SORRY TO SAY: ONE COURTROOM SETTLEMENT WILL NOT CLEAN UP COLLEGE SPORTS
Despite the presence of a CEO from Major League Baseball, the usual powerhouses will keep paying elite athletes and eye national championships, raising annual football budgets to more than $40 million
Does anyone with functioning cerebral matter actually buy this nuttiness: America’s leading college sports programs will lean back, follow a revenue-sharing plan and listen to a Rob Manfred person installed as a CEO? For too many decades, the most powerful teams have found ways — cheating, NIL collectives, the ugliest in dirtballism — to win every year and reach grimily for national championships?
Why would that deathly mission ever change because of a House settlement? In the 2026-27 season, the College Football Playoff will receive $1.3 billion annually from TV. There are astounding amounts to be made — particularly in the Big Ten and SEC, each hoarding 30 percent of the deal — while enticing usual creatures in those conferences to raise business prices to $40 million or $50 million a year.
Nothing will stop them, including Bryan Seeley, who arrives from the Major League Baseball offices to lead a new College Sports Commission. Wait, isn’t President Trump creating a commission led by Nick Saban? Or is he too busy battling Gavin Newsom as Los Angeles quivers? Each Division I school can offer $20.5 million to athletes each year, beginning July 1. Football and basketball programs are expected to use 90 percent of that total. Quarterbacks are supposed to receive at least $2 million a year, unless you’re Bryce Underwood, who commanded almost $12 million at Michigan thanks to Larry Ellison, whose wife graduated from the school.
Wouldn’t we all love to latch onto Seeley’s enforcement tactics? Imagine if he shuts down the powerhouses and gives fair play to dozens of other programs? “During his time at MLB, Bryan demonstrated unparalleled integrity, a commitment to fairness, and the ability to navigate complex challenges with precision and care,” said Manfred, the MLB commissioner. “I have no doubt he will bring the same level of excellence to the College Sports Commission. College sports will benefit from Bryan’s expertise and vision.”
Really? Truly? Why would a new strategy work because federal judge Claudia Wilken demands it? What’s amazing is how commissioners who keep exerting power plays for their schools claim they want to play fairly. Last we saw Greg Sankey of the SEC and Tony Petitti of the Big Ten, they were trying to gain massive numbers of automatic bids to the CFP circus? Suddenly, one court decision has made them change their minds?
“The decision to approve the settlement is a significant step forward toward building long-term stability for college sports while protecting the system from bad actors seeking to exploit confusion and uncertainty,” Sankey said.
Bad actors?
Said the Big 12’s Brett Yormark, who is opposed to SEC and Big Ten dominance: “It’s progress over perfection. Our schools want rules and we’re providing rules and we will be governed by those rules. And if you break those rules, the ramifications will be punitive.”
Punitive? Doubt it. Seeley is creating a clearinghouse to probe third-party deals for $600 or more. Problem is, what happens when Underwood — the top-rated high school player in the land — owns the goods? The best players will head to the best programs, which will have the money to buy them. Nothing changes.
“I look forward to implementing a system that prioritizes fairness, integrity, and opportunity, while preserving the values that make college sports unique,” Seeley said. “I am energized by the work ahead and excited to begin building out our team.”
Good luck when he deals with dirtballers and people who run athletic departments, who don’t like being told what to do? Is he ready for Kirby Smart and Ryan Day, who said last week: “We're in the Big Ten, and we have 18 teams and some of the best programs in the country. I feel like we deserve at least four automatic qualifiers. The SEC and Big Ten have been pushing for a new playoff format to include guaranteed bids. Naturally, the suggestion hasn't been well-received by the Big 12, ACC or Group of Five conferences.”
Wait until Seeley presses Ohio State, which spent at least $20 million in NIL money for a national title team, on why it can’t double the amount? Same goes for Georgia and Texas and Oregon and Michigan and Notre Dame?
“We want oversight, we want guardrails, we want structure. Administrators and coaches don’t have the luxury to just say that in meeting rooms. They don’t have the luxury to just be anonymous sources,” Sankey said. “They have a responsibility to make what they’ve sought, what they’ve asked for, to make it work.”
This is what realists always wanted: Colleges to pay their own players. We want competitive balance to devour anarchy. Sunday, Sankey joined Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua in playing golf with Trump, who apparently was on the phone about the National Guard. “I’ve appreciated his interest in college sports, and while it was helpful for me and Pete as well to hear his thoughts and his perspectives, and to share some of ours,” Sankey said. “Those are best left for moments on the golf course.”
The country is messy. No way will some Manfred guy stop the scoundrels.
They will pay. They will win.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.