If this happens, within the next 2-3 years conferences/schools will adopt the economics of professional leagues. Players will be paid directly and allowed to organize for collective bargaining, with the exact same trade-offs seen in professional leagues (salary caps, revenue splits, guarantees, etc.)
Why? Because they simply are not in control now. College athletics rose to prominence in part because of the amount of control the NCAA and its member schools could inflict on the athletes, and its ability to profit off of them. Whether you think that's right or wrong, those are facts. But there have been major blows to those realities in recent years - first with the restructuring of the transfer rules (including the portal), and now with the NIL rules. Whether you think those developments were right or wrong, they completely shattered those two facets of college athletics.
The reality of the situation is that the conferences and schools no longer have any real control, and they are not going to let that be the case for very long. Adopting professional economics allows them to retain that control. Will it 'ruin' college athletics? You can be the judge of that, but I do not see how the status quo continues for much longer. College football will be completely transformed soon.
Why? Because they simply are not in control now. College athletics rose to prominence in part because of the amount of control the NCAA and its member schools could inflict on the athletes, and its ability to profit off of them. Whether you think that's right or wrong, those are facts. But there have been major blows to those realities in recent years - first with the restructuring of the transfer rules (including the portal), and now with the NIL rules. Whether you think those developments were right or wrong, they completely shattered those two facets of college athletics.
The reality of the situation is that the conferences and schools no longer have any real control, and they are not going to let that be the case for very long. Adopting professional economics allows them to retain that control. Will it 'ruin' college athletics? You can be the judge of that, but I do not see how the status quo continues for much longer. College football will be completely transformed soon.
