As player pay reaches new heights, how will Ohio State navigate unchartered waters?

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — In his stylish checkered suit jacket and red tie, a cleanly cropped hairline and perfectly trimmed beard, Ryan Day strides across Lucas Oil Stadium and through Big Ten media days Tuesday like a CEO occupying the halls of a Fortune 500 company.

In many ways, he is CEO of a Fortune 500 company: Ohio State Football, Inc.

Last year, Ohio State produced the country’s largest athletic budget, $275 million, much of it from football-generated revenue. And soon the school, like all others, will be permitted to distribute that wealth directly to players.

In fact, the university is rich enough that its donor-led collective and brand affiliates disbursed to Buckeyes football players “around $20 million” this past year, said Ross Bjork, the Ohio State athletic director. In all likelihood, that figure ranks first in America.

But as college sports enters a new revenue-sharing model, a question looms for all schools, most notably the nation’s richest.

Will those numbers continue?

“It’s too early to predict,” Bjork said. “How is it going to be broken down from a Title IX standpoint? The challenge is, we’re up against the clock. We’re signing athletes in football in December. We need some clarity sometime this fall.”

Jul 23, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day speaks to the media during the Big 10 football media day at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports

On Day 1 of the three-day media gathering in downtown Indianapolis, the Big Ten’s behemoth took center stage. This season looms as most important for Day, the 45-year-old entering his sixth full season in charge having lost three straight years to rival Michigan and not yet won a national title.

While he’s won 56 games and lost eight, the expectation level in Columbus is quite lofty,…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/as-player-pay-reaches-new-heights-how-will-ohio-state-navigate-unchartered-waters-134419512.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-07-24 13:44:19

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