August 2024 | 9
HUSKERS PREVIEW
How Nebraska is navigating college football’s changing financial landscape
LUKE MULLIN Lincoln Journal Star
“I hear it all the time that people tell me, ‘I don’t really believe in NIL,’” Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule said on July 24. “What do you mean you don’t believe in it? You might not agree with it, but it is what it is.” The growing financial footprint of college football has been a long time in the making. The seven- year, $8 billion television deal that the Big Ten Conference signed last summer may be an eye-watering total — but it wouldn’t have been possible without a landmark court ruling 40 years ago. A lawsuit brought forth by Georgia and Oklahoma challeng- ing the NCAA’s control of national television rights was decided by
the Supreme Court in 1984, which eventually turned over the rights to individual conferences. Further litigation decades later has brought the sport to a point where billion-dollar television deals and million-dollar NIL con- tracts are the norm. It was only three years ago, after battling sev- eral player-led lawsuits, that the NCAA removed long-standing rules preventing players from be- ing compensated in exchange for their image rights. As businesses began pursuing NIL deals with student-athletes, schools were also scrambling to find out how they could recruit and retain talent while staying in
A full-ride scholarship simply doesn’t have the same ring to it anymore. What was once the be-all, end- all goal for high school players seeking a future at the next level is now merely a part of the finan- cial compensation package that schools present to recruits. The current era of college foot- ball, where student-athletes are eligible for payments tied to their name, image and likeness, con- tinues to evolve and transform on a weekly and monthly basis. No matter what the future holds, there’s no letting the genie back in the bottle as increasing amounts of money flow into the sport.
KATY COWELL , JOURNAL STAR FILE PHOTO Nebraska fans reach out to Dylan Raiola after the Red-White Spring Game on April 27 at Memorial Stadium.
Please see FINANCIAL, Page 11
Made with FlippingBook Digital Proposal Creator