🏅Saban will work on Trump's college sports commission

Hey there,

Tons of change seems to be on the horizon for college sports. In today’s edition, we’re covering as much of it as possible.

First, there’s confirmation that President Trump is starting a college sports commission… and if you read today’s subject line, you already know who’s heading the effort. Then, we look at how the House Settlement has a provision that disallows certain lawyers to interfere with their lobbying efforts in D.C. Finally, the NFL is dropping their pre-draft grading process because athletes are using it as leverage in NIL negotiations.

It’s all coming up now… let’s get into it!

— Cole and Collin

The Big 3

The College Sports Commission is Coming

Last week we told you about Donald Trump’s meeting with Nick Saban, wherein Saban apparently bemoaned the state of college sports. A week later, we have confirmation that the President is acting on the issue: A college sports commission is coming soon to “deeply examine the unwieldy landscape of college sports.” 

The commission itself could be a few months away from formal establishment, but we do know some details, like that former Alabama head coach Nick Saban will be co-chairing the commission. He’ll be joined by billionaire Cody Campbell, a longtime booster for Texas Tech.

The effort wasn’t without detractors though. House Settlement lawyer Steve Berman characterized Saban’s efforts as “meddling” and “unneeded self-involvement,” as a landscape-shattering executive order could risk the settlement’s approval. (More)

NCAA Wants House Lawyers Away from D.C.

According to Front Office Sports, the House Settlement contains a provision that disallows the plaintiff’s lawyers from meddling in the NCAA’s future lobbying efforts in Washington D.C. In other words, the lawyers who secured this deal would be functionally barred from legally crossing the NCAA again.

According to Article 7 of the document, they’d be required to “take no position, and thus be neutral, in all instances and in all forums and venues, on the issue of whether student-athletes should be considered/deemed ‘employees’ or whether collective bargaining should be permitted for compensation of student-athletes.”

The NCAA spends millions of dollars lobbying federal lawmakers on a variety of issues, but most specifically to maintain the legal category of “amateurism” in college sports. This provision would seriously bolster their future efforts to maintain that term’s legitimacy. (More)

CAC is Getting Rid of Underclassmen Draft Grades

For years, the NFL’s College Advisory Committee (CAC) has been handing out player grades to college prospects to help them decide whether to enter the draft. That program is now coming to an end, it seems, because of NIL. 

Here’s how the system works: NFL talent evaluators dole out grades based on that they think of a player – 1^st round, 2^nd round, or a return to school tag. The player then decides whether it’s worth it for him to enter the draft or go back to school. However, those grades have become leverage points in recent NIL contract negotiations.

“What we have seen the lasts three to four years, schools have submitted and then kids used those evaluations to hold their schools hostage,” explained an expert earlier this week in Dallas, “So, they (the NFL) are cancelling the program because they don’t want to give a grade that says first or second round and then the kids or their agents use it against [schools].” (More)

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NIL BLITZ

♦️ Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark just signed a three-year contract extension

♦️ 5-star QB Jared Curtis’ agent says he wasn’t chasing the best compensation package when committing to Georgia

♦️ College baseball coaches get preliminary approval in their antitrust case against the NCAA

♦️ Texas A&M is paying hundreds of thousands for NASCAR marketing

♦️ St. John’s just received the largest gift in university history for a basketball practice facility

♦️ Here’s how walk-ons halted the House Settlement

♦️ It would cost UNC over $26 million to fire Bill Belichick – almost as much money as the school made on football and basketball tickets combined last year

♦️ Should brands be investing NIL money into college gamers?

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BATTER UP

Today’s Poll Question:

Last Edition’s Poll Results:

Will President Trump sign an executive order to reign in NIL?

• Yes - 56%

• No - 44%