Andy Staples to disillusioned Georgia fan: College football's broken system 'is changing' 

Lifelong Georgia Bulldogs fan Arthur wrote a thoughtful email to On3’s Andy Staples regarding the connection between his fandom and the new changes in the college football landscape. Claiming his interest in Georgia football and college football at large is at an all-time low despite the Bulldogs’ recent success as a result of the downside of NIL, the transfer portal, and the revenue imbalance in the sport.

Staples responded to Arthur’s statement, breaking down the contradiction that lies within his message and the changes that the college football will have to make in the near future.

“That is a great email from Arthur in Atlanta, it’s 627 words. And as I wrote back to Arthur, when you write me a 627 word email about how uninterested in college football you are and how disengaged with college football you are, I have to call BS because you’re clearly engaged,” Staples said. “You’re writing to the college football podcast host, who you listen to regularly, about how you pay money to the University of Georgia for tickets to games over and over again every year.”

Staples was willing to admit that Arthur’s emailing prowess may not constitute fan engagement and overall interest in the sport, but that actions also do speak louder than words.

“Maybe that doesn’t prove engagement but giving your money to Georgia does,” Staples said. “So if you want change, continuing to give people thousands of dollars every year does not suggest you actually do. People vote with their wallets. People vote with their eyeballs. Your wallet is buying a place for your eyeballs to be every Saturday.”

Like most things, the nuances of college athletics are a double-edged sword with pros and cons, with one of the pros of college football seeming to be product on the field being exceptional with the ratings to match. But there’s also no denying that there are some changes in line that already seem overdue in this new era of the sport.

“Now, I agree with Arthur on a couple of things. He’s right, that the system that is in place now is untenable, unsustainable. The double charging of the fans to pay for the players is not going to keep happening. It can’t. It won’t work long term because the fans are gonna get sick of it and they will ultimately vote with their wallets. They will either decide I’m not paying for the players anymore, I’m not paying for tickets, or both. He’s right about that,” Staples admitted.

The combination of NIL and the transfer portal has created a notable imbalance in college football. With players moving freely from program to program while receiving money in recruitment from donors through NIL collectives. But Staples believes that changes will come soon that will add more guard rails and regulations to college football’s biggest dilemmas.

“But that system is changing, it doesn’t have a choice but to change,” Staples said. “Because they can either continue to operate like this with no rules whatsoever, because that’s the only way they can keep from getting sued. Or they can create a system where they collectively bargain the rules with the players, which would allow them to collectively bargain other things like contracts, like player movement rules, and then you don’t have this anymore.”

“You don’t have the fans being double charged. You don’t have players being able to hold the program hostage and renegotiate every five minutes. That’s gonna change that’s gonna change within the next few years.”

Ideas like sharing television revenue with players have also been bounced around as college sports as a whole tries to find solutions for their newfound problems. Problems that Staples believes will solved be sooner than later as fans, players, coaches, and all of college football’s decision-makers continue to navigate through these uncharted waters of revenue and power struggle.

“The unpleasant part of that is going to be how it consolidates at the top, and how many teams might get left behind from the top level,” Staples said. “But that will change, so if that’s the part you don’t like, good news. It won’t be there forever.”