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College Sports Tomorrow, a group of executives and administrators, proposed a brand new college football format last week. The proposal is to create a league called the College Student Football League. Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud is listed as an ambassador for the group, The Athletic reported in April.

On Tuesday, Syverud held a press conference over Zoom to discuss the proposal. Syverud touched on all aspects of the new league and how the group believes it would improve on the current model of the Football Bowl Subdivision. He detailed the CSFL’s potential structuring while mentioning the dangers of unregulated Name, Image and Likeness deals, which he said has created instability in college football.

CST’s initial proposal is to split the 136 FBS schools into two groups. The top 72 programs would be in the Power 12 Conference, which would be split into geographic-based divisions. The remaining 64 schools would play in a Group of 8 Conference.

“I think it’s the most realistic solution if people want college sports to be preserved in a way that’s recognizably attractive for the majority of fans and for the benefit of the student-athletes,” Syverud said.

Over the past few weeks, NIL has come into question after UNLV starting quarterback Matthew Sluka’s decision to redshirt. Sluka left the Rebels due to a dispute over how much he was supposed to get paid in an NIL deal.

Situations like Sluka’s are part of the reason for Syverud’s plan. To deal with the uncertainty of NIL, Syverud says the CSFL will create a league-wide players association — much like those in professional sports leagues. Syverud thinks this will help define what is “fair and appropriate” regarding NIL matters.

In terms of the payment structure to each school, CST’s plan is for the Power 12 schools to be paid 94% of the revenue, with 6% going to the Group of 8 schools. Though the percentage of the payout for the Group of 8 schools seems relatively low in comparison, Syverud said he’s confident they would be getting a “considerably larger” payment than the system in place now.

“This is a system that assures the ability of those schools to play up and by virtue of competitive success, to earn more. I think in the long run, it’s going to pay them more,” Syverud said.

In addition to laying out the payment plan, Syverud lamented people’s naivety pertaining to the recent House v. NCAA settlement. On Monday, a Northern California judge approved a $2.78 billion antitrust settlement. The agreement is supposed to allow schools to pay players directly by 2025.

Syverud feels that’s only a temporary solution, saying it will give the illusion of stability for one season but in the long run will be “a house of cards.”

Syverud also said that whatever new system is put in place, it will have serious antitrust liabilities just like the current one. He believes there’s still the risk of lawsuits, which he thinks will easily be won if there isn’t a legislative solution or labor agreement nationally.

“I see a lot of people trying to pretend those things won’t happen by making interesting arguments that eventually will be defeated after years of litigation in courts,” Syverud said.

The House agreement would allow athletic departments to opt into revenue sharing, which would start at $20 million. Syverud said SU is committed to competing in the upper echelon of college sports and is confident it will continue to do that. Though for the majority of schools in the current Power Four, Syverud feels it’s not a long-term solution, and at some point, becomes unviable.

As for the future of the Power Four conferences, Syverud said he’s held discussions with Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner Jim Phillips. Syverud is on the board of the ACC and has been transparent with the rest of its members, he said, briefing ACC presidents and Phillips about his idea. Syverud understands that while he has to look out for Syracuse, Phillips’ job is to look out for the ACC.

Along with volatility among conferences, there are still major obstacles regarding media rights. Syverud said media organizations have been very careful not to be deeply involved with any proposals because of the legal challenges they would face. He added that he’s spoken to many people who have been deeply involved with media over the years about the subject.

“There is an attractiveness to the system as a whole, to having a college sports product that generates more fan interest and more revenue,” Syverud said. “It doesn’t mean it’s attractive to particular individual media partners that have good deals now.”

Much of Syverud’s concerns with college football’s current model lies with fan interest. With no constraints on spending to build the best rosters, the same few teams are often competing for the national championship. Syverud thinks this is a turn off for fans who want a greater competitive balance.

He said CST has conducted plenty of research on what fans want. Firstly, it shows fans want powerful regional rivalries. For SU, that means regularly playing teams like Penn State and West Virginia, who would be in the CSFL’s Mideast Division. The research also revealed fans would like to have teams that make the playoffs based purely on the on-field product, rather than basing it on the current College Football Playoff committee.

“I think it’s the one that’s probably in the best interest of fans in this country, and certainly of Syracuse University, which is why I’ve been sticking my neck out on it,” Syverud said.

CST isn’t the only organization trying to restructure College Football. On Tuesday, Yahoo Sports reported former Disney executives turned investment professionals proposed a 70-team Super League, which would infuse up to $9 billion in private capital cash into the sport.

Syverud has read through the proposal, adding that he’s not living and dying on one model and that the “devil is in the details.” For him, anything brought forth must have the support of Congress and involve enough schools so there’s “skin in the game” for the whole country.

“That instability (of the current model) is going to create a bunch of public frustration and losing interest in college sports,” Syverud said. “So I’m hoping that by talking about this, enforcing this to the surface, a national solution will emerge in Congress or in other places.”

Published on October 8, 2024 at 11:12 pm

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