The tremendous value of the NCAA Football media rights, and the Athletic IP of the top 60 Universities in America, is being ravaged by a collection of Interests, that are focused on preserving their status quo, and not improving, and preserving the Foundry of College Sport youth excellence.
The Ghouls have shown up, while NCAA football lurched into an semi pro NIL bacchanal that reminds one of Eastbound and Fourth Down.
In 2004, I once got stuck with a friend, in the Delta Airlines Club at Hartsfield, late spring, storms everywhere, and noticed Myles Brand sitting alone. I introduced us, my friend was a well known College basketball player, lawyer, and as I had known him before, talked about where NCAA athletic were going. He rightly opined about PHK, and others in the Nike crew, that had cemented where the NCAA had traveled since UGA and Oklahoma showed who should benefit from Broadcast TV in the early 1980's.
In the next 7 days a lot of decisions will be made, most of them wrong, as is the case perhaps the hidden hand of Nike is at work in the back ground, but it does not seem evident.
Mark Parker should have been, could be, the first CEO of NCAA Football League 3.0. Nike should be a founding Primary partner from the jump, Nike paid for the staff professionalism that underpins the Sport.
It may be time for an Executive Order, to give pause to the rampage, allow College Presidents to mull a future of drastically reduced financing, reduced federal research, NCAA defenestration, and tuition deflation.
Not exactly an environment where the Presidents might effectively examine, that they might be giving away the store, at exactly a time when better ideas, some embodied in an Executive Order, help from a Senator from Alabama, focus on a Union for the players.
That would qualify in my mind, as one more Big idea.
The Big Orange Slusher knew him well, Tiger also.
Just Do It the right way for all, sponsored by Nike of course.