A New Buzzword in College Sports

The Tennessee Talent Fee

When the NCAA finally reached a settlement in the House case, the entire landscape of college sports began to brace for the impact of ‘revenue sharing’ on the end product.

However, the settlement itself stopped short of outlining a clear framework for how this revenue sharing would explicitly be implemented.

This means that with no direct manner in which to implement the new practice, schools have started to innovate.

The University of Tennessee is leading the charge among Power 5 schools. Taking bold steps to invest in student-athletes as the concept of paying players for their participation inches closer to becoming a reality.

Set to begin in Fall 2025, all sports will be charged a 10% "talent fee" on tickets to help pay athletes as part of the new revenue-sharing plan.

According to ESPN, the required contribution and talent fee [for football], including taxes, -- will cost $453.75 in the family section, which is in the upper deck. Student ticket prices doubled this season from $10 per game to $20 and will increase to $25 in 2025.

So far, Vols fans are not happy with the decision. Given the current form of collectives, many don’t see the point in taking on additional fees with the current dynamic in place.

Clemson Joins FSU in the Fight

Many believe that FSU's underperforming football season has created challenges in their legal battle to leave the ACC; however, I disagree.

The courtroom battle will always be tough, especially in today’s college sports landscape, where revenue sharing, NIL deals, and various antitrust lawsuits are challenging the NCAA.

Given the wholly restrictive implications of the Grant of Rights, according to Florida State, an agreement for exclusive revenue sharing will call for the lawsuits to be dropped.

Under more favorable financial terms, FSU and Clemson will seemingly be more satisfied to remain in the conference.

As a reminder, SEC schools earned $7 million more on average when media revenue was distributed among member institutions of the ACC.

Whether its pulling back the end of the Grant from 2036 to 2030, or settling on a revenue sharing plan for the student athletes, both schools have a long way to go.

Athletes' Employee Status Moves Through the Courts

Written in a statement by Judge Restrepo the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals,?

“The issue raised by this interlocutory appeal is not whether the athletes before us are actually owed the protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), but rather, whether college athletes, by nature of their so-called amateur status, are precluded from ever bringing an FLSA claim. Our answer to this question is no” (Berkowitz, 2024).

In the ongoing struggle over exploitation, amateurism, and the sanctity of the game, it’s clear that this battle is far from over.

A Quick Aside

The newly formatted CFB playoff is projected to generate $1.3 billion in revenue this coming winter.

March Madness follows, bringing another $1 billion in revenue.

With all these talks of revenue sharing, how will this immediately shake out come the new year?

I don’t think the NCAA in particular would like to make the sacrifice with so much uncertainty on the table - given the preferred approach at least.

At the same time, how are leaders in the field, institutions, and prominent student athletes going to respond to another year of the same procedures (ie. no access to the money)?

On another note, how are the same parties going to compensate for the shortcomings come time for the mega events?

It’s quite literally the wild west when it comes to college sports in 2024, the following year will surely exemplify that.

Thank you for reading Volume 5 of SportShift! I hope you learned something new today. A big shout out to the 360+ people subscribed to my newsletter—you all are amazing! Please feel free to share this free resource with others on LinkedIn or elsewhere.

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