Interesting column. I know there has been a lot of angst about NIL here (and everywhere). "Actually, the biggest threat to the tradition of the sport is conference realignment. Athletic directors and commissioners — who secretly tamper with and then transfer entire athletic departments in pursuit of more money — can’t blame that on the players." Is next year the year fans tune out college football because of the 'disaster' that is NIL?
[QUOTE Is next year the year fans tune out college football because of the 'disaster' that is NIL?[/QUOTE] It might be for me. Right now, the transfer mania and NIL, and the realigning has not had too much negative affect on Alabama but I am afraid it's just a matter of time.
The NIL creates a caste system. You have the millionaires, the lunch pail guys and the slave labor. "Slaves" because they are not pulling down any moolah and have to scrape by on a free education only. it is a clear cut separation of personnel based on perceived value. The Transfer Portal is a constant threat to continuity and virtually destroys the concept of the old school pride or working your way through the system. Now, at the first sign of a head wind, players will simply pack up and go. The best coaches will no longer build a team through shrewd recruiting of high school talent and maturing them through the system to build a winning tradition. Now they will build teams on the fly, annually and the best coaches will be the one's who can solve the puzzle in a matter of months and then start all over again. Conference realignment will further destroy old rivalries and Saturday's will never look the same again. Nor will playoff games engender conference pride as the only two conferences are the Haves and the Have Nots. Attendance? TV viewership? We'll see but everything has a saturation point where the perceived value does not justify the cost. How many ND fans will rush to sign up for Peacock tomorrow morning to watch the Irish steamroll a cupcake Central Michigan team. I won't; I'll wait for the You Tube highlights. I've been a die-hard fan since 1964 but Mother Krebs didn't raise no fools!
For all the complaining about NIL, conference realignment, etc., the popularity of college football will not fade. It still comes down to wanting to see your team play on Saturday (or Friday night ).
I don't disagree, George...just thought it was food for thought. For myself, it's gonna take a lot for me to lose my interest in college football. Completely agree with you on the Peacock thing...when it gets to where you have to subscribe to 5 streaming services to watch your one team...that would probably kick me out.
I do agree that the trend to streaming is gonna hurt to some degree as there will be many that are unwilling to bite the bullet. That said, the wife's Nittany Lions were only streaming on Peacock last weekend and my Buckeyes have a Peacock only game coming soon, so guess what......we now have Peacock. I figure $50 or so for a season of Peacock is less than a couple lunch/dinner and beer tabs at the local sports bar to watch the game. Not watching is not in our DNA
Sid, For me at least, as long as I can identify the players on my team and we can maintain our rivalries, I probably ok. When those 2 things no longer happen, I will probably be doing something else on Saturdays.
I'm pretty sure I'm done. Paying them (other than money for names on jersey's and such) irritates the hell outta me - having recently dropped a small fortune to put the oldest child through college. But moreso the fact they can transfer at will (we're only one short court case from that) along with the probable realignment into an NFL model completely kills it for me. Those kids aren't winning one for the gipper anymore, they are simply following the best deal and give ZERO F's about whose name is on the front of the jersey.