On the latest Sporticast episode, hosts Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams discuss some of the biggest sports business stories of the week, including a crazy few days in college sports.
As much of the college sports leadership gathers in Atlanta for the national championship game, it feels as though the industry is crossing a Rubicon of sorts into a messy—and necessary—new reality of athlete compensation. The House vs. NCAA settlement is still awaiting final approval, but schools are preparing for a near future where they share revenue directly with athletes. That’s led to a major question: In order to share in those millions, what will athletes be asked to give up in return?
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On Sunday Sportico published the first public accounting of what a Big Ten school’s revenue-sharing agreement contains. It includes language that protects the school from lawsuits, allows the university to sell athlete NIL to “any and all third parties,” and to adjust the financial concessions up or down depending on an athlete’s on-field performance. It also asks the athlete to surrender any legal claim to employee status, to pay back some funds given if he/she transfers, and contains a morals clause often seen in coaches’ contracts.
These documents are also in the news this week amid a controversy involving former Wisconsin defensive back Xavier Lucas. Lucas is trying to transfer to Miami despite Wisconsin reportedly denying him access to the transfer portal. The school has said it has a signed two-year NIL agreement with Lucas, which may look similar in language to the contract viewed by Sportico.
But before all that, they discuss the Buffalo Bills. The team, for years, has relied on eager fans to help shovel out their stadium after snowstorms, a task for which they paid the Bills faithful $20 per hour. The team’s new $2.1 billion stadium, however, will have no use for the tradition. The team is building “one of the world’s largest snow-melting systems,” according to a recent Sportico story. The hosts talk about that, and the fanbase’s love of Zubaz.
They also talk about an NFL playoffs ownership conflict. Billionaire Josh Harris owns the Washington Commanders, which will play the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL championship game. Harris also co-owns the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, which might require delicate rhetoric when he discusses the game over the next week. The hosts talk about how Harris might best communicate both his love for Philadelphia and his desire for the city’s NFL team to lose on Sunday.
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