Well, couch potatoes, here’s some news:
The first three weeks of the SEC football television schedule were announced on Thursday by the SEC Office, including the weekly staple of the SEC Network triple-header beginning opening weekend.
Georgia’s home opener against UAB kicks off at 3:30. Toasty! South Carolina’s visit the following week has a 7PM starting time.
Filed under Georgia Football, SEC Football
Congress fires another shot across the NCAA’s bow:
College athletes would be able to form players’ unions and would be considered employees of their schools if a new Congressional bill introduced Thursday morning is passed into law.
The College Athletes Right to Organize bill, co-authored by Sens. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Bernie Sanders (D-VT), presents a direct challenge to the NCAA’s foundational premise of amateurism. It asserts that any college athletes who are compensated by their school for their athletic ability — whether through a scholarship or other means — should have the right to organize and collectively bargain. A companion bill is also being introduced in the House by Reps. Jamal Bowman (D-NY), Andy Levin (D-MI) and Lori Trahan (D-MA).
… The new bill would establish each athletic conference as a bargaining unit, giving players in those conferences the ability to organize and bargain for changes in compensation, working conditions, hours and more. The bill also includes language that would make sure the current tax status applied to sports scholarships is not changed and that being considered an employee would not create additional tax burdens or impact an athletes federal financial aid status.
Trahan, by the way, is a former collegiate volleyball player.
Here are a few more details about what’s contained in the bill.
Some of you probably won’t accept this, but if the NCAA were smart — I know! I know! — they’d offer to cut a deal and accept this in return for an antitrust exemption. It would give them a way to control expenses and get out of all the litigation crap they’ve struggled with for the last decade.
To repeat… I know, I know.
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UPDATE: I know! I know!
Filed under Political Wankery, The NCAA
Give Josh Brooks credit where it’s due.
Plus, a new revenue source!
And, finally…
Cool. Now do tailgating.
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UPDATE: You may consider the above to be nibbling at the edges, but this ($$) has the potential to be a big effing deal, at least as far as I’m concerned.
Georgia is coming closer to having a master plan for facilities, even if that exact term isn’t being used. Brooks mentioned a “strategic vision” for the next five-to-seven years, and that he and his staff will be putting together such a plan.
The plan would include all sports and how it would be funded. Nothing is on paper yet.
“It’s in my mind right now,” Brooks said. “Obviously I have a lot of experience with facilities. But that’s the charge of my team that we’re going to work through the next month to start putting that longer-term plan together. And again, some schools will pay an architect $1 million to put together a facilities master plan. With my experience, and my team’s experience, I don’t think that’s a good use of money. I think what’s better for us, is we know where our facilities are, let’s start putting that plan together for what it’s going to look like in the next five-to-seven years. And beyond.”
Seth quotes Morehead as saying he’ll defer to Brooks on facilities decisions. We shall see, but this would be a step in the right direction.
Filed under Georgia Football
Josh and Graham invited me on to shoot the breeze about a few spring topics at Georgia.
Enjoy.
Filed under Georgia Football
Speaking of filling the gap Pickens’ injury left…
Whoa. Let’s hope speed kills this season.
Or maybe we should hope JT’s deep ball kills this season.
Filed under Georgia Football
Speaking of the brilliance of Gordon Gee’s leadership…
Schovanec, Texas President Jay Hartzell and West Virginia President E. Gordon Gee formed a three-man committee in the fall of 2020 to study “whether we should consider acting preemptively with regard to our TV contract,” Schovanec said, “or just waiting and going into free agency when that contract is up in 2025.”
The Big 12’s broadcast partners politely told them to fuck off.
“The general result is that, at this time, with so much uncertainty in the media marketplace as well as the landscape for collegiate athletics,” Schovanec said, “our partners, ESPN and FOX, are not interested in acting preemptively with regard to our contract. They recognize the importance of our partnership, but there’s just too much uncertainty, and they do have four years to go.
“So we’ll wait until we get to the right place and time.”
Like it’s your choice, fellas.
These guys all think they’re deal making wizards, until reality smacks them in the face to remind them they’re little more than Jed Clampetts who, through sheer dumb luck, own something of value.
(h/t)
Thought this was an interesting metric:
We’re all fretting over Pickens’ injury — rightfully so — and hoping young guys like Burton and Washington can pick up some of the slack, but perhaps we’re overlooking the receiver who led the team in receptions (with Pickens) and receiving yards a little bit. As the above stat shows, Jackson was no slouch in the clutch.
Filed under Georgia Football, Stats Geek!
Not much, says Paul Myerberg.
There is the question of how programs located in states with NIL legislation on the books may have a distinct recruiting advantage over the rest of the NCAA. All things being equal, a prospective student-athlete may choose one program over another based on the ability to draw compensation, creating a temporarily uneven recruiting landscape.
That advantage may continue for two types of schools. One is the school able to present the best program for maximizing an athlete’s NIL rights. The second is the specific program with the largest national footprint — Alabama football, Duke men’s basketball, UConn women’s basketball and others.
It would seem logical that these national powers would have the financial wherewithal to present student-athletes with the most in-depth NIL assistance, giving these programs a leg up on their peers in recruiting. Not that this would change much: Those schools dominate the recruiting landscape as it is.
P5 schools are already budgeting for NIL support.
These companies provide a window into what NIL legislation may cost major universities willing to make a heavy investment: Opendorse, which was co-founded by a former Nebraska linebacker, has partnered with the Cornhuskers’ athletics department on a deal worth $250,000 annually.
Recent news from Washington gives further insight into the expenses associated with meeting the demands of NIL. The Huskies’ projected budget for the 2022 fiscal year includes a $1.75 million placeholder for NIL legislation and the potential fallout from NCAA v. Alston.
Is Georgia? Well, I’d bet money Kirby’s been on that particular mother for a while now. As far the rest of the athletic department goes, your guess is as good as mine.
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UPDATE: Interesting perspective here ($$):
I strongly suspect the promised money to recruits will spike in the first few years, and as businesses don’t get return on their investment, that money flows much more freely to established upperclassmen eventually. This is about advertising. If you put Kennedy Chandler or Brandon Huntley-Hatfield or even a guy like Brock Vandagriff on a billboard right now, would that resonate? I’d say it’s way too soon for that. The average fan isn’t going to recognize those faces or names. But when they do something and become household names, that’s where the real investment lies and where the most money will be up for grabs. Recruits will probably be able to make some money on social media (sell your recruiting updates on Patreon, fellas), but I really believe NIL as a recruiting tool in terms of actual cash and not “Look what’s possible if you come here” isn’t going to be as big of a deal as some think.
I think that’s more the case for football then men’s basketball, but I do think there’s a lot of truth there. If I were a business person who had five figures to sink into a college athlete, paying it to someone established on the college level seems to be a more rational choice than to pay it to an unproven recruit.
Now, I also recognize that there are going to be irrational actors out there, but even for them, there’s got to be a limit as to how many times they’ll be willing to invest in a crapshoot that has a decent chance of not paying off immediately. Of course, YMMV.
Filed under Georgia Football, Political Wankery, Recruiting, The NCAA
I may be down on South Carolina’s football program, you may be down on South Carolina’s football program, but, brothers and sisters, this guy is really down on South Carolina’s football program.
Filed under 'Cock Envy
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