NCAA lawsuit settlement makes this Memphis football season an even bigger deal | Giannotto

The NCAA did what it swore it would never do.

The people making the decisions in the power conferences of college sports — commissioners, university presidents, media partners, the biggest boosters, and of course, the lawyers — they all got together and agreed the price of clinging to the antiquated notion of amateurism was going to be a lot more than the price of paying the players.

But in finally admitting the athletes deserve a piece of the revenue, those same people also did what they always do.

They made it harder for schools like Memphis to compete with the power conference schools, and they made this Memphis football season seem even more important than it already did.

It’s unfortunately the overarching takeaway from the NCAA’s “historic” settlement of three lawsuits that all parties involved conceded didn’t answer the overarching question facing college sports: Are the players on the field employees of the university they play for?

Like everything related to NIL and player compensation, the NCAA is leaving that question for another day and hoping a half-baked solution works. Reports indicated a system that would go into effect as soon as 2025 could pay athletes up to $22 million.

If the settlement is approved by the judge. If there aren’t Title IX complications. If Congress doesn’t pass legislation. If more of these players don’t file more lawsuits about a proposal that amounts to a salary cap without collective bargaining. If any of this looks the same a year from now (and judging by how quickly college sports has changed the past few years, don’t count on it).

It’s a lot of ifs. The details remain nebulous. There’s so much to be decided about how (and how much) schools can pay the players. Or even what schools can afford to compete at the highest level of college sports anymore.

Figuring out…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa-lawsuit-settlement-makes-memphis-100321302.html

Author : The Commercial Appeal

Publish date : 2024-05-29 10:03:21

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