January 4th, 2022 at 3:46 PM ^
...truly, i'm shocked... ?
January 4th, 2022 at 4:01 PM ^
Eventually this level of spending will stop. May take 3-4 years, but it will col down. Never go away, but will lessen.
There is way too much variability as to potential "Busts" with recruits and their actually panning out. Add in giving 18 year old kids with huge egos massive amounts of cash and that is only going to increase the "bust" percentage or have kids flee to the transfer portal. ROI on this level of spending just isn't going to work out.
January 4th, 2022 at 4:14 PM ^
If this it what it takes to win, I'm not sure I would cherish a championship that much. This will blow up in their faces, just because.
January 4th, 2022 at 5:02 PM ^
Have you paid attention to what Michigan pays for coaches, facilities, AD administration, etc?
It blows this away.
Michigan as an entity (university, boosters, and fanbase) has never been shy about spending huge $$$ for sports success.
They just have never paid it to the actual players that compete.
January 4th, 2022 at 5:25 PM ^
So you don’t think the Fab Five should be celebrated?
January 4th, 2022 at 6:05 PM ^
If this it what it takes to win, I'm not sure I would cherish a championship that much.
Why? Why do you care if players get paid? They are the talent. If coaches are making millions why can't players?
January 4th, 2022 at 6:16 PM ^
I’d take it. Above board, not my money.
January 4th, 2022 at 10:26 PM ^
-300,000 fans $100 each on average = $30M. I’d pay a few hundred bucks a year if it meant we got the #1 class every year. How do we make this happen. It’s legal now. I’m done clutching my pearls.
January 4th, 2022 at 4:34 PM ^
If they are just getting boat loads of cash guaranteed if they stay, I could see a team full of NFL era Vince Young’s going into financial Hell before they even turn 21, and a bunch of entitled buns who didn’t fully live up to their potential.
However, if their pay is incentivized for their play, stats, production, bowl wins, wins over Bama, post season accolades and awards…I could see this being a motivator for these recruits. Regardless, leave it up to Texas greed and A&M to put kids in their football prison for 4 years.
I’m glad we have a true players coach in Harbaugh who doesn’t delve in the practice of narcissistic control or bribery over anyone’s lives in any way. Harbaugh is actually willing to let a player walk if he thinks it’s best for himself, because he actually has humanity.
January 4th, 2022 at 4:46 PM ^
I agree jhayes....you are going to have teams full of, uh, potentially less than stellar individuals. I do not wish that upon any kid...but you hand me that kind of money at 18-19...dollars to donuts I end up a moron and flat broke quickly.
Then you get the law suits
This is crazy money, only ends poorly.
As the man Biggie said "mo money, mo problems"
January 4th, 2022 at 5:18 PM ^
This is easily one of the dumbest takes I’ve ever seen on here. 18-21 year olds getting boatloads of money for their families because they’ve been able to monetize an elite skill is good and is more American than forcing them to be unpaid labor so coaches and administrators can take in most of the dollars.
teams have been cheating since the dawn of college football (Michigan included), so I don’t really think anything is actually changing at all
January 4th, 2022 at 10:07 PM ^
Right on Fat Guy.
Seems inappropriate on some level to say that. Regardless, this isn't cheating anymore. And now that it is above board creative ideas like Texas A&M's are the coin of the realm. This is now a cost to compete. Michigan can compete in this brave new world if it chooses to. But what about the bottom half of any P5 league?
January 5th, 2022 at 5:26 AM ^
Go Bees baby
January 4th, 2022 at 11:43 PM ^
I’m not at all against players getting paid, but something seems radically ethically wrong about a bunch 50+ year old billionaires making 17 and 18 year olds sign potentially million dollar contracts that ensures they own the next 4 years of their life….basically I hope these kids have some kind of payout in the case of transfer, and if one leaves after 3 years to transfer because he couldn’t crack the starting lineup, there will be lawsuits if he doesn’t see a dime of it…I hope a few of these kids have the wisdom to demand this money in limited payouts for the next 20 years of their life after college as if drawing out a 401k or something.
If I’m being honest, it seems to me like the kids should get a cut of these massive TV contracts who blatantly use their name, image and likeness week in and week out.
January 4th, 2022 at 7:52 PM ^
Lol yeah they should accumulate student debt instead. Builds character and puts hair on your chest. Young adults make lots of money all the time in basketball and soccer. It's not like being 23 is that different from being 19. The vast majority end up fine and are glad they made millions.
January 4th, 2022 at 4:52 PM ^
You’re not buying kids, you’re buying classes and when those classes win, the spending will go up.
They won’t care when a couple of guys bust. Penny wise and pound foolish won’t happen.
January 4th, 2022 at 9:36 PM ^
Bingo.
January 4th, 2022 at 5:28 PM ^
You kidding man?!
What's the "ROI" on an NC?! As the ads say, "Priceless"!
Especially for a constant decade after decade underachiever like A&M!
Or, one could even say, Michigan! Or Notre Dame, Penn St - or even Uga if they don't win next week!
January 4th, 2022 at 5:35 PM ^
When Charles Barkley was asked about Cam Newton getting $200,000+ under the table to go to Auburn where he won a National Championship, he said: "Hell, that was a good investment!"
January 4th, 2022 at 10:48 PM ^
Georgia has already been pushing out over 10 mil to players before it was legal.
January 4th, 2022 at 5:36 PM ^
No. That's why all sports have a salary cap.
January 4th, 2022 at 5:45 PM ^
They do?
January 4th, 2022 at 5:46 PM ^
Pretty sure there was no cap on what Nike or Gatorade were paying MJ.
January 4th, 2022 at 7:57 PM ^
But they couldn't entice him to go to Detroit instead of Chicago. The league decided that.
January 4th, 2022 at 6:18 PM ^
Why will it stop? It may increase as more and more teams bid up these deals.
I agree that donors might perhaps decide it's not worth it but these are billionaires for whom this is chump change. Michigan received donations in the millions to send the team to Europe. That had a lower ROI on competitiveness than what A&M did here.
January 4th, 2022 at 9:40 PM ^
You've got it
What about the billionaire who is in his 50s and 60s and who could give a fuck about ROI. He just wants to buy a National Championship. I mean he is going to die with $12Billion or $13Billion - holy smoke buying the top 25 players in 247 composite for $200M? Who cares to him.
I am being extreme but this is where it's going. Can of worms opened. I don't think people really realize what 5% annual interest on $18 billion can buy you. Gonna be a lot of rich 18 year olds due to nothing but recruiting starz. ENJOY!
January 4th, 2022 at 10:58 PM ^
T. Boone Pickens.... He passed before he could pay players above board... He would have thought about it that way...
January 4th, 2022 at 9:41 PM ^
Double!
January 4th, 2022 at 9:41 PM ^
Triple!
January 4th, 2022 at 8:20 PM ^
And coach's salaries will go down, and stadiums won't get bigger/updated, and wealthy donors will stop spending millions to have new buildings put up w/their names on them.
Come on, man. This is just the beginning.
January 4th, 2022 at 8:50 PM ^
What would make it go away? People who have enough money to pony up for $30 million for a game have enough money to do it again. Investments are one thing but this is fun money for them.
January 4th, 2022 at 9:05 PM ^
It'll end when the first booster decides to take his money back, one way or another.
January 4th, 2022 at 8:55 PM ^
Yep. These "donors" are not doing this for altruistic reasons, they want a return on investment. Wait until one LLC is sponsoring a WR and another is sponsoring a RB and they are "influencing the coaches to run/pass more to pad their "investments" stats.
And thinking to that OSU player's recent comments: if he thinks the schools "own" players now. Wait until players have groups of powerful donors with shady interests hanging that heavy chain around their necks.
I'm sure the cash will be good for many players, but I can easily see exploitation and program issues cratering this as well.
January 4th, 2022 at 9:31 PM ^
If you are a super fan and into sports no it won't.
Ross is worth north of $8B.
You guys simply don't understand once you hit a certain level this is all play doh money. It's a joke. You buy super yachts, jets, it's all a joke. Only art can really fulfill your fantasy at that point
$8 BILLION x 1% is $80M a YEAR. A YEAR. $320M over 4 years. If you are a crazy mo fo and love college sports and you are 65+ and have 30 years shelf life. WHO GIVES THE HELL this is your interest payment it doesn't even affect your wealth.
You just need a few crazies. And that's 1 guy. What about 20 guys at $500Mish wealth. Just watch.
January 5th, 2022 at 1:24 PM ^
It will not go away winning produces revenue. It takes elite talent to win.
January 4th, 2022 at 5:45 PM ^
So... it wasn't A&M's academic reputation?!
January 4th, 2022 at 9:35 PM ^
Serious Question. What if I offer CJ Stroud and JSN $10M each to transfer to (insert any school) from OSU because I'm a silly billionaire who $20M is just 3 weeks of my life in the S&P 500 at 7-8% annually. What would they say?
This is where we are headed. Open can of worms. It's just how many billionaires care about sports more than whatever they are doing now. Kids who are RS FR and SO who are proven studs are going to make zillion in CFB. Potentially more than any NFL earnings if a stud billionaire wants to make it so. NO SALARY CAP in CFB.
January 5th, 2022 at 2:38 AM ^
Where we are headed?
What if this hypothetical billionaire happened to own a baseball team, could he offer his favorite teams rivals QB $17 million to go play baseball instead?
January 4th, 2022 at 3:47 PM ^
What stopped these folks (the ones who are nowhere ready) to do the same thing under the table? Or were they not doing anything at all? Or is the scale now that NIL is on, is scaring the heck out of them? So many questions. So little answers.
January 4th, 2022 at 3:56 PM ^
Tax fraud, probably and the likelihood that you could do more harm than good if caught.
January 4th, 2022 at 4:48 PM ^
Tax fraud has been going on the entire time, unless the bagmen are actually mailing 1099s for the cash and like kind exchanges to recruits and players and the players are then turning around and reporting it on their 1040s and paying the payroll taxes. Seems... unlikely
January 4th, 2022 at 5:04 PM ^
Of course the fraud has been going on, but that's what has kept it from being this blatant and coordinated. It's like smoking weed. Sure, plenty of people did it when it was illegal, but once it was legalized it opened a market for people who wanted to before but weren't willing to risk it (my mom).
January 4th, 2022 at 5:17 PM ^
Lots of smoke saying that setting up non-profits was the way to funnel money to players pre-NIL. This is not new.
January 4th, 2022 at 5:40 PM ^
Clemson used local churches (non-taxable entities) to do it. There are ways.
But it still takes some work and a difficult level of coordination. So the amounts were nowhere near as large as what is starting to happen with NIL. It's eye-watering.
January 4th, 2022 at 6:26 PM ^
Ah yes, I remember Clemson funneling their $$ through that big mega church down there. I think I was called the New Spring Church.
January 4th, 2022 at 8:04 PM ^
So much of New Spring sickens those of us who claim to follow Christ. It (and there are several like it) is the poster child for all who want to point out the flaws of the American church.
January 4th, 2022 at 8:15 PM ^
Did they? I’d love to read a story on this. Dabo and his smug churchly self.
January 4th, 2022 at 5:53 PM ^
That is an even higher level of tax fraud.
If the IRS has done nothing about it, it's because they are willfully ignorant.
January 4th, 2022 at 5:34 PM ^
Just to clarify...are you saying your mom didn't want to collect on shady millions for your collegiate athletic talents or that she waited until she could move to (enter state of legal weed) to smoke?
January 4th, 2022 at 4:05 PM ^
That money used to go towards big screen TVs in every shitter in the football facility.