NIL

[Midwest Cowboy]

Wisconsin's legislature just fast tracked a bill that will (in summary) restructure the use of public money so that UW will be able to begin paying its athletes directly. The amount is about $14.5 million annually with the lion's share going ($13.5M) to UW (Madison) and $500K going to UW Green Bay and UW Milwaukee. No other state schools (and there are a lot) get anything. The bill declares that despite being paid by the UW system, athletes are not employees of the system and that the terms of any contracts (i.e. dollar amounts) shall remain private and not subject to FOIA.

There was almost no debate and passed state senate by 17-16. It now goes to Governor Evers who may or may not veto.

Regardless of what anyone thinks about NIL, having tax payers fund the program to make UW more competitive (you see where this is going in a conference dominated by Michigan and Ohio State...we need more, more, more...) is total BS. Secret contracts beyond the review of the public...unbelievable. There is so much waste in the UW system. And now tapping into taxpayers has got me sideways (especially since I hate the Badgers more than any team in the NCAA...yes, more than CSU). The thing that probably bothers me the most is the fast track without discussion (during a bunch of weather events and national news) and the secrecy.

I have no other information but its all over the news now that the vote occurred.

 

[rocket city poke]

Colleges Hide Athlete Pay Data Behind ‘Competitive Harm’

Nebraska, like other public FBS schools, won’t disclose even top-line totals of its House v. NCAA distributions, claiming that info is a trade secret.

www.sportico.com

The media and public need get more organized. These are payments from public institutions that are using state tax dollars. They should be made public at this point, the universities and attorney general's offices that represent that state are very organized. I can't imagine why they would not be public, but there needs to be some litigation on the issue.

 

[TheRealUW]

Wisconsin's legislature just fast tracked a bill that will (in summary) restructure the use of public money so that UW will be able to begin paying its athletes directly. The amount is about $14.5 million annually with the lion's share going ($13.5M) to UW (Madison) and $500K going to UW Green Bay and UW Milwaukee. No other state schools (and there are a lot) get anything. The bill declares that despite being paid by the UW system, athletes are not employees of the system and that the terms of any contracts (i.e. dollar amounts) shall remain private and not subject to FOIA.

There was almost no debate and passed state senate by 17-16. It now goes to Governor Evers who may or may not veto.

Regardless of what anyone thinks about NIL, having tax payers fund the program to make UW more competitive (you see where this is going in a conference dominated by Michigan and Ohio State...we need more, more, more...) is total BS. Secret contracts beyond the review of the public...unbelievable. There is so much waste in the UW system. And now tapping into taxpayers has got me sideways (especially since I hate the Badgers more than any team in the NCAA...yes, more than CSU). The thing that probably bothers me the most is the fast track without discussion (during a bunch of weather events and national news) and the secrecy.

I have no other information but its all over the news now that the vote occurred.

The ridiculousness continues.

Since these student athlete's are clearly independent contractors and not employees, I'm sure they will be allowed to call their own plays, play for multiple teams, and practice whenever their schedule allows for it - because those are all requirements to meet the definition of an independent contractor.

 

[Midwest Cowboy]

Colleges Hide Athlete Pay Data Behind ‘Competitive Harm’

Nebraska, like other public FBS schools, won’t disclose even top-line totals of its House v. NCAA distributions, claiming that info is a trade secret.

www.sportico.com

The media and public need get more organized. These are payments from public institutions that are using state tax dollars. They should be made public at this point, the universities and attorney general's offices that represent that state are very organized. I can't imagine why they would not be public, but there needs to be some litigation on the issue.

I completely agree! These are our dollars and have a right to know how they are being spent. Isolating the public and maintaining such secrecy is...unbelievable. In Wisconsin, these athletes will be paid directly by the UW system but by definition are not employees? I just cannot imagine this will stand scrutiny. This state is equally divided between Marquette fans and UW fans (probably with a nod to UW). But both are popular. Marquette fans must be outraged (along with all the other in state schools that were cut out). We are now using taxpayer funds to unfairly compete against private institutions.

 

[Midwest Cowboy]

The ridiculousness continues.

Since these student athlete's are clearly independent contractors and not employees, I'm sure they will be allowed to call their own plays, play for multiple teams, and practice whenever their schedule allows for it - because those are all requirements to meet the definition of an independent contractor.

Imagine when some athlete goes to file a work comp claim? This state is so employee-centric. In every other instance, someone spends 5 minutes working for you, the courts have said "Yep, employee."

 

[TheRealUW]

Imagine when some athlete goes to file a work comp claim? This state is so employee-centric. In every other instance, someone spends 5 minutes working for you, the courts have said "Yep, employee."

The label of independent contractor is way overused in a lot of industries, but it is so glaringly erroneous when it comes to college athletes that either college athletes are eventually going to be labeled as employees (most likely) or legislation will change the definition of what constitutes an independent contractor (less likely).

I totally understand why universities don't want their athletes labels as employees. It saddles them with a bunch of financial requirements that they don't have if they call them independent contractors. There are lots of universities that probably won't be able to afford it when that time comes. My two cents...if you can't afford to play the game, then get out. I'm hoping it might be the nail in the coffin that forces the majority of schools in this country to realize how silly the NIL game they are trying to play is and forces them back into a more traditional ameutuer model of athletics.

 

[rocket city poke]

The label of independent contractor is way overused in a lot of industries, but it is so glaringly erroneous when it comes to college athletes that either college athletes are eventually going to be labeled as employees (most likely) or legislation will change the definition of what constitutes an independent contractor (less likely).

I totally understand why universities don't want their athletes labels as employees. It saddles them with a bunch of financial requirements that they don't have if they call them independent contractors. There are lots of universities that probably won't be able to afford it when that time comes. My two cents...if you can't afford to play the game, then get out. I'm hoping it might be the nail in the coffin that forces the majority of schools in this country to realize how silly the NIL game they are trying to play is and forces them back into a more traditional ameutuer model of athletics.

Exactly, there are like 56 division I schools that didn't opt into the House Settlement. If you are not in the P4 you were likely better off opting out so you didn't have to get involved with this mess. That's what it is too is just a big mess. It's also why the legislature should not have provided the additional $3MM annually in NIL payments.

 

[TheRealUW]

Exactly, there are like 56 division I schools that didn't opt into the House Settlement. If you are not in the P4 you were likely better off opting out so you didn't have to get involved with this mess. That's what it is too is just a big mess. It's also why the legislature should not have provided the additional $3MM annually in NIL payments.

What's most frustrating to me is that the vast majority of schools are not benefiting from the current NIL and revenue sharing model, yet insist they "have" to do it. As long as they have some theoretical chance at playing in the College Football Playoff, they are happy to do whatever the big boys tell them they have to do.

The leverage that smaller schools have is numbers. Only about 20 of the current FBS schools are really benefiting from the current state of college athletics. That means there are 116 other schools that aren't. The Top 20 can do things however they would like. That's fine - let them have their own miniature professional league. The 116 Majority should be banding together to try to form a league that does things in a way that makes sense for them.

Having a separate league with it's own separate playoff would be way preferable over the current format of your reward for a good season being some meaningless bowl game that nobody watches and half the players don't even play in because they are already transferring to some bigger program.