I'd love to get a better understanding of how that works...

by BillyGoat , At Thanksgiving with Joe Bethersontin, Tuesday, May 05, 2026, 08:46 (21 days ago) @ omahadomer

Because without it happening in the context of a CBA like pro sports, there are some significant issues.

1. Huge variations state to state regarding enforcing restrictive covenants. And undoubtedly an imbalance of bargaining power in the school/player relationship.

2. The supposed ban on "pay for play." This is where these agreements are reeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaally threading a needle, IMO. Everyone knows the reality. But if the contract is going to be enforceable, it has to comply with the rules.

3. The pending question of whether student-athletes are employees.

On the one hand, this is all super-yucky and makes me objectively hate college football. It's such a disgusting amount of money. The NIL is bad enough. Then, remember that kids are getting paid to take visits. And presumably, if you want a kid to NOT take visits, you have to pay them for that, too.

On the other hand, basically all the rules are gone. So, there are no more rules that ND is going to get bogged down trying to comply with, while the other programs trying to win a title are ignoring them entirely. And this environment has coincided with our best coach in a generation and a University that is willing to commit to do everything within the outer limits of what meager rules do exist.