In the wake of a federal judge granting final approval June 6 to the settlement of three athlete-compensation antitrust cases against the NCAA and the Power Five conferences, the commissioners of those conferences on Monday, June 9 spoke forcefully about their schools’ commitment to the agreement’s potentially complex terms.
They also continued their campaign for the settlement to be followed by Congressional action that preempts the array of state laws that have been passed regarding athletes’ ability to make money from use of their name, image and likeness.
During a video news conference that involved all five of the commissioners, the Southeastern Conference’s Greg Sankey spoke the most forcefully about the need for all college sports constituents to be willing to adhere to rules and enforcement decisions that will be made a newly announced College Sports Commission. Formally unveiled just hours after the final-approval ruling was released, the Commission will be responsible for the implementing, overseeing and enforcing schools’ compliance with the settlement’s terms.
Sankey pledged that cooperation will occur because school CEO’s, athletics directors and coaches have grown weary of what has become a largely marketplace of athletes being able to transfer schools multiple times without penalty and seek the best financial terms from school-affiliated collectives or, in deals that were contingent on the settlement’s final approval, the schools themselves.
“I’ve asked at every level … our university presidents and chancellors, our athletics directors, our head coaches: If you want an unregulated, open system, just raise your hand and let me know,” Sankey said. “And universally, the answer is: ‘No. We want oversight. We want guardrails. We want structures.’
“Those individuals don’t have the luxury to just say that in meeting rooms. Period. They don’t have the luxury to just be anonymous sources They have a responsibility to make what they’ve sought, what they’ve asked for — to make it work.
“I’m speaking from one perspective. My expectation is everybody on this video conference has had that same dialogue. And, so, some of this burden shifts back to make this work. And we should be candid about the expectation that’s been established from our members, each of us, and the commitment that we’ve made to make this work.”
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Those terms include an annual cap on the amount of money that schools will be able to spend on direct NIL deals with their athletes and a system under which athletes’ NIL deals worth more than $600 will have to be reported and then evaluated to determine whether a deal has a “valid business purpose” and is within “a reasonable range of compensation.”
Schools, administrators and coaches are always looking for an edge on their competitors, and, in recent years, they have become increasingly hostile toward investigations and enforcement from the NCAA.
Sankey and the Big 12’s Brett Yormark both said they expect there will “challenges” with the new system.
“But,” said Yormark, “we will meet those challenges and we’ll address them appropriately. …
‘I’ll also say that our schools want rules and we’re providing rules, and we will be governed by those rules. And if you break those rules, you know, the ramifications will be punitive.”
Meanwhile, Sankey, who confirmed that he and Notre Dame AD Pete Bevacqua played golf with President Donald Trump over the weekend, maintained that even with the settlement, federal intervention in college sports is necessary.
“Congress exists to set national standards,” Sankey said, “and we’re not going to have Final Fours and College Football Playoffs and College World Series with 50 different standards. So that’s the starting point.”
Sankey also said that he believes Congress can pass a college-sports bill, even amid a turbulent and divisive political climate.
“They do have the ability to get things done, even in difficult political times,” Sankey said. “And I think this is a nonpartisan issue, candidly. I don’t think this is about drawing lines between Democrats and Republicans or the House and Senate. I think this is an opportunity for our governmental leaders, our political leaders, to come together around solutions to support our Olympic development program, to support college football and every one of our sports that flows off of that, including those that are labeled as non-revenue sports.”
Sankey’s analysis may be optimistic. In the Senate, Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who now chairs the chamber’s Commerce Committee, and Democrats led by Sens. Cory Booker, N.J., and Richard Blumenthal, Conn., have been trying to craft college-sports bills for several years, but have not been able to come to terms. The points of disagreement have included the degree of legal protections the NCAA, the conferences and school want, and the types of benefits for athletes that would become enshrined in law, as opposed to the NCAA’s or conference’s rules books.
However, the Big Ten’s Tony Petitti, expressed optimism that the settlement’s final approval may help the NCAA’s and the conferences’ case. And the commissioner’s noted that another hearing is upcoming this week — one by the a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee..
“We’ve shown that we’re willing to make significant change and modernize our system,” Petitti said. “We’re not just asking for something. We’re actually showing that we are willing to have significant change.”