🏅Revenue sharing can still be a "no-brainer" in the Group of Five

Hi everyone,

Programming note: We’re doing links and aggregation a couple days early this week to create space for an interesting story set to run Saturday about high school NIL. So please bear with us as we shuffle things around, and hopefully you were ready this morning to open a whole bunch of reading tabs.

Today, we’re leading with a look at what opting into the House settlement looks like at Wyoming, illustrating how programs outside college sports’ upper echelon are adapting and trying to keep up with the new landscape.

— Joan

CALLING ALL ATHLETES

If you’re working on an exciting new NIL deal or taking a creative approach to NIL, we want to tell your story. What does that mean? Well, first we’d want to hear a bit more about what you’re doing, and then we’d assign a reporter to interview you — or maybe commission a video for social media. If you’re interested (or if you have any questions), send us a note at [email protected].

The Big 3

What opting into the House settlement looks like for Wyoming

This week, WyoSports pulled back the curtain on what life at the start of the revenue-sharing era looks like at Wyoming. Competing in the Mountain West Conference, the Cowboys provide an interesting example of what the current landscape looks like in the Group of Five.

In the story, reporter Alex Taylor quotes Wyoming athletics director Tom Burman as saying that opting into House was a “no-brainer” for him — but he had to convince the university at large and its Board of Trustees. Burman also said the school’s budget for paying athletes in the upcoming year is $2.8 million, well under the $20.5 million cap.

A few more interesting tidbits from the piece:

• Football brings in 65 to 80 percent of the department’s revenue.

• Football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, volleyball and wrestling are the five sports that are going to sign licensing agreements.

• Even so, the school is open to signing an NIL deal with a transcendent athlete from a sport outside that group.

NIL earnings are the elephant in the locker room

Maryland coach Mike Locksley spoke recently about the difficulty of keeping a united locker room now that some players are earning massive paychecks — and some are earning much less, and some not at all.

“The landscape of college football taught me a valuable lesson,” Locksley said at Big Ten media days. “And that valuable lesson is it’s important for me, even in the midst of this change, to continue to educate our players on the importance of what playing for something bigger than yourself is all about. And I can tell you, if I have to put my desk in the locker room, I will.”

It pays to be a (backup) Notre Dame running back

Jadarian Price doesn’t start for the Fighting Irish, but he’s still bringing in plenty of interest from companies wanting to sign him to NIL deals. National brands like Lexus, Crumbl, Champion and Powerade, among others, have partnered with the running back, who finished last season with 746 yards and seven touchdowns.

NIL BLITZ

♦️ A Missouri defensive end donated a chunk of his NIL earnings to the Pop Warner program that gave him his first taste of football.

♦️ On Pardon My Take, Charles Barkley called NIL an “unsustainable business model.”

♦️ The Athletic ranked all the Power 4 football programs by valuation.

♦️ Oklahoma State renewed its partnership with Altius Sports to support its NIL program.

♦️ Creighton sold out its volleyball season tickets.

♦️ The CIAA, the oldest HBCU conference in the country, wants women’s flag football to be a varsity sport.

♦️ MAC upsets are a college football tradition. They’ll have even more sting in the revenue-sharing era — if they keep happening.

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BATTER UP

Today’s Poll Question:

Last Edition’s Poll Results:

Are you planning to watch the next Unrivaled season?

• Yes - 19%

• No - 66%

• Maybe - 15%