Rotarians gathered on Wednesday, January 8th, at Pier 55 along the Elliott Bay waterfront to listen to a panel discussing the future of college athletics in the age of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL). The panelist from the University of Washington shared their insights on what the current state of play is in this new era as well as their thoughts on where the future of college athletics may go with NIL. The encapsulating panel addressed many questions that the average fan of college athletics is likely to have considered within the last few years and went above and beyond to address the current questions that one might have about the future.
Seattle 4 President Jon Bridge opened with a brief anecdote about the location of the meeting: Pier 55. Having originally been built in 1900 as a freight pier, it subsequently collapsed in September of 1901 and was rebuilt in the following year. Following its rebuilding, the pier was operated by the Northern Pacific Railroad and was known then as Pier 4. Later the pier was converted into a terminal for passenger steamships, ferries, and ultimately storage from 1938 to the 1980s. During World War Two the pier was renamed from Pier 4 to its current name, Pier 55. Today it is the headquarters of the Argosy Tours company. Much like Pier 55, the state of college athletics has gone through a series of significant changes in its history.
The last several decades have seen monumental shifts in college athletics from changes in conference membership, the student athlete transfer portal, and most notable the ruling on the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL). NIL has allowed college athletes to profit off the thing that has also been making their athletics programs money for years: themselves. In the past, profiting off one’s image in college athletics would have almost certainly resulted in penalties for the athlete and their college. Today, multi-million-dollar contracts are offered to top college athletes in various sports resulting in a competitive recruiting environment that more closely resembles the professional sports leagues than it does the collegiate athletics landscape from even just a few years ago.
The panelists from the University of Washington were former UW Quarterback Damon Huard, presently the Director of Community & External Engagement, and included former Husky basketball forward Joe Knight, who serves as an Executive Director at the University. The panelists touched on the idea that the current state of NIL in college athletics is a bit like the Wild West. “More has changed in the last four years than probably the previous 25-30 years,” said Huard.
In this new era of NIL, the college athletics model has changed to a pay to play model due in part to all the donor collectives that have formed. In this new model some larger athletics programs can bear the cost of this change while other smaller programs will be faced with the daunting task of figuring out how to compete within their own conferences. This issue is exacerbated with the pending change to the college athletics landscape this summer that will allow up to $20 million of revenues from a school’s
athletics program to be shared with athletes. This change will weigh heavily on budgets for traveling to events, hiring/retaining coaches, and even impact the number/size of scholarships available to student athletes. “I would say the crux of it is that it’s the enterprise of college athletics that has gotten so financially massive in the last two, three decades,” Knight said on the core issue that NIL aimed to address. “Everything has kept up. Coaches comp, the arms race that is facilities, TV networks, everything except the lack of student athlete compensation,” Knight added when noting the growth college athletics has seen from a financial perspective.
The pending $20 million revenue share has started a college athletics arms race. Programs within the PAC 12 and BIG 10 will attempt to utilize this full package to remain competitive with each other, and the other power conferences will likely do the same to retain parity as much as possible. The unintended consequence of this though is that the smaller conferences and athletics programs may not be able to afford this and risk losing their competitive edge in college athletics.
Addressing the changes that have come about within the transfer portal in the era of NIL, Huard commented how the quoted contract values that schools sign athletes for are more often than not just inflated figures for the sake of recruitment and competition. Especially for values that are quoted when articles are circulated for athletes and potential paydays they may get from entering the student athlete transfer portal. Whether it is from changes that occur within the coaching leadership, a student athlete’s future prospects within that program, or changes in academic considerations, there are a myriad of reasons for student athletes to enter the transfer portal. While the public perception that NIL may entice athletes to enter the portal to get higher paydays, more often than not the previously addressed issues will push athletes to change programs rather than entice them to leave. “I’m here to tell you that 80% of these kids in the portal, they are told to leave. That’s the reality that no one talks about,” Huard said. With some options available within the transfer portal, it also offers its own set of challenges. Many of the athletes who enter the transfer portal may not get picked up by a new program and risk not getting a degree. “The same thing that’ll make you cry, will make you laugh,” Huard added when commenting on the Pandora’s Box situation of the transfer portal.
While the future of college athletics is still very fluid, there are people like Knight and Huard who are not only helping their own college athletics programs but helping to inform the public on the current state of things and helping to steer the progress within the world of college athletics pay. Knight and Huard added in closing that another inevitable change that looks to be coming down the pipe in college athletics is consolidation. While conferences work to add teams, rebalance, and adopt in this new era, there is still a future with many more changes to come. “It feels almost inevitable that we consolidate in some form or fashion,” Knight said when asked about the future of league realignment. Knight added his hope that in whatever future to come that there will be a prioritization on school rivalries and regional play. “But, you know, I think we understand the importance of the Apple Cup. We understand the importance of what, really, you know, the PAC 8, the PAC 10, and the PAC 12 brought to the table. And really, as an alum, as a Seattleite, my hope is that we can get back to that in some form,” Knight said in closing.
Wednesday’s meeting featured a short program from Sarah Smith of Sawhorse Revolution, a local program that works to foster confident, community-oriented youth through the power of carpentry and craft. Smith shared a presentation to Rotarians showcasing the many different projects that participants have been able to build, the impact the group has had during its time, and shared ways in which
Rotarians could get involved if they would like. Sawhorse Revolution’s website is SawhorseRevolution.com and more information can be found there.
In closing remarks, Rotarians were introduced to a new program called Happy Bucks. This program aims to give a way for Rotarians to share good news by allowing them to bid on the opportunity. The top three bidders will receive a 30 second spot to share their Happy Buck news, with the top bidder then selecting the charity that proceeds from the Happy Bucks auction will go to. Announcements and alerts will be shared to inform Rotarians on when these Happy Bucks sessions will occur and when to bring cash to bid. Currently, there is not the ability to use credit card or online payment apps like Venmo; although President Bridge shared his hope this will be updated soon.
Lastly, President Bridge informed the club that the annual Membership Survey will be released soon. President Bridge expressed his conviction that the chapter will exceed last year’s survey submissions and strive closer to a goal of 300 surveys submitted for the year.
-We can always count on Logan to go above and beyond in his meeting report! Thank you!
