that we're on our way to killing the goose that has been laying the golden eggs. The more mercenary NIL becomes, the less interest fans will have in college sports. It has always been about "cheering for laundry" to some extent. But there has been a tradition of players generally staying at one school for multiple years with rare exceptions. And there has been a sense that, while the blue bloods may rule the top 5-6 spots in college basketball and college football, there has been room for other schools to have great years and even a remote amount of hope to crash the ceiling into that top group every once in a while. The athletes were compensated handsomely with scholarships and other allowed perks in recent years (rent, meal and living allowances, tutoring etc.). But they were still basically amateurs and easy to look at it as kids doing their best.

Now, the athletes are professionals, they are free agents every year and a good number are getting paid more than they could get in truly professional leagues. The tie to the universities is fraying and may ultimately sever in all aspects but the name on the front of the jersey. The more that happens, the more college basketball turns into another G-league and college football turns into another USFL.

If it goes that far, fan support and interest will fall off a cliff. If no structure is put in place to rein this in, I don't see any way it doesn't lead to what I described in the previous paragraph.

There are two ways this can go: 1) Those involved right now simply decide to get what they can while they can until it all comes crashing down, or 2) Someone comes up with a way to get things under control in time. At this point, I have no idea which way it will go. I don't see any signs of adults in the room doing anything other than pressing to grab whatever cash they can as quickly as they can.

On a much more minor, but related scale, college football television is doing the same thing. Having many commercial breaks last 3 minutes and 45 seconds is terrible for gen Z and younger. We're growing fewer young fans than we otherwise would. But nobody cares. They're getting as much money as they can get as quickly as they can get it.