had to say. After it all hit the fan yesterday and Jimbo
Fisher
said what he said, here's Sabin
backtracking a little bit, and further explaining
his remarks.
I should have never really singled anybody out. You know,
that was a mistake and I really apologize for that. Part of it,
but I'm not against name image and likeness. I think it's
a great thing for players,
you know, are players made a lot of money last year and name
image or likeness. But
you know, I told our players to, you know, get an agent, get
representation, you know, make what you can make players have
always been able to work and I think that's a good thing.
I think, you know, the issue in college athletics in general,
now is the whole system of collectives and
people raising money to
basically play pay players
to come, whether it's to come to their school or,
you know, pay to play.
That on their team,
you know, we've always strived in college athletics to make
everything equal, make everything the same, whether
it's scholarships, whether it's Alston money, whether it's,
you know,
cost of attendance academic support, whatever it is. And,
you know, now,
it's not really that way. And this has happened in
basketball. It's happening football. So, you know,
I really didn't mean to single anybody out. I apologize for
that, but
You know, it's the whole system. And
is this a sustainable system?
And I get what he's saying.
Here's the problem. Peter. Here's the fundamental problem
because I've seen some of it going on here in West Virginia.
How much of the endorsements
being given to the athletes
are real.
And genuine and authentic. Hey, this is a great player and we
want to pay him to endorse this product or that product. The
way we see it for professional athletes.
How much of it is organic and authentic, and natural
endorsement deals. And how much of it is just a
clumsy flimsy front
for funneling, cash
to the kid from boosters.
And if you if you cut the
Out of the equation. If you take away these collectives
that they're, they're putting together and they have one in
Morgantown
where they pull the money and they pay the players that way.
If you cut that out, they'll still find a way to do it and
it will happen under the ruse of, you know, the local car
dealership
that never had any endorsers of any kind, all of a sudden has,
you know, five kids from the local college that are getting
a crapload of money and,
you know, of course, that's just a front for For funneling
booster money to the players. So maybe that's why Congress
hasn't touched it. They don't know what the hell to do.
Nobody knows what the hell to do,
and
saving can huff and puff, all he wants, but I don't know that
there's a house out there to be blown down the right way.
I don't know what the solution is. It would really help.
I mean, the thing that would help the most is something that
right now is impossible and that is
a strong NCAA that member institutions really respect
mean. There's not a lot of respect for the NCAA NCAA right
now.
And so that becomes a bigger problem. How are you going to
a get? How are you going to get, however many schools. There
are?
One, a whatever that is called, FBS,
whatever it is. How are you going to get all those people
to agree on something involving name in image and likeness? And
if you do get them to all agree,
you can be absolutely sure, Mike Florio. Mr. Lawyer.
You can be absolutely sure
that someone is going to be on the courthouse steps. The next
morning, trying to
and isolation. An antitrust violation here, asunder this
thing. Yeah, and so,
so that's why this is
I don't want to say it's an impossible situation, but it's
going to be really, really hard to get a lasso around. I think
not only
for the schools and the coaches that
that are trying to get ahold of this. But for the entire NCAA,
the NCAA in essence, when ni L started basically
seated the That this was going to be a wild west and a wild
wild west in college sports for a long time to come.
Let me say one last thing about this
and at this is
a fundamental truth
in the country in which we reside and maybe this is why
Congress won't touch it. Let's think about what they want
Congress to do. They want Congress to craft a law
that limits the ability
of one American citizen
to freely choose to give money
to another American citizen
a taxable transaction.
Why would why would
the federal government not want to taxable transaction?
Why? We have any issue with people who are of legal age, 18
years old
old enough to go fight and die for the country on foreign
soil, old enough to vote or end. It doesn't even matter. If
you're old enough to do those things. There are plenty of
people under the age, 18 who
make money,
who get paid for whatever skills. They have or whatever.
Reason, somebody wants to pay them.
Why would Congress do anything to restrict the free flow of
money between consenting? Eating individuals when you're
talking about legal activities, there's no illegal activity
here.
So if a booster wants to pay money to a college football
player and and what the booster gets in return Isn't Great
Value. So what why should we care? Why should we care about
that?
So that's really the core here. We are asking, college football
is asking and hoping that Congress will come in and give
it some sort of a Hail Mary out of the
Mass.
When what
college football wants Congress to do Peter is something that
is inherently unamerican restricting. The ability of
people to give money to other people for any reason they
choose to do. So,
You get no argument from me. That's why this is going to be
so hard to police, and it's going to be so hard to get it.
Right? And I guess here's my last word on this,
you know, I do think
that the original
meaning of the, of
the ni l in the eyes of many people in college, sports was
admirable.
And that is, if you've got Hundred people on your football
team
and you have sponsors advertisers, whatever
willing to give a total of
you know, five million dollars to to sprinkle among,
you know, all of the players.
Then divide five million by 100 and give every player on
the team, an equal share.
And I think that is what I mean. At first. I thought that
is where this was going to be headed
the ni l L was not going to necessarily go to single
individual players. It was going to go to a team that
alumnus X absolutely loved. So he hey, you know, all these
kids who can't afford to buy a pizza
on campus, on Saturday night. Okay.
Let's give them,
you know, five thousand dollars a year or whatever the number
is. Okay.
Let's give the basketball players, something.
Let's even give the non-revenue athletes something.
Let's be fair to everyone,
who is on scholarship, playing sports at a university
and that obviously was never what was
what was going to happen.
But to me,
that is the smartest way to do this. It's never going to
happen. But I think for all players to be able to get
even a tiny piece of the puzzle, instead of one guy,
getting 500,000 and his backup getting ten cents. It's
it just I don't know it. I understand that the American
way is go make whatever you want
as it make as much as you want and all that stuff, but
there's something about team sports
that makes that a little bit.
I don't want to say and I realize I'm being Pollyanna here,
but I wish that there would be some sort of thought about
the common good. That there really isn't.
But here's the fundamental problem as college, football
has grown and grown and college, basketball has grown
and grown and grown. The people who are responsible for
the sport, have found a way to maximize the revenues to
maximize the money. Whether it's through TV
deals, whether it's through ticket sales, whether it's
through the money that they get from the donors and
the boosters directly to the program's, these programs.
Are flush with cash
billion dollar business.
That part of it makes it basically
professional sports from the standpoint of the revenue
creation by the various programs,
the way, they've dealt with the players. Historically,
it's still a mature.
That's the great firewall that prevents you from having to
give the money to the players. So you can use that money for
anything else. You want, including exorbitant salaries
for the coaches, the athletic directors and others involved
in that apparatus. Nobody wants to get there.
A aux cord, that's what this all comes down to. That's why
they've resisted paying the players. So Peter, you know
what the solution would be? The solution is very simple.
It's very simple.
They are going to like it. They're not going to do it.
You let the players unionize nationally
and you have
you no longer have antitrust violations. When you have
a multi-employer bargaining unit. The NFL doesn't have to worry
about antitrust. Violations from players. As long as there
is a union that covers all of them,
and you negotiate with that Union
and you figure out Fair compensation, and you have a salary cap.
Now the problem Still Remains the Boost, the boosters are
the weirdest part of this because think about it. Is there ever
talk about professional sports teams? Having these fat cat
rich? People who got nothing better to do with their money.
So
they're funding a lien that if funneling it into the pockets
of Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brett. No, it isn't. It. Isn't it.
Odd, isn't it odd that the, I don't know what it is. I don't
know if it's an access thing or you want to feel
like a big shot. Shot. I don't get it. I don't get it. And
this is somebody who because they don't need it.
They don't need it. It's because there's 250 million
dollars given to every team every year from these media
deals from TV, the internet, all that
and so it's become.
Okay, could Aaron Rodgers instead of making 50 million,
could he make 65 million? Yeah,
but you know who's fighting for that? I don't know anybody
who's ever said that's needed.
It would just be nice if the boosters the college boosters
would get a life.
Frankly. Like, why do you feel like you have to get involved
and try to tip the scales? I mean, really, don't do
something else with you money. Give it to a real charity.
Don't give it to this football program. So you can feel this
indirect Pride that you're in some way responsible for
helping put the program over the top that you've you know,
you got all this money and you're going to give it to
the school and it's really not going to the school. It's going
to the football program. So the football program's better. So
you can kind of be a big shot and you can go stand on
the sidelines and maybe you'll be in the TV
shot. When the camera pans by the coach. I mean,
grow up, like, do something better with your money. There
are much more worthy causes
than this Ultra Rich
football coach and the program. He presides over,
let the money naturally flow in, through ticket sales
and through media deals. Like it does with NFL football.
I just think it's so odd that this booster concept only
applies to college sports and not.
Professional sports
and maybe the more we tear down the wall and let everyone know.
It really is professional. Maybe the Boost will start
looking around saying, why the hell do they need our money?
Speak the truth,
but you know, to me
in one place, it was really necessary
in college sports. It was necessary
to get some money to the players. The people
who basically are earning the money
in Pro Sports.
It's just really not necessary. That's why there's never been
a push for it.
So let's just call College sports. What they are. They're
Pro Sports and maybe the problem solves itself because
the boosters come out from under the
All of the likes of Nick Saban and say, I think you're doing
fine without my money. I'm going to go buy myself, a new
car or a second house or whatever. No more freebies for
you.
You're doing fine without my