in Pitt Football 59 Words

Breaking – NCAA clears way for athletes to Profit from their likeness

https://apple.news/AWmup-yf4QOS6oSdOP_XX-g

From the WSJ article:

The NCAA’s governing board directed its three competition divisions to immediately consider changing the rules governing such benefits for athletes, and to make all such changes no later than January 2021. “We must embrace change,” said Michael Drake, chair of the board and president of Ohio State University.

79 thoughts on “Breaking – NCAA clears way for athletes to Profit from their likeness”

  1. This was inevitable. But the main issue is how ii is to be implemented.

    Are there restrictions to how many athletes each school can use, and how much they should be paid?
    What’s stopping Pitt from using Larry Fitz or Aaron Donald in lieu of any current athletes? Can a school include this as part of the scholarship agreement, which will guarantee a minimum payment?

    Sadly, this may likely widen the chasm between the haves and the have-nots even further

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    1. To be clear…the schools have nothing to do with this.

      My understanding is that the law allows for 3rd parties such a businesses to pay an Athlete to use their likeness in ads or for personal appearances

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      1. Doesn’t that make it even worse? Think about it …. who are businesses going to hire around Pgh … Ju Ju, Big Ben, Sidney … or … Morrisey, KP and Xavier? Yet, in the middle of the state …. there is nothing to compete at all to PSU.

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    2. Wait until the social engineers who run Academia wake up and realize that 99% of the money is going to a very small number of superstar men. The next step will be to impose some kind of “luxury tax” on these earnings and distribute some % more “fairly” among secondary sports and womens sports. God this is going to be a mess.

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  2. Michael Drake, chair of the board and president of Ohio State University. Enough said, money follows money. It’s the beginning of a NFL minor league.

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  3. Unless you’ve been asleep for the last five decades, it’s always been the free NFL minor league. Everyone profited except the players (legally that is). Players should get all they can. Life is short, life in the NFL is shorter.

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    1. Not asleep and could give you thousands of examples how a student athlete profited from playing sports in college. But I won’t bother. Go back into hiding.

      Liked by 2 people

    2. Correction … I misread that. Yes it can happen soon. Must take place NO LATEr than 2021. Morrissey may get that Mercedes after all

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  5. If I’m a stud player, I want to be on prime time TV as much as possible to enhance my sell-able ‘image’. If I’m selling this image service, I might suggest that a stud player go to a school plays on prime time; that has lots of rabid fans to gain ‘followers’ to increase hits and revenue.

    The schools that win with regularity and have large fan bases will benefit.

    Will be interesting to see how the rules get written… How it all plays out…

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  6. Does this mean that a well-heeled booster can pay a player $100k for a signed photo?

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  7. Not sure how this would play out for players from schools in small population areas. Would a big name player for Alabama get more or less money than a big name player from Rutgers? Which market would pay more? That’s supposing Rutgers get’s some big time players.

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  8. Buckle your chin straps cupcakes. Been working on this for 4+ years with several P5 AD’s and Legislators.

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  9. Chris Dokish@ChrisDokish
    Let’s say that 10% of Pitt fans have an Aaron Donald jersey, and 10% of Penn State fans have a Micah Parsons jersey. There’s probably three times more Penn State fans because they’re a big state school with a lot more alumni. Therefore, Parsons could make three times more.

    More
    Other than James Conner during his comeback would any Pitt player have been capable of making a lot off his likeness? It’s not like you see a ton of Pitt jerseys with player’s names on it. And I never saw a Sal Genilla commemorative spoon.

    For instance, if a WPIAL kid is deciding between Notre Dame and Pitt, he may want to stay home and play for the hometown school, but he could make more money at Notre Dame, so he’s going to go there.

    Admittedly, it’s the fair thing to do for the players, but unfortunately the fans of the schools that don’t have huge fan bases are going to suffer. If you can make a lot more at a football or basketball factory, why go anywhere else?

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    1. They go to Notre Dame over PITT now without the cash. We’ll see a number of successful local car dealers paying a BB prospect $100 to $200 thousand a year to play for the hometown favorite team. Plus the car of his choice. True Derek Coleman drove a black Hummer around Syracuse, but now it will be legal and will be even more obvious. What about jealousy among the players not getting the big cash.

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  10. Michaelangelo, some programs will find ways to pay top recruits to come to their schools. Top basketball recruits would command the most early money. Big city programs would thrive.

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      1. so in other words … the shoe companies can do legally what they have already been doing illegally

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  11. This will only help a small percentage of players during their college days. Afterward it has always been a free marketplace. One question is whether schools would be able to still benefit from the likenesses of the players.
    As far as the sneaker companies, using their money to steer players to a school would still be against rules but once there they can sign up a Zion Williamson to a contract right away.
    This will definitely help larger schools but there may be a backlash for schools who recruit three 5 star players for each position. The recruits would be more sensitive to being stockpiled on the bench and may want to go to a D1 program (Pitt?) where they believe they can start and be seen. Now they seem to be able to do this only as a senior transfer.
    Lots of complexities with no certainties (except for the Zion Williamsons)

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  12. Without some solid guidelines we will be screwed. The bigger programs will get all the good players who will be able to make a lot more money.

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      1. I hear what ur saying but I think this could separate the haves and have nots even more. We at least had a shot to get rj Davis against UNC in bball. There would have been zero chance if this rule was in place.

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        1. Maybe maybe not. Pittsburgh is a lot bigger than chapel hill. A lot more sponsorship money to spread around

          Time will tell…

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          1. but there are not 3 pro teams to compete with there. IMO this can really hurt the teams in the pro cities like your own GT.

            How many ads do you see in Atlanta that includes a Brave, Hawk, Falcon, or flame … and compare that to a Ramblin’ Wreck.

            Baierl Auto better step up big time

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            1. Well maybe. It’s all speculation until it isn’t. Tech has a lot fewer fans than UGA. Pitt has proportionally more fans in Pittsburgh than Tech does in Atlanta for sure. Probability 50/50 Pitt /Penn state in the burgh. Probably 75/25 UGA / tech in the A

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  13. Kids will stay in school longer before going pro. Kid might make more than the nfl practice squad pay. But if you get drafted and make the team, I’m sure that’s far more than what you can make by staying in school. A popular player with little nfl talent could make a killing over five years in school.

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  14. Everyone is talking like this is going to be some huge benefit for hundreds or thousands of college athletes. The reality is that a handful of nationally known super stars who play football or men’s basketball will make a lot of money and the vast majority of kids won’t get the time of day. Maybe small time local businesses will throw a few bucks a some local kids, but the serious money is going to get concentrated with a few superstars. The big national programs will be able to sell kids that they should come to Alabama or Ohio State because their chances of getting paid big money increases. The rich will get even richer. Let’s just pencil in a permanent national championship tournament with Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, and Oklahoma. Pretty damned boring (unless you’re one of the fans of these programs).

    Liked by 2 people

  15. NCAA will provide guidelines that will probably not be enforced. Schools will do whatever it takes to win and make $$$. Money always wins. How many AD shirts were bought when he was at Pitt?

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  16. Texas Booster: Alright boys. We’re gonna have an “autograph signing party” with [insert star QB name] and ya’ll are gonna need to pony up a minimum of $5,000 to show up. Let’s show our QB how much we appreciate his play against ole A&M on Saturday. And, let’s show those kids who are coming in for a visit what we do for our players who have good games!

    And by-the-way, get all ya’ll friends and family to ‘follow’ our QB on InstaFace so that he can get advertisers. And, Bubba, how about using his image down at your Dodge dealership. Pay him $20,000 for the use of his mug.

    QB walks away with $80,000 for beating A&M. The QB hosts a high schooler taking his official visit the next weekend, and they’ve got money to party with… Yehawwww!

    Liked by 3 people

  17. Paying college kids is ridiculous! There is a simple solution, let them choose to go pro at any time. Having a few kids getting paid while still in college will destroy the locker room. Once again, the rules are being made for the 2% rather than the 98% who will never go pro.

    Liked by 1 person

  18. You get paid there must be taxes. How many of these kids won’t be able to pay back taxes. Probably near all of them.

    I’d now make their scholie a taxable income if they get paid

    It will only benefit the elite pro talents or very popular players. Maybe five players reaping the rewards on a team like Pitt.

    What will the other players think and feel.

    Liked by 2 people

  20. fRenchyFries contract pulled by the O for too many drops… fFenchy cannot afford s lawyer time file a lawsuit…. his new Escalade is re-possessed….

    Liked by 5 people

  21. FYI … Pitt MBB opens tonite in exhibition game vs Slippery Rock

    a week from tonite, they open ACC play at home vs FSU

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    1. 3 MBB games are on ESPNU next 2 weeks

      11/6 FSU / 11/12 at Bobby Mo / 11/15 WVU. the RMU game is the opening of its new UPMC Center

      both Duquesne and RMU now play at UPMC-named facilites. I guess Point Park and LaRoche are next

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  22. Senator Burr announced he is looking to make scholarships taxable because of this.

    This has the potential of a major disaster and even more cheating.

    What will be the specific rules and how will they be enforced?

    Large corporations that already spend millions in marketing and advertising could be the benefactors of the players.

    Will the players unis start looking like Nascar or Professional golf?

    Talk about Pandora’s Box.

    Let the Arm’s race begin.

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  23. Another reason Pitt needs to have a Athletic Foundation to keep the dirty business at arm’s length, something the big time schools already do.

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  24. I think this will greatly disrupt college sports. I agree, the rich get richer.

    Government can’t regulate crap. This will be a nightmare.

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  25. Time to turn it over to the NFL and go back to club football- that’s how it all started… it’s about our school beating your school with our student athletes… the tailgate at Red5A would go one….guess we can’t turn back the clock and drive out Model T’s and A’s to the game…. ain’t it funny that PITT Stadium held 60,000 at one time….

    Liked by 3 people

    1. BigB, I like the idea! It would take the college game back to its innocent roots. We would need a new club NCAA of rules committee to try and keep it honest. What a novel idea, real students playing for the fun of it! It will never happen.

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    1. I’ll be there. Bringing my brother in law and my 10 yr old nephew. They’re Domers but I’m sure they’ll rise to the occasion

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  30. as I write, ex NBA ref Tim Donaghy who was tied to the mob and spent a few years in prison for tainting games is on the Boomer and Gio Show on CBS Sports. He provided some examples saying that 3 other NBA refs were on the mob’s payroll back in the 90s and MLB umpire Joe West was known to gave favored strike zones for players he consorted with. He also said that back in the day, Dean Smith would hold golf resorts weekends for ACC refs.

    With all the money involved in major sports, sadly I think you have to be pretty naïve to think everything is on the up and up. Big time basketball recruiting has already been exposed by the FBI and I firmly believe boosters at the elite schools are very heavily involved … knowing full well not to consort with the coaches or school admin while doing so.

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      1. are you not aware of what happened at Louisville? And Sean Miller’s assistant was fired and I believe banned although Miller somehow escaped. Kansas is supposed to be the next in line but haven’t heard anything about it lately

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  31. These players do have brains and should use them. If a sponsor like Pepsi is willing to pay a college kid they must think he has some pro potential. If the kid wants the money he should go pro instead of accepting a free scholarship. Why should they have it both ways?

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  32. I agree VoR, this is a big can of worms………

    On another note, Darrin Hall signed to the Steelers practice squad. I could have sworn I read Dr Jim Bradly’s lips saying James Conner’s shoulder was dislocated. Put Hall behind Rosy Nix and let him run wild. < Cause he sure is not a good blocker.

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  33. Not surprised by the Hall signing considering the Steeler RB situation. He’ll probably be used on scout team a couple of weeks or so. They did the same thing with Matt Galambos a few years ago when they has some LB injuries.

    The best story about this happened circa 1997 or 98. The Steelers signed Pitt DB John Jenkins as a FA but cut him in pre-season. They brought him back to the practice squad when they had a couple DB injuries, and another DB injury during the week caused Jenkins to be activated for the game.

    He may have played special teams … can’t remember … but used him for prevent defense in the final minute of the game. And sure enough, he made an interception to preserve the win. I’ll never forget Coach Cowher’s grin as Jenkins was coming off the field, and he gave him a big hug. He also awarded him a game ball. Then eh was cut a week or so after and don’t believe he ever played again.

    Hall may still have a career in the NFL .. who knows … but he is not likely to play right now

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  35. It will easy to know the 5 star recruits soon as their clothes will have ads on them and they will be on tv commercials unless the NCAA allows schools to buy the rights of the kids

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    1. interesting idea. NCAA pays them from a common pool regardless of which school they attend. Super stars should be able to choose to go to Bergen Community College and make the same money as a super star from Alabama. Plus playing for Bergen Community will lesson injuries. This will not happen.

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  37. These poor college football players are being used and abuse, taken advantage of. All I remember is that these “kids” drove way better cars than I did when I was 20 years old. << No doubt ate better than me as well. Oh, almost forgot to mention……. and they didn’t pay anything like I had to. Exploited my ass!

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    1. Not minor sports. It is the vehicle to get into the school of choice only. Which is still good. The present system works for the women’s teams. The ladies are getting into schools and given scholarship money they did not receive in the past.

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  38. Here’s an idea, revenue sharing…….. If this rule was implemented back when MajorMajor played baseball and then later with Upitt, how much money would have they have be paid? I say bupkis! Maybe make the star players share the money and I would THINK about joining the cash parade? Plus make everyone pay taxes and rescind their scholarships.

    I honestly think there is some sort of grand agenda going on behind the scene here. I know EA sports is in line for a big cash payout.

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  39. Before anyone jumps on my back for my analysis of this issue, let me first express that I love the Pitt football team and college football a ton. It is my number one go to leisure activity.

    But…the players do not deserve to get paid for goodness sake. A majority of the players should be happy that the schools admit them even though they do NOT come close to meeting the academic standards for admission to their respective universities. When I was accepted to Pitt in the spring of 2004, one needed to be in the top ten percent of their graduating class or have an 1200 SAT score. (and that’s before they added the writing section that maxed the SAT to a 2400 rather than 1600 point test).

    How many of Pitt’s current football players would meet this standard? I’m going to guess it’s a small hand full. That’s not meant to be insulting…PItt is a top 60 national university and it has rigorous standards. Peruse a Pitt football program. It lists our academic All-Americans. It’s pretty rare that to hear about academic standouts like Billy West, Louis Riddick, and Mark Stepnoski. Look at academic powerhouse schools like Michigan, Wisconsin, Virginia, and Notre Dame that all have way higher admission requirements than Pitt. I’m sure they have such an easy time finding valedictorians that run 4.4 forties and throw 80 yard passes.

    Many student athletes are getting an academic opportunity that they may not have earned like the rest of the students that attend a particular university. The athlete provides the university a valuable service by using athletics to promote the university. Conversely, people like me meet the academic requirements and have an athletic background, but we don’t get a chance to play D1 athletics because we don’t have out of this world athletic ability.

    The NCAA has to figure out if the participants in collegiate athletics are students, athletes, or businessmen/women. Decide the answer to that question and then we can make a decision on if their should be compensation or not.

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    1. That Decision was made during the last 50 years. Yes it was different 50 years ago. NFL and the NBA was not a big deal and players at PITT went to class to become dentists, lawyers ,doctors and whatever. We all know about the football team of 1963.

      Today the college “money sports” athletes are semi pros when they arrive. Academics have nothing to do with why they are in college.

      I am not telling you guys anything new. Just repeating the sad facts

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  40. Ike – I let you all know over two years ago that universities are offering scholarships for gamers/esports (not EA Sports, lol). These gamers do not fall under the purview of the athletic department and were designed specifically to get away from an official athletic jurisdiction. It is a way to start the pay for play schematic to see how it works, without interference from a governing body, the ncaa or for that matter, a conference.

    Secondly, the entire likeness idea was born out of the Ed O’bannon case years ago, but only after a case in Colorado, where a professional skier was prohibited from sponsorship money because he also played football. He was not allowed to take the money for a sport he competed in during the olympics because he played college football. This is where poor judgment by the NCAA led to this disastrous turn of events. Instead of understanding the situation, the ncaa ruled stringently and forbade the receipt of such sponsorship monies. This did not sit well with the athlete students, a term I have used for as long as the blather and the pov existed.

    Fast forward and I will give you an example of how bizarre and outdated the ncaa is in their thinking. I spoke to them about this. Let’s say you have a 4th string offensive tackle for Pitt that has no chance of making the nfl and candidly will not be a contributor to the current team, but we keep him around because narduzzi is the only p5 coach that won’t cut the chord with kids that won’t contribute. Let’s say for argument sake that the kid is also a fantastic comic and has 1+million followers on twitter/you tube/ instagram because he is so funny. He could make tens of thousands of dollars, not because of his football talents but because of his comedic prowess. The ncaa erroneously and shortsightedly forbids that activity which has resulted in this uproar. It isn’t right! O’bannons stuff went after madden sports for using college likenesses to profit and i think that is measurable and the kid should get some cash for that.

    This didn’t start as a superstar selling his signature or uniform sales. It started as a result of complete BS rulings by the NCAA. This is why esports is the test sport for getting rid of the governing body. Great stuff, mostly bad for the universities. I have put a few suggestions to states currently thinking to legislate this that have been met with a lot of hymmmming and hawwwing because it is so complicated.

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  41. The NCAA doesn’t want lawsuits or the government getting involved. Hence the bone. Highly doubtful that athletes will make much. And then we’re only talking the 2 – 5 percent.

    The NCAA is corrupt. Schools should break away from them. It’s worse than FIFA.

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    1. College athletics are corrupt. Some athletes will make a bundle. Right now a small number are getting paid small amounts. When it is legal and the floodgates are open everything will be big.

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  42. IMO (and I’m serious) …… the NCAA and MLB should each have a super league. Maybe 16 teams for the NCAA which they can use for a 4 team playoff. The rest of the D1 teams should compete for their title consisting of 5 leagues and 3 wildcards which includes at 1 team from outside of the league

    MLB should maintain its structure but have a playoff with 12 major market teams (Boston, NYY, NYM, Philly, Wash, Atl, Cubs, Chi, StL, Hou, LAD, SF) …. and a another playoff for the remainder of the teams

    Every year, a review can be made in both the NCAA and MLB to determine if a team or 2 needs to be replaced

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  43. no good! Would make people feel my school is second or third tier. It works for European Soccer maybe because they are used to a class system. We don’t accept the fact we too have a class system.

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  44. But there are only about a dozen schools AT THE MOST who has a legit chance of a national title. And the same goes for MLB

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  46. I do believe that college players should be able to hire attorneys, agents or whoever they believe can help make amateur/professional status decisions. Maybe the university should create a new student guidance office to help them weigh the alternatives. And there should be no compromise on grades. If a player can’t get in to a school fairly then he can play football in a newly formed minor league created by the NFL if they want to develop these kids.

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  47. Louisville might be looking at players making $ of signing pictures with an adult movie stars? Just pictures. They wouldn’t do anything immoral. I am sure. My only point is you better limit what can earn $. Set that guideline first otherwise it is a complete free for all. Say 15% Jersey sales, $2000 for a tv commercial. That’s about it. If you start by seeing how things go game is over and boundries will always be pushed.

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  48. All P5 football players receive a stipend every month in addition to their free room and board, fees, healthcare to an extent, etc. They just want more.

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