in revenue to the university the majority of these athletes don't go on to professional football. Many have career ending injuries destroying the prospect that they can get the hoped for pay day in the NFL. It would not hurt the "game" in anyway to simply be honest and declare them as professional athletes. Pay them proportionally to what they earn the university and stop the steal. How classicalfan, a guy with zero skin in the game, wants to keep the system in place that exploits student athletes is a mystery to me.
It is just a large corporation headed by a bunch of rich old white guys exploiting a population of mostly black young men. Wake up and smell the coffee.
The smart ones skip as much of the exploitation as possible. The youngest players in the 2025 NFL Draft were Jordan Phillips (20 years, 10 months). He declared for the draft after his sophomore season at Maryland. Kenneth Grant (21 years, 5 months) and Jonah Savaiinaea (21 years, 3 months) were also among the youngest, with Grant playing three seasons at Michigan and Savaiinaea leaving college after his junior year at Arizona.
Top NFL players that were former walk-ons
- 1 / 10. G Logan Mankins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers. ...
- 2 / 10. K Stephen Gostkowski, New England Patriots. ...
- 3 / 10. SS Rashad Johnson, Arizona Cardinals. ...
- 4 / 10. DE Ezekiel "Ziggy" Ansah, Detroit Lions. ...
- 5 / 10. SS T.J. Ward, Denver Broncos. ...
- 6 / 10. OT Ricky Wagner, Baltimore. ...
How about they pay the players, put a salary cap, including that for the coach, in place for every college team and lets play ball. That QB should be making $200k / yr at least.
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All the US college system amateur rules are bollovks, they just exist to exploit the athletes financially. Same with the drafts, it's not really about helping the worst teams.
Or even, perish the thought, actually going to class and learning something.
I started this tread specifically to explore and discuss how this issue is being dealt with in Europe. It appears from the responses so far that thankfully they have not allowed widespread corruption of the system there.
We will have to see what the Presidential Commission recommends here. It is notable that the co-chairman of the commission is Nick Saban who previously has taken a hardline stance regarding these excessive payments to student athletes.
There are clearly two major camps on this issue. People like you who think it is fine to pay student athletes large sums of money in order to attract them to that school. And then treat them essentially as employees instead of as the students that they actually are. And then people like me who believe that this whole system is corrupt and a degradation not only of higher education, but of our society as a whole. We are not likely to agree, and I see little point in continuing the debate here.
(BTW: An armature is the winding of an electric machine which carries alternating current. Quite different from an amateur athlete like a college football player.)