In a recent turn of events, the Wisconsin football program received a chunk of news that could potentially alter their NIL spending.
Starting in 2025, all NCAA programs will be able to pay players directly through the school by giving players a share of the program revenue. Previously, programs had to operate through ‘collectives’, which in turn paid players their NIL funds. With an incredibly strong fan base and one of the largest yearly revenues in the expanded conference, Wisconsin football could truly benefit from some of the new NIL rule changes.
What is the Professional Pay Model, and How Does it Benefit the Wisconsin Football Program?
In a recent announcement, the NCAA completed three ongoing antitrust lawsuits after agreeing to settle. As part of the settlement, the NCAA agreed to a ‘Professional Pay Model‘ that will begin to take effect in 2025. The model will allow programs to share up to $20 million a year with their players that comes directly from the program’s revenue.
Moving forward, programs will pay players directly through the athletic department following a decision that involved the NCAA and representatives of all Power-Five conferences. The rule is expected to be universally adopted moving forward, but likely will not take effect until 2025 at the earliest due to ongoing deals and contracts.
This new rule takes places after the creation of NIL payments back in 2021, which have yet to have any real regulations. With NIL payments becoming wildly expensive and programs willing to spend as much as it takes to get specific recruits, the new payment model should provide stability to a currently unregulated mess.
Wisconsin Badgers Football Ranks Among Top Revenue Earning Programs
With the massive news breaking, many programs may now have a fair chance once again to financially pay for the players that will join their team. All reports indicate that the Wisconsin football program ranks among the top revenue earning programs in the Big Ten Conference, which has allowed for some lucrative NIL deals. Wisconsin has also been one of the top programs in terms of paying players NIL money once they arrive on campus.
In other words, Wisconsin football has not been paying to bring players into the program, but rather paying to keep the players in Madison. The new changes to the collegiate payment options could now allow Wisconsin football to have a fair shot at higher-end recruits since programs will not be able to negotiate deals upfront any longer. The professional play model will require programs to pay athletes from their revenue, and prevent them from bidding for available recruits.
With Major Changes Coming, Will the Identity of College Football Shift?
As much as many fans of college football wanted to avoid paying players directly for playing at an amateur level, the professional pay model appears to be the most fair way to reasonably compensate players. Collectives and NIL sponsorships were great ideas, but caused a massive disparity in pay between the best players and players who did not touch the field. The new model, which goes into effect in 2025, will allow players to receive money directly from the revenue they generated for their school.
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