Takedown Report

Gut-wrenching choices, Title IX complications face college athletics in wake of House v. NCAA settlement

For 100 years, athletic departments have operated as 24-hour ATMs, and for every dollar earned, they spent
DESTIN, Fla. — Thirteen years ago, Trev Alberts was forced to make one of the most difficult decisions in his career.  Nebraska-Omaha’s athletics department was facing severe financial shortfalls, and transitioning sports from Division II to Division I had only compounded the multi-million dollar math problem. As the athletics director, Alberts had two options. “Make draconian cuts or the whole thing was going down,” Alberts, now at Texas A&M, remembers. “We couldn’t save it all, but we saved what we could.”
So he cut football and wrestling, two sports that had produced eight national titles and the NFL’s first black quarterback, to save costs. The decision at the small school was barely a blip on the national radar, but it was world-ending news for dozens of athletes whose careers suddenly came to an end because of a sudden shift in the competitive landscape. Boosters and fans were upset, and years later those feelings intensified when an internal memo from UNO’s president revealed the department had “a historic lack of fiscal discipline.” 
Now imagine similar decisions being made in the ACC or the Big 12, or maybe even inside the big and mighty Big Ten and SEC.
As outrageous as it seems, administrators across major college athletics are preparing for the worst as many programs already strapped for cash face up to more than $30 million in new yearly expenses after agreeing to settle the landmark House v. NCAA lawsuit last week. Schools will be allowed as early as August 2025 to pay their athletes as much as $22 million annually through television and ticket revenues — while also spending an additional $5 million to $10 million in a new model with unlimited scholarships.
It’s a hefty price tag to remain competitive on the field, even for college football’s cash cows and blue bloods. Only two power schools (Georgia and Indiana) had a net income of more than $30 million in 2023, according to USA Today’s database of NCAA finances. Not even Alberts, now the athletics director at one of the richest programs in the nation, can promise Texas A&M’s 20 sports programs are safe from extinction. “I don’t know that anybody would be wise to make that announcement today. I really don’t,” said Alberts. “… I’ve been one of the few people that cut sports and I’m still standing. It’s not fun. It’s last resort. It’s certainly not something that we would want.”
At Texas A&M, the sports Alberts oversees are as follows (listed in order of scholarships allotted). 
Football
Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country (18)
Women’s Basketball (15)
Equestrian (15)
Soccer (14) … more at … CBSsports.com/Gut-wrenching-choices-title-ix-complications-face-college-athletics-in-wake-of-house-v-ncaa-settlement

July 7, 2024 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

D1 Wrestling Coaches Bracing For Turbulence On Heels Of NCAA Settlement

The House v. NCAA settlement could reshape college athletics. It’s already causing stress for those who make a living in non-revenue Olympic sports.
Everything last October indicated Iowa State was accelerating ahead on a state-of-the-art wrestling facility project. 
The Cyclones had picked out a building on the southwest side of Ames and produced digital renderings of the $20 million project, showcasing six full mats, a lounge area and other modern amenities. Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard posted on social media that it would open in the fall of 2025 and claimed it would “be the best wrestling facility in the country.” Less than eight months later, the project has been postponed with no timetable for when or if it will be resumed.  “With this lawsuit getting ready to be settled,” Pollard told reporters last month at an Iowa State booster gathering, referring to the landmark House vs. NCAA case, “you just can’t go forward with projects like that.” 
This is today’s college athletics world. It’s a place fraught with economic uncertainty — a place where tectonic plates are shifting faster than ever. It’s not a comfortable environment for those who make a living in non-revenue Olympic sports.  “If I had to sum it up in a sentence,” Iowa State wrestling coach Kevin Dresser said, “I’d say the next 18 months are going to be crazy, crazy, rocky and bumpy.” 
Dresser is far from the only college wrestling coach who’s bracing for turbulence.  “I worry about our sport in general,” Maryland coach Alex Clemsen said. “And I worry about Olympic sports in general.” “There’s going to be teams, and it’s not just wrestling, this is going to be every sport — track, baseball, swimming, diving, lacrosse — they’re all going to take a hit,” North Carolina coach Rob Koll said. “There’s no doubt in my mind, unfortunately.”

An ‘Economic Earthquake’ 

The past decade has ushered in a period of transformation unlike any other in the history of collegiate athletics, headlined by conference realignment, the advent of the transfer portal and the proliferation of name, image and likeness compensation after the NCAA unlocked NIL opportunities for athletes in the summer of 2021. 
The latest hot-button issue centers around the House v. NCAA lawsuit and the potential ramifications for college athletics. 
In 2020, Arizona State swimmer Grant House sued the NCAA for banning college athletes from capitalizing on their name, image and likeness. In addition to seeking back pay for Division I athletes who were barred from earning NIL compensation prior to the summer of 2021, House v. NCAA also set out to pursue a share of the future broadcast revenue for athletes. 
Last month, the NCAA and Power 5 conferences agreed to a settlement worth more than $2.75 billion, resolving three pending antitrust lawsuits — House v. NCAA, Hubbard v. NCAA and Carter v. NCAA — which challenged NCAA compensation and NIL limits. The settlement still needs approval from Judge Claudia Wilken, but it paves a path to a more professionalized era of college athletics. 
Along with providing back pay to athletes who lost out on potential NIL earnings dating back to 2016, the settlement also creates the framework for schools to share revenues with athletes. 
The settlement allows each school to share 22 percent of the average Power 5 school’s revenues, which is projected to be more than $20 million annually per school.  “At the end of the day, this is an economic earthquake within the system,” Smith College … more at … Flowrestling.org/D1-wrestling-coaches-bracing-for-turbulence-on-heels-of-ncaa-settlement

July 7, 2024 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment