College athletes are starting to get paid big money directly from their schools now that the revenue-sharing era is here. But will this new landscape bring structure to college sports, or will the shifting industry remain more like the Wild West? 

“The $1 billion question is: Are these athletes employees? If the schools want that answer to be no, then they’re going to have to be very, very careful how they structure these contracts,” Will Hall, a Florida-based sports and entertainment attorney for law firm Jones Walker, told Front Office Sports.

Those revenue-sharing contracts are already reaching staggering numbers, like the three-year, $5.1 million deal Texas Tech is giving five-star offensive tackle Felix Ojo. The Red Raiders’ spending spree appears to be extending into the future, too, as they are now reportedly the favorite to land edge rusher LaDamion Guyton, currently the No. 1–ranked prospect in the 2027 recruiting class, according to Rivals.

NIL Collectives Face Uncertain Future

Before revenue-sharing became legal with the approval of the House v. NCAA settlement, players like Ojo and Guyton would have had to rely on NIL (name, image, and likeness) deals to make money in college. 

Now, the NIL collectives that funded top programs’ $20 million football rosters last season are changing how they do business. “An NIL collective will have to look very different than it has in the past few years,” said Hall, who previously helped set up and advise the first NIL collective at Florida State. Many Power 4 schools have closed their NIL collectives entirely.

Hall points to the newly created NIL Go clearinghouse run by the burgeoning College Sports Commission, which will have a vetting process to ensure NIL deals offered by boosters and collectives are fair-market value, and not pay-for-play. “If it has teeth, then, yes, 100%, the idea of an NIL collective as we know it should go away,” he said.

What About Private Equity?

The start of the revenue-sharing era has coincided with interest from private-equity firms entering college sports. 

While the Big 12 opted against bringing in PE at the conference level, sports business consultancy Elevate launched a $500 million initiative to infuse institutional capital directly into college sports, and Boise State is actively considering bringing PE investment into the Broncos’ athletic department.

Despite the uptick in activity, veteran sports lawyer Mike Rueda told FOS “it’s a bit early to tell” whether PE firms investing in college athletic departments would be a profitable exercise like the PE investments in NFL franchises are widely believed to be. 

“We’re still trying to figure out how this is going to work,” said Rueda, who is the head of U.S. sports and entertainment at London-headquartered international law firm Withers.

ESPN’s long-term future with MLB remains decidedly uncertain, but the Disney-owned network is leaving it all on the field, bringing one of its biggest stars to Atlanta next week to be part of Home Run Derby pre-event coverage. 

The Pat McAfee Show will broadcast live from the Coca-Cola Roxy, adjacent to Truist Park, the afternoon of July 14—hours before ESPN shows MLB’s Home Run Derby which annually represents one of the network’s top pieces of primetime programming of the entire summer. 

The presence of Pat McAfee in Atlanta will be joined by a series of other programming plans surrounding the Home Run Derby, including a Georgia stop in the SportsCenter “50 States in 50 Days” content initiative, a pre-Derby episode of Baseball Tonight, and a return of an alternate, Statcast-based production of the event.

The main Derby broadcast will again be led by Karl Ravech and Eduardo Pérez, along with former MLB star Todd Frazier, who won the event 10 years ago while playing for the Reds. That competition was the first Derby to feature a timed format, which helped reinvigorate the event and served as a forerunner of sorts for the pitch clock the league introduced two years ago. 

McAfee has had a featured role in many other key ESPN productions, as he stands alongside Stephen A. Smith as one of the network’s top personalities, and his broadcasting from Atlanta further signifies the importance of the Derby to ESPN.

Last year’s Derby from Arlington, Texas, averaged 5.45 million viewers, down 11% from 2023’s event, as it competed with the 2024 Republican National Convention. The full, eight-player field for this year’s Derby has not been finalized, but confirmed competitors thus far include the Braves’ Ronald Acuña Jr., Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, Nationals outfielder James Wood, and Twins outfielder Byron Buxton. 

ESPN, meanwhile, has re-engaged with MLB about a potentially restructured rights relationship after previously signaling its intent to walk away from the league after the 2025 season. The outcome of those talks remains uncertain, but MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has said he intends to have the rights situation determined by next week’s All-Star Game. 

UFC and outspoken president Dana White have staged competitions in plenty of unique places, including the Sphere in Las Vegas and a temporary, open-air arena in the United Arab Emirates. The latest notion, however, could be UFC’s most dramatic and controversial. 

A UFC spokesperson confirmed to Front Office Sports that discussions are underway with U.S. President Donald Trump to stage a mixed-martial-arts competition at the White House next year as part of celebrations tied to the 250th anniversary of the country’s independence. 

Trump disclosed plans to have the UFC fight there last week in an event attended by 20,000 to 25,000 people, adding that “we have a lot of land there. … Dana is going to do it. Dana is great. One of a kind.”

White is expected to speak in more detail soon about the developing plan, but he already has said on Instagram, “This will be epic!!!” Many of the key logistical details, though, including who will fight, who will attend, how it will work with typical White House security, and how it intersects with the rest of UFC’s competition, remain undetermined. Former UFC champion Conor McGregor has already signaled his interest in competing at the White House event.

“There’s a long way to go still,” said a source familiar with the discussions. 

If completed, the UFC fights would be the first pro sports events hosted at the White House, though it has been the site of many recreational competitions over the years. 

Deeper Relationship

The deepening tie between Trump and UFC, and White specifically, has been no secret. Trump has attended UFC events for years, and White has been an ardent and public supporter of the president. He introduced Trump on the final night of the 2024 Republican National Convention. 

Days after the 2024 presidential election won by Trump, White told The New Yorker he wanted “nothing to do with politics.” That sentiment hasn’t entirely held form, though, and when unveiling a new boxing venture earlier this year, White said he looked forward to bringing top fighters to the White House. 

“They’re fans,” White said in March of the Trump Administration to FOS. “Whenever our fighters win and they go back to their home countries, they usually meet with the president or whoever the ruler is. All over the world, people are interested in who the toughest person in the world is.”

The developing White House plans, meanwhile, prompted strong reactions in both the political and sports communities.

“Trump’s plan to stage a UFC event at the White House makes perfect sense. It is the natural climax of a partnership in which the UFC has become the stage for MAGA mythology,” wrote the U.K.-based Guardian.

Wimbledon has several major on-court storylines entering the quarterfinals—though the tournament’s off-court battle is just as exciting.

On the men’s side, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner appear to be on a collision course to meet in the finals just a month after their historic battle at Roland-Garros. But worthy challengers remain entering the quarterfinals Tuesday, including Novak Djokovic, who is chasing a historic 25th Grand Slam, and Americans Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton.

The women’s bracket saw a historic number of top-10 seeds fall in the first week, including every single former champion. The door is open for world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to claim her fourth Grand Slam, and leave the French Open as the only major title she’s yet to win. 

Only two other top-10 players remain: former world No. 1 Iga Świątek, who has notoriously struggled on grass, and 18-year-old Mirra Andreeva. 

But as the quarterfinals begin Tuesday, so will the U.K. High Court’s review of the proposed Wimbledon expansion. All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) has been looking to expand for decades and, in September 2024, the Greater London Authority (GLA) granted it planning permission.

The proposal would add 39 courts by the early 2030s, more than doubling the number of courts to 71. That would be more than double the number of courts at the US Open and Australian Open and four times as many as Roland-Garros.

The AELTC believes the expansion will help it sell more tickets for the Grand Slam, which totaled 526,000 last year, more than 100,000 less than the French Open and about half of the US and Australian opens.

Several tennis stars have shown support for the expansion, including Djokovic and Alcaraz. 

However, there has been opposition to AELTC’s plans, with the loudest voice being a group established in 2021 called Save Wimbledon Park (SWP). SWP told Front Office Sports that it is not against expansion, but it has several issues with the proposal—including how some areas used for the expansion should be left to the public.

The hearing in the coming days is not about the approval of expansion, but rather to review SWP’s claims and the planning permit granted by the GLA.