Penn State recently signed hockey player Gavin McKenna to a NIL deal reportedly worth $700,000. Sigh...

[fjblair]

I'm out. This lifelong fan and university athletics booster is done. I'll still watch in the near term, but I no longer have the passion or commitment.

 

[oldunc]

I keep thinking that colleges will at some point realize that running professional sports teams just doesn't make sense for them; there has been a certain increase in schools dropping particular sports, but I really expect the entire system to collapse under its own weight.

 

[GRAVITY-LHP]

I am actually going to put forward something I have been thinking of in terms of a solution:

I believe players should be paid. But they can only take payment from ONE institution (above $500k. Once you take $501K+ you can not take $ from another institution. You CAN take more from same institution. However, the total team payments (See NFL), and athletic dept both capped or fines and NCAA championship eligibility and player draft eligibility at stake (put the payers and the school in jeapardy). Outside endorsements capped based on yr. (and substantially ramp late in college career... here true fresh is like 250k and 5th yr Sr. is like 5M.). Finally, only 2 transfers allowed. 2nd transfer requires a year sit-out. Boosters get caught... DEATH PENALTY

 

[DekeDog]

I agree that athletes should share revenues. The time and commitment from athletes is greater than the average student, and the expectations are higher. But, playing devil's advocate, it used to be scholarships paid tuition, books, room and board, and maybe some pocket change, and at many colleges, esp. private colleges, that could amount to well over $200,000 over four years. Not peanuts. College is supposed to prepare students for a professional life, and that should include pro sports for those gifted enough. I'm not sure an 18 year old "student athlete" should be paid $200,000 a year over and above their scholarships. Students at top research facilities do not make a dime from huge grants garnered at universities (though most are likely on some type of academic scholarship and/or earn a stipend from being a teaching assistant), but in today's world, many of those government grants are being terminated anyway.

 

[47adelynn47]

And so it begins. How can I root for any PSU team when it seems kids are going to the highest bidder? We here in Pittsburgh are find of saying the Yankees and BoSox are bought teams. So what's different now in college sports? Sure some kids will pick the institution over the money but that will be a tiny minority. Hell ya, if Pitt offered me $700K to wear the blue and gold, I'd say "See ya" to the blue and white.

Do these kids have agents now?

I fully understand how this all came about and fair is fair but we all grew up with college amateurs. It's a sad time.

i say scholorship or nil money...you can only pick one

 

[catdaddy]

I don't care about college sports with regard to players' monetary remuneration. Colleges have been raking in lots of money for decades with their sports programs. Seems fair to share with the kids playing the sports.

BTW- Gavin McKenna is a heck of a hockey player. Widely regarded as the obvious #1 pick in the 2026 NHL draft, a franchise-type talent in the mold of McDavid and Crosby.

 

[AquariumRock]

It's not that I think the whole ideal of amateurism has no value whatsoever, but those kids take major league risks to their future health in a context where people are making money of their backs. It's only sensible that they're compensated for that. If that means the fiction of amateurism has to give way, then so be it.

Take the money, kid. You won't hear a single unkind word from me.

Well said.

Nothing is different now except that the kids assuming all of the risk now get to reap the benefits of their skill set in college.

Personally, I think way too much money is tied up in college sports anyway, but athletes getting a piece of the pie doesn’t bother me, more than the existence of such a pie does.

 

[Audiowonderland]

And so it begins. How can I root for any PSU team when it seems kids are going to the highest bidder? We here in Pittsburgh are find of saying the Yankees and BoSox are bought teams. So what's different now in college sports? Sure some kids will pick the institution over the money but that will be a tiny minority. Hell ya, if Pitt offered me $700K to wear the blue and gold, I'd say "See ya" to the blue and white.

Do these kids have agents now?

I fully understand how this all came about and fair is fair but we all grew up with college amateurs. It's a sad time.

So what if they do? The NCAA and the schools decided to make money off these kids. If they were really interested in amateur athletics they would not need TV deals and advertising sponsors. These kids should have been paid long ago. Now we just don't have to pretend that college sports are anything but the minor league system they have been for decades

 

[ahiddentableau]

There's the flip side of this, too. The kid played his first couple years of junior hockey at home in Canada (WHL Champion Medicine Hat Tigers! I think they lost in the Memorial Cup final but I'm too lazy to check), where there are extensive leagues with franchises all across the country. But they don't have pockets deep enough to compete with the NCAA, so once this catches on all their best players are going to head south of the border. In many cases, those leagues have histories that go back more than a hundred years, and Canadians are famously keen on hockey. That's very sad. The leagues are a significant part of a lot of communities, especially second and third tier cities without much else going on.

In spite of the above "Won't Somebody Please Think of the Brandon Wheat Kings!" line, none of that changes my overall take. I still think the kid should take the money. But moves like this aren't just taking a wrecking ball to the status quo in America. There's an entire ecosystem of hockey development in Canada in the firing line, too.

 

[Vibroluxer]

If they were really interested in amateur athletics they would not need TV deals and advertising sponsors.

That's my point exactly: I am interested in amateur sports. But this is obviously larger than what I want. I think the only way to even the field is through some sort of revenue sharing otherwise it's gonna be the haves always winning over the have nots.

 

[ChicknPickn]

College basketball is dead.

 

[bumnote]

This is one reason why I stopped giving a crap about sports decades ago.

So, let me get this right. These deals are based on popularity and not actual performance on the field.
So, in theory, it would be conceivable that I could be a 3rd string or 4th string player...but I have a YT channel where I play college football video games. Since I'm witty and funny, my channel gets a 500K - million subscribers...not hard to do. I'm also a sexy man, humor me, so of course I post all the time on Instagram...and have a popular account there. Everyone's gotta know what I eat, where I eat, with whom I eat. And at the end of the school year I'm millionaire, possibly into double digits?
I see no way this could backfire.

It's possible that in the future if you're really going to go college to get a degree in a field that really requires a focus on academics, employers could favor employees who went schools with no sports programs.

 

[P Thought]

Nuts

 

[Knows3Chords]

Paul Kariya comes to mind as of one first top level players that I can remember that came out off the NCAAA system. The top shelve players usually came out of the Canadian minor league system. I'm not sure how much money the NCAA hockey system generates, but I'm sure the students (their parents) and fans of the schools hockey program will be paying even more now.

 

[GRAVITY-LHP]

This is one reason why I stopped giving a crap about sports decades ago.

So, let me get this right. These deals are based on popularity and not actual performance on the field.
So, in theory, it would be conceivable that I could be a 3rd string or 4th string player...but I have a YT channel where I play college football video games. Since I'm witty and funny, my channel gets a 500K - million subscribers...not hard to do. I'm also a sexy man, humor me, so of course I post all the time on Instagram...and have a popular account there. Everyone's gotta know what I eat, where I eat, with whom I eat. And at the end of the school year I'm millionaire, possibly into double digits?
I see no way this could backfire.

It's possible that in the future if you're really going to go college to get a degree in a field that really requires a focus on academics, employers could favor employees who went schools with no sports programs.

YES! I give you Livvy Dunn. An LSU Gymnast. All American at just bars. Far from the best gymnast or even best female ncaa athlete.
https://www.essentiallysports.com/o...-lsu-gymnasts-nil-deal-endorsements-and-more/

She’s the top female earner. And top 10 of all athlete earners. She’s just your basic above average college athlete. When I was in college, where I went, she was a dime a dozen.

This person spends more time milking her brand and social media than she does being an athlete. And gets PAID. It’s a joke.

 

[burntfrijoles]

YES! I give you Livvy Dunn. An LSU Gymnast. All American at just bars. Far from the best gymnast or even best female ncaa athlete.
https://www.essentiallysports.com/o...-lsu-gymnasts-nil-deal-endorsements-and-more/

She’s the top female earner. And top 10 of all athlete earners. She’s just your basic above average college athlete. When I was in college, where I went, she was a dime a dozen.

This person spends more time milking her brand and social media than she does being an athlete. And gets PAID. It’s a joke.

Livvy was a highly recruited gymnast out of high school and injuries prevented her from performing better in college.
She was not doing anything that other social media "influencers" have done. Until NIL was mandated by the courts she was uncompensated for the hundreds of thousands views she had on her social media accounts before NIL. The dumb rules meant that she couldn't keep the money she may have earned from endorsements. LSU didn't pay her a dime. Since NIL, her income has been derived from legitimate sponsorships from clothing companies, etc that she represents. Yes, she built her brand.
She is very articulate and savvy. She could have a job as a sports commentator reporter for ABC, ESPN, NBC, Fox any time she wants it.
She's also become a case study for other female athletes to emulate in terms of NIL and branding.
Given her success and persona I highly doubt she is or was "a dime a dozen"..

 

[catdaddy]

YES! I give you Livvy Dunn. An LSU Gymnast. All American at just bars. Far from the best gymnast or even best female ncaa athlete.
https://www.essentiallysports.com/o...-lsu-gymnasts-nil-deal-endorsements-and-more/

She’s the top female earner. And top 10 of all athlete earners. She’s just your basic above average college athlete. When I was in college, where I went, she was a dime a dozen.

This person spends more time milking her brand and social media than she does being an athlete. And gets PAID. It’s a joke.

She may not be a great athlete, but Paul Skenes doesn't seem to mind. Her brand seems to be thriving.

 

[burntfrijoles]

So what if they do? The NCAA and the schools decided to make money off these kids. If they were really interested in amateur athletics they would not need TV deals and advertising sponsors. These kids should have been paid long ago. Now we just don't have to pretend that college sports are anything but the minor league system they have been for decades

Amen. While I don't like the way NIL/Portal are being managed, the athletes deserve to be paid.
Most folks have no idea what these kids go through. Morning meetings or weight training before class; grueling practice; film study afterwards; mandatory study hall, etc. Up until about 5 or 6 years many of them didn't even have food allowances because of NCAA rules.
In a galaxy and time far, far away there were not lucrative broadcast rights and coaches were paid sums that were more reasonable.
What happened to college athletes is that they became cheap (free) labor for conferences and schools to make a lot of cash and earn the coaches huge, obscene compensation packages.
Players couldn't even benefit from being offered a free lunch or receiving donations for travel home for holidays, let alone earn a buck by having autograph appearances. It was abusive.
All that aside, the schools and NCAA botched the transition to a more equitable model. In the vacuum created by inaction you had booster "collectives" with slush money for "pay for play". Blame the leaders and the alums for creating this unholy mess.
The problem continues unabated and getting worse because of incompetence, pride and greed.

 

[GRAVITY-LHP]

Livvy was a highly recruited gymnast out of high school and injuries prevented her from performing better in college.
She was not doing anything that other social media "influencers" have done. Until NIL was mandated by the courts she was uncompensated for the hundreds of thousands views she had on her social media accounts before NIL. The dumb rules meant that she couldn't keep the money she may have earned from endorsements. LSU didn't pay her a dime. Since NIL, her income has been derived from legitimate sponsorships from clothing companies, etc that she represents. Yes, she built her brand.
She is very articulate and savvy. She could have a job as a sports commentator reporter for ABC, ESPN, NBC, Fox any time she wants it.
She's also become a case study for other female athletes to emulate in terms of NIL and branding.
Given her success and persona I highly doubt she is or was "a dime a dozen"..

I went to Georgia. And…. Yes. A DIME A DOZEN!!!!

Yes. 72 different girls were all American. I was there 84-89

She is the top paid female athlete. But far from the best female athlete. She is a good female athlete. An exceptional influencer for sure.