On the heels of the NCAA Board of Governors’ significant step towards allowing college athletes to make money through sponsorships, Pac-12 Conference Commissioner Larry Scott joined Fundamentals to talk about the impacts the new NIL rules could have on college sports as well as the ripple effects of COVID-19 with FOS reporter Emily Caron. Here are some of his select quotes:
On Congressional involvement: “If Congress isn’t able to act, we’ll be in a world where there are different laws in different states, and that will be a mess in recruiting and competitive equity and lead to seismic changes in competitive balance.”
On NIL Equity: “95% will go to male student-athletes in a free market. [There will be a] Much greater feeling of inequality between men and women three years from now in collegiate athletics.”
On COVID-19’s impact: “The concern going into the next fiscal year is the upcoming football season, which by most measures is responsible for 85% of overall revenue in a league like ours. Most people assume it’s more balanced, but football is the engine that is driving the revenue that comes in.”
On getting football off the ground: “At the moment we’re still anticipating football season will start on time, but we’ll also be ready for plan B, C, D and E.”
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