[Goose]

How decadent (and revealing of donor priorities) that people with a lot of money to spare give it to be used to hire talented athlete-mercenaries for their alma maters for a year or two of "bragging rights," rather than to support enhanced educational quality and the lives of those who would permanently benefit from it. Welcome to college athletic competition in America 2024!

Given the amount of cheating that went on "back in the day", it very well may be that the people with a lot of money to hire talented athlete-mercenaries always existed but were deterred from doing so by the fact it was "illegal". However IMO another major factor was that the administration, faculty, donor base and alumni of the educational institutions strongly supported  the "amateur" nature of college sports. They "bought in" to the idea that amateur competition and teamwork added value to education and was therefore an acceptable activity for the institutions to sponsor. I suspect that situation still prevails in most (not all) places.

Right now, the institutions are still reacting to the major changes and have yet to consider what it really "means" for the institution. Things are much too much in flux to reach definitive conclusions. There are still attempts in progress to retain the "good" aspects of college sports while still complying with the court rulings and the obvious injustice of many employees (and the institution itself where applicable) profiting handsomely from the uncompensated labor of  students. IMO this will prove impossible, and when it does college athletics will be spun out, disbanded, and/or shut down. A number of "D league" teams of various types will continue to exist because the entertainment dollars to support them will exist. However, any remaining association they had with colleges/universities will quickly fade away.

[Goose]

How decadent (and revealing of donor priorities) that people with a lot of money to spare give it to be used to hire talented athlete-mercenaries for their alma maters for a year or two of "bragging rights," rather than to support enhanced educational quality and the lives of those who would permanently benefit from it. Welcome to college athletic competition in America 2024!

Given the amount of cheating that went on "back in the day", it very well may be that the people with a lot of money to hire talented athlete-mercenaries always existed but were deterred from doing so by the fact it was "illegal". However IMO another major factor was that the administration, faculty, donor base and alumni of the educational institutions strongly supported  the "amateur" nature of college sports. They "bought in" to the idea that amateur competition and teamwork added value to education and was therefore an acceptable activity for the institutions to sponsor. I suspect that situation still prevails in most (not all) places.

Right now, the institutions are still reacting to the major changes and have yet to consider what it really "means" for the institution. Things are much too much in flux to reach definitive conclusions. There are still attempts in progress to retain the "good" aspects of college sports while still complying with the court rulings and the obvious injustice of many employees (and the institution itself where applicable) profiting handsomely from the uncompensated labor of  students. IMO this will prove impossible, and when it does college athletics will be spun out, disbanded, and/or shut down. A number of "D league" teams of various types will continue to exist because the entertainment dollars to support them will exist. However, any remaining association they had with colleges/universities will quickly fade away.