In an attempt to stay tapped into all things NIL, I’ve sorted through and gathered some interesting NIL-centered news items today, including the recently eliminated transfer portal. The title of each section will redirect you to the initial article, as I did not translate all of the columns into this page. Just the best cliff notes.
Today’s Topics
1. NCAA eliminates spring transfer portal window (ON3)
2. SEC’s Greg Sankey talks push to amend Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 (AL.COM)
3. UCLA Paid New Mexico $1.2 Million for Friday’s Loss (FOS)
4. Diego Pavia, NCAA to Dispute House Settlement in Eligibility Hearing (SPORTICO)
5. Gunner Stockton, CJ Baxter, Tre Wisner headline CAVA NIL campaign (ON3)
1. NCAA eliminates spring transfer portal window (ON3)
College football is officially moving to a single transfer portal window. The NCAA Division I Administration Committee approved the elimination of the spring transfer portal window on Wednesday, sources tell On3.
The Division I Football Oversight Committee voted earlier in September to approve a 10-day portal. It’s a welcome move across most of the Power 4. The Big Ten was the only conference that pushed back on the January window, instead lobbying for a spring-only window.
Grad transfers will not be able to enter the portal until Jan. 2, marking a key change. If a head coach is fired, the 30-day portal window will still open for players. That includes Virginia Tech and UCLA, which made head coaching changes over the weekend.
Athletes on teams that compete in the CFP will be allowed to enter an additional five-day transfer portal window in January after the portal closes.
Not everyone has been a supporter of the move. The Big Ten was the lone Power Four conference to not support the move.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea at all,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said earlier this month. “In the conversations that we had with the Big Ten coaches, I think the majority of them agree. I just don’t quite understand how teams that are playing in the playoffs are expected to make the decisions and sign their upcoming players. They’re still getting ready to play for games. It doesn’t make any sense to me.”
2. SEC’s Greg Sankey talks push to amend Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 (AL.COM)
Viewers of college football on television this season have been treated to a parade of commercials featuring Texas Tech booster Cody Campbell. The ads call for Congress to “save college sports” by “modernizing” the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961.
The modernization Campbell and those connected to him would like to see is an amendment to allow conferences to pool their broadcast rights. Combining rights would most help schools like Texas Tech in the Big 12 and ACC. But the SEC and Big Ten are likely not as incentivized to make a change. Given that those conferences are leading the revenue war.
On Saturday, in the press box at Bryant-Denny Stadium before Alabama football’s matchup with Wisconsin, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey was asked about the push to amend the act.
Sankey didn’t sound like his league was all-in on the effort.
“The decision we’ve made, I think should be honored,” Sankey said. “I’m happy to have conversations. But it doesn’t seem that the numbers are consistent with reality. It doesn’t seem that the suggestion that you can just make this happen honors existing agreements. So there’s a lot more to that than just some magic button.
“As I’ve said over and over, we’re dealing with complexities in college sports that they have to be understood, and those complexities make some of these simple solutions much more difficult than they seem.”
3. UCLA Paid New Mexico $1.2 Million for Friday’s Loss (FOS)
The Bruins dropped to 0–3 on the season after losing to New Mexico 35–10 on Friday. Before that game, they paid the Lobos $1.2 million to play. The win marked New Mexico’s first win over a Power conference team in 17 years.
Over the weekend, the school fired head coach and former standout player DeShaun Foster less than a year and a half into his tenure. UCLA will pay his buyout, which is more than $5 million, as a result, and open up a 30-day transfer portal window
The Lobos were a payout game for the Bruins. This is also known as a buy game or guarantee game, where a Power-4 school pays one from the FCS or Group of 4 level for a game they’d be heavily favored to win.
