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SALT LAKE CITY — Paid players who receive compensation for advertisements as well as their vocation. Fewer teams to “improve competition.” No academic standards for players. Huge TV contracts. Limited conferences.
You know what all those things have in common?
They are all descriptors of the NFL. And, if some of the so-called power conferences under the NCAA’s jurisdiction have their way, they may all describe the collegiate game in the near future. Which begs the question: If these proposed changes become reality, who will care about college football anymore?
The NFL is by far and away the premier football league in the world. If the college game wants to compete on the NFL’s terms, it is in major trouble of becoming completely irrelevant. All it will do is become minor league football. While I am a big fan of the Salt Lake Bees, it is fair to say that they do not generate half as much revenue or interest as Major League Baseball. The same will be true of college football if it tries to change its standards and lose its amateur status.
The fact is, college football is popular for different reasons than the pro game. The college game (traditionally) is based around school pride, underdogs, innovative play and deep-rooted rivalries. With all of the conference realignment that has taken place in the last decade, important rivalries are vanishing in favor of teams grabbing more money. Now, school officials are scrambling trying to find some reason for fans to care about the opponents they will be facing.
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With “power conferences” limiting who they will play, some of the best games of all time won’t happen again — forget about games like Boise State against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl (a game I would argue may be the most exciting college football game ever played). School pride will start going out the window when players are essentially employees looking for the best pay rather than students who are representing their fellow classmates. And innovative play? Every minor league baseball team around the nation is full of gimmicky promotions to try to get attention and create interest.
This is not to say the NCAA does not need some major overhaul. That would be ridiculous. The NCAA does not need to be satirized because the things they do are laughable without any exaggeration. It is also naïve to say that college football does not already revolve around sponsors and money or that the idea of the “student-athlete” is not a bad joke to many coaches and administrators around the nation.
However, the fact remains that taking deliberate and overt steps away from the game’s amateur status will simply turn it into a poor man’s NFL. While I’m no economist, all you have to do is look at the D-League for the NBA or minor league baseball to see how much interest there is in lower-tier sports.
Dylan Cannon is a regular contributor to KSL.com sports. He can be reached by email at dylancannon86@gmail.com.
