UNLV QB is leaving the program immediately due to the school not withholding NIL commitments

[Gonzo]

The concept is simple to understand; the issue really is quitting your team mid season for selfish reasons and how the NIL is persuading kids to be selfish

It's a story that is hundreds of years old: The Power of Greed

Yeah this is where things get pretty fuzzy. It reminds me a little of high-level future draft picks sitting out of their team's bowl game and then being called selfish, quitting on their team, etc.

99.9% of the people who have a problem with that situation and call those players out have never in their life been staring point-blank at millions and millions of dollars, guaranteed. And I'd be willing to bet that 99.9% of the people calling them out would do the exact same thing if they were in that situation.

NIL is just the world we're in. Yeah many aspects of it are kind of gross and murky, but there's no use shouting at the rain about the good ol' days and the way things ought to be. This is the world of college sports and it's not going back. For most of these athletes, who likely won't move on to pro careers, this is their one shot at making $$$ off of sports and they've worked their a$$es off most of their lives to develop their talent to the point where they're positioned to make it.

Do I enjoy seeing these guys working the system and moving through multiple colleges/programs throughout their eligibility based on where they can earn the most $$$? Not really. But in the words of Chris Rock, I understand. And similar to the crowd bashing on guys for sitting out bowl games to protect their future earnings, I'd bet that most of the ones complaining about situations like this would do the same if presented with the opportunity.

 

[ClonesFTW]

Who the hell would move across the country for compensation that is not in writing?

 

[BWRhasnoAC]

What if some whale bet $1M on the under for UNLV win total for this year? And saw this kid being successful and thought "I can give him $100k to quit and that's a good investment".

Now it's REALLY getting greasy...

How is that different than what governments do to each other? Or insider trading. There is no stopping corruption. I just find it convenient that the players should be demonized but the schools are just poor unfortunate souls. If they want this to be better they could have worked with the players to find a better way.

 

[brokenloginagain]

As a lowly common fan, I find all this NIL stuff fascinating. To me, its a nascent/inefficient market that will work itself out over time, but for now we're watching the chaos.

The NFL, MLB, NBA etc have had multiple decades of negotiation and brain power and rule making and bending, and various loophole attempts from agents, GMs, commissioners, lawyers, unions, etc. and each league has ended up with its own set of rules.

Given the disorganization of college sports, how will that ever get sorted out?

Remember when everyone was outraged about the KSU bball player that got 400k and car from miami? And then Coleman hawkins gets $2m, and now a no-name QB from UNLV is national news over, what 100-200k?

Be prepared for all of these numbers to get ALOT bigger in future years.

If an NFL QB is $60m a year, what will an SEC/BigTen QB starter get? $5M? $10M?

IMHO, all of these athletes deserve every penny - they've been screwed over for years, and now its time for them to get what they have earned, especially in football where you're taking insane physical risks.

 

[Gunnerclone]

It doesn't make sense to me to compare college sports to regular jobs. College sports isn't employment. They aren't employees. They aren't hired by the school. They are not legal laborers of these schools. They have absolutely no connection whatsoever to how the working world operates. Professional athletes do not operate within that sphere like normal people.

Sports leagues need compared to other sports leagues, which do have controlled pay structures, competitive balance rules, fair forms of representation, ... But, college is completely unserious as a competitive league and doesn't remotely try to act like one, so here we are. We're in no-mans-land of compensating players.

I think anything should be fair game. Let’s at least let these kids learn how the real world works. Sometimes you make a bad deal. Sometimes you get stiffed for a job and you have to go to court. Sometimes you don’t get paid on payday and you go back and the doors are closed. Sometimes you get an across the board pay cut. Sometimes your agent steers you in the wrong direction. Deal with it.

 

[NetflixAndClone]

How can UNLV not have that funding, they should easily have the best G5 NIL Collective around... there a 5 Casino execs who graduated from UNLV... maybe hit them up...

That’s what I’m confused about. Your school has a top 25 team that is poised to have shot at the CFP as the G6 champion.

There isn’t a single donor or collective push to get the players the unfulfilled promises?

Either someone with UNLV is making promises to recruits and their family without informing their collective or maybe the kid just doesn’t like UNLV and wants to leave(which I don’t fault him judging by interactions with their fans )

 

[MugNight]

Coaches can leave mid season for higher pay, what’s the problem?

 

[MTCyclone43]

On some level you have to blame the NCAA rules for that.

Because the NCAA limits the number of games one can play and still redshirt to maintain their eligibility, he has to leave midseason if he wants to preserve that and get paid in the future. Otherwise he could just finish out the year and move on.

Its almost inevitable the NCAA will move to a 5 year eligibility rule and get rid of redshirts entirely.

And honestly, when they're getting paid what they are, I can't exactly fault him for leaving the team for the money either. Most people would leave their current coworkers if it meant a significantly larger paycheck, and in the NIL era that's pretty much what they are.

It is the nature of the beast known as NIL.

 

[ScottyP]

Sluka - "you promised me $300,000 in NIL"
UNLV - "we offered you $3000 in NIL. You added a couple of zeros by mistake"

 

[BooneCy]

I would be interested to get everyone’s feedback on the question: how close are we to players not even required to be students at the university? If next year they get compensated to play, by the athletic department, why would we require their eligibility to be based on attending classes? Why couldn’t we just hire some one playing in the USFL?

Are we not just a step a way from that scenario?

 

[Cyhig]

Yeah this is where things get pretty fuzzy. It reminds me a little of high-level future draft picks sitting out of their team's bowl game and then being called selfish, quitting on their team, etc.

99.9% of the people who have a problem with that situation and call those players out have never in their life been staring point-blank at millions and millions of dollars, guaranteed. And I'd be willing to bet that 99.9% of the people calling them out would do the exact same thing if they were in that situation.

NIL is just the world we're in. Yeah many aspects of it are kind of gross and murky, but there's no use shouting at the rain about the good ol' days and the way things ought to be. This is the world of college sports and it's not going back. For most of these athletes, who likely won't move on to pro careers, this is their one shot at making $$$ off of sports and they've worked their a$$es off most of their lives to develop their talent to the point where they're positioned to make it.

Do I enjoy seeing these guys working the system and moving through multiple colleges/programs throughout their eligibility based on where they can earn the most $$$? Not really. But in the words of Chris Rock, I understand. And similar to the crowd bashing on guys for sitting out bowl games to protect their future earnings, I'd bet that most of the ones complaining about situations like this would do the same if presented with the opportunity.

I think there's a difference between sitting out a mid tier bowl game vs leaving the team after 3 games, but I see and appreciate both viewpoints.

 

[MTCyclone43]

Isn't the main reason for going to college to get an education?

For the top athletes, in their given sport, it has never been about an education for as long as I have been a sports fan, (50 plus years). Those atthletes that attend university for an education always manage to get educated.

 

[FriendlySpartan]

I would be interested to get everyone’s feedback on the question: how close are we to players not even required to be students at the university? If next year they get compensated to play, by the athletic department, why would we require their eligibility to be based on attending classes? Why couldn’t we just hire some one playing in the USFL?

Are we not just a step a way from that scenario?

Not close at all. It’s never once been discussed except on message boards. All schools have super easy degree paths for those that don’t want to do academic work so players just go that route.

 

[Hubbs4cy]

Alabama is 199-23 over the last 16 years.
90% win rate.
People clearly will watch. Competitive balance arguments can get ****ed.

I guess I just disagree with that part. I agree with you for everything else but sports. I 100% agree that if someone can get paid more with a different employer they should have every opportunity and then the expectations is a better product at new employer which I would then purchase over the lacking product. But in sports the product is a competitive game between two parties and if team A can freely poach all players from team B that game between team A and B is not of same value anymore. Not every game Alabama plays is watched, only the games where there is currently a closer representation of parity.

 

[ScottyP]

I would be interested to get everyone’s feedback on the question: how close are we to players not even required to be students at the university? If next year they get compensated to play, by the athletic department, why would we require their eligibility to be based on attending classes? Why couldn’t we just hire some one playing in the USFL?

Are we not just a step a way from that scenario?

The AD pays the tuition to the university so it is in the school's interests to make sure that this continues.

 

[RING4CY]

I don't know, Blum has talked about how these contracts for NIL are a little tricky.

I don't care either way. If they just reneged on a handshake deal still don't blame the kid at all. We can't expect college athletes to also function as collection agencies as against their schools as well as preparing to compete.

Schools, don't make promises you can't keep. If you do that, and don't follow through, expect this to happen.

Absolutely I don't blame the kid if someone reneged a handshake deal. Still a hard lesson learned for the kid. Get agreements in writing.

 

[clone136]

How does making them employees solve the NIL thing. As employees they can still sell their name, image and likeness for whatever they want.

If they are employees they are under contract and payment is guaranteed. Which is why we don't see NFL players quit in the middle of the season because an opposing team offered them more money in week 3.

Employees and NIL can go hand in hand, college football just has to get out of its own way.

 

[Die4Cy]

What if some whale bet $1M on the under for UNLV win total for this year? And saw this kid being successful and thought "I can give him $100k to quit and that's a good investment".

Now it's REALLY getting greasy...

Exactly!

 

[exCyDing]

Sluka - "you promised me $300,000 in NIL"
UNLV - "we offered you $3000 in NIL. You added a couple of zeros by mistake"

Things happen. A couple of years ago I was interviewing with a company based in England that was building a team in the US. They made me an offer, but put the salary in pounds rather than dollars. The conversion rate was something like 1:1.30, so the offer was quite a bit higher than I was expecting. I was super stoked until I got the follow up offer correcting the denomination. I ended up taking another offer.

 

[Tailg8er]

That’s what I’m confused about. Your school has a top 25 team that is poised to have shot at the CFP as the G6 champion.

There isn’t a single donor or collective push to get the players the unfulfilled promises?

Either someone with UNLV is making promises to recruits and their family without informing their collective or maybe the kid just doesn’t like UNLV and wants to leave(which I don’t fault him judging by interactions with their fans )

Just to clear this up as I've seen it posted a few times now - UNLV is NOT top 25, currently ~29th in AP poll based on votes. And it's still a very long shot that they would sniff the CFP.. They've beat down Houston & Kansas teams, and Utah Tech for crying out loud.