[JeffInCorvallis]

It’s not the move to the ACC that has me less interested in college sports - it’s the whole set-up with the NIL and lack of transfer rules. 

The news of NiJaree Canady going into the portal was the last straw for me. The fact that these are now semi-pro athletes really doesn’t interest me. In the past, you could watch athletes have great four-year careers as star freshmen, or root for the juniors or seniors who worked hard to earn their spot in the starting line-up. Those days are few and far between. If someone has a great year, there is always that thought of will they be back? Or will they be bought off to the highest bidder? I have to believe, three years ago, if Kiki Iriafen is done with school, she’s still be at Stanford to play her fourth year rather than being bought off by USC.

I don’t harbor any ill will towards the student athletes - if someone is throwing me a bunch of money at that age, of course I would take it. It’s the smart financial decision that can set you up for the rest of your life. It’s just the system is so broken and that fault lies entirely with the NCAA. What they are selling does not hold true anymore so that’s why I just don’t have a of immense proportions interest anymore in college sports.

It reinforces the narrative that college sports are just about money. You understand, as a fan, that pro teams are all about money. Your favorite team may trade your favorite player and you get that it's part of the business. Sure, there are guys and gals that ask for a trade or become free agents, and you sort of expect that on some level. You might be unhappy that the 49ers traded away Joe Montana, but at some level you got it. You tell yourself that somehow, deep down, he's still a 49er at heart even though he might play somewhere else just to bank the money. You hold the cognitive dissonance in your head and allow yourself to go with it.

But *college* sports, those are somehow different, somehow more pure. Sure, it's naive, but you convince yourself that this is the case. Andrew Luck would have been a great player no matter where he went to school, but somehow the fact that he attended the school that I root for makes him great. He comes back, shows up at events, gets a Master's degree, he's all in. But this illusion is shattered by the transfer portal. What, you aren't totally satisfied at my school? You don't like the coach, or the playing time, or your teammates, or the weather, or you just want to play closer to your family? How could you be this disloyal? But the truth is harsh: not only do Austin Jones and Kiki Iriafen not stay loyal to Stanford, they choose to transfer to 

...USC.

This, more than anything, demonstrates that they never really got Stanford. This is why interest in college sports is going to decrease. Clearly, there needs to be a mechanism for athletes (or any student) to transfer if the school isn't meeting their needs, but the current free-for-all is ruining this, even if it was something of an illusion all along.

[JeffInCorvallis]

It’s not the move to the ACC that has me less interested in college sports - it’s the whole set-up with the NIL and lack of transfer rules. 

The news of NiJaree Canady going into the portal was the last straw for me. The fact that these are now semi-pro athletes really doesn’t interest me. In the past, you could watch athletes have great four-year careers as star freshmen, or root for the juniors or seniors who worked hard to earn their spot in the starting line-up. Those days are few and far between. If someone has a great year, there is always that thought of will they be back? Or will they be bought off to the highest bidder? I have to believe, three years ago, if Kiki Iriafen is done with school, she’s still be at Stanford to play her fourth year rather than being bought off by USC.

I don’t harbor any ill will towards the student athletes - if someone is throwing me a bunch of money at that age, of course I would take it. It’s the smart financial decision that can set you up for the rest of your life. It’s just the system is so broken and that fault lies entirely with the NCAA. What they are selling does not hold true anymore so that’s why I just don’t have a of immense proportions interest anymore in college sports.

It reinforces the narrative that college sports are just about money. You understand, as a fan, that pro teams are all about money. Your favorite team may trade your favorite player and you get that it's part of the business. Sure, there are guys and gals that ask for a trade or become free agents, and you sort of expect that on some level. You might be unhappy that the 49ers traded away Joe Montana, but at some level you got it. You tell yourself that somehow, deep down, he's still a 49er at heart even though he might play somewhere else just to bank the money. You hold the cognitive dissonance in your head and allow yourself to go with it.

But *college* sports, those are somehow different, somehow more pure. Sure, it's naive, but you convince yourself that this is the case. Andrew Luck would have been a great player no matter where he went to school, but somehow the fact that he attended the school that I root for makes him great. He comes back, shows up at events, gets a Master's degree, he's all in. But this illusion is shattered by the transfer portal. What, you aren't totally satisfied at my school? You don't like the coach, or the playing time, or your teammates, or the weather, or you just want to play closer to your family? How could you be this disloyal? But the truth is harsh: not only do Austin Jones and Kiki Iriafen not stay loyal to Stanford, they choose to transfer to 

...USC.

This, more than anything, demonstrates that they never really got Stanford. This is why interest in college sports is going to decrease. Clearly, there needs to be a mechanism for athletes (or any student) to transfer if the school isn't meeting their needs, but the current free-for-all is ruining this, even if it was something of an illusion all along.