Paul Finebaum: House settlement will only help the rich in college athletics
By: Chandler Vessels - On3.comPaul Finebaum gave a stern warning about the implications that the recently approved House vs. NCAA settlement will have on college athletics. It is set to bring a wave of changes to the sport, most notably allowing universities to directly pay athletes for the first time ever.
But according to Finebaum, it might not have the desired impact save for the two most powerful conferences in the sport already, the SEC and Big Ten. He believes those schools will see bigger benefits as well as bigger pay days as a result of the new changes while the remaining conferences will be left picking up the scraps. He also worried how it might affect sports outside of football and men’s basketball.
“It means very little, really,” Finebaum said on the Dan Patrick Show. “This is all very complicated. A lot of legal mumbo jumbo. What I think it will really mean, though, if you’re a fan of a Group of 5 school, if you’re a fan of a school somewhere in the middle, get ready for hard times.
“This is only going to help the rich. The big leagues, the Big Ten, the SEC will more than likely profit because they have so much money. Women’s sports, in my opinion, will be hurt. Olympic sports will be crushed. Football wins. Basketball, other than maybe the Big East, takes a slight backseat.”
Direct payments to players isn’t the only change coming as a result of the new settlement. There will also be set roster limits for each sport as well as an NIL clearinghouse for deals greater than $600.
Ultimately, Paul Finebaum sees this possibly being the final nail in the coffin for the NCAA. The organization has already been losing power due to all the recent changes and Sankey revealed at the SEC Spring Meetings that people within the SEC have brought up the possibility of separating from the NCAA entirely.
This settlement only makes that an even stronger possibility. However, as Finebaum mentioned, one has to wonder what that could mean for a vast majority of other schools left in the wake.
“The NCAA is essentially dead and I know a lot of people are celebrating,” he said. “But the damage that has been done by this organization is incalculable and it’s really about time. What did we grow up thinking about when we thought of the NCAA? The enforcement part of it. The big, bad NCAA is coming to your town. They don’t even have any jurisdiction for that any more.
“By the way, not that they have in about the last five years. They’ve been completely ineffective. So if you’re the NCAA president, who happens to be Charlie Baker, you get to fly around on a luxury plane, you’re welcomed at Taj Mahal, you stay at five-star resorts. But essentially, you have absolutely nothing to do but try to look busy.”
