Wyovanian said:
Unless they start making them sign contracts where they can claw back or withhold payments until performance is proven, the cash will evaporate pretty quickly. Once the athletes realize they're actually sharing the risk, they'll be a lot more deliberative and thoughtful about the whole thing...
I hadn't thought of the NIL world through this lens. I think that you are spot on. Once the risk profile shifts, players won't be as enamored with big deals - and the risk will shift. The money is too big. It will certainly provide positive incentives - markets always do. But it will also come with performance demands. For anyone that has been put through a quarterly performance briefing with a board of directors or CEO, when things are going well, the presentation is sunshine, posies and fun and the rewards are great. When they are not, the experience can be akin to a root canal or colonoscopy without the benefit of anesthesia. These young people should look at their coaches and what they go through...it will be similar to the scrutiny and second guessing that they will soon experience. For those on this board and in the Twitterverse that don't like those of us online and elsewhere that "call out individual kids" - buckle up. Things are only now heating up in that space. When you enter the adulting world of investment, returns, and performance - it is a cold, nasty, brutish place. You want to go about adulting...go ahead, buttercup. But don't come crying when things go sideways and the mob comes looking for you.