Kirk Herbstreit: 'Inevitable' for college athletes to have share of television money

On3 imageby:Steve Samra05/15/22

SamraSource

Kirk Herbstreit is preparing for a new venture, calling NFL games for Amazon’s Thursday Night Football. However, he’s still keeping a keen eye on everything college football. In an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show earlier this week, the ESPN College GameDay host spoke about NIL, and the future of college athletes wanting a share of the lucrative television contracts the NCAA possesses.

“I think it’s still to be determined,” Herbstreit responded, when asked about possible NIL guidelines.. “We’re all still sitting back wondering. We finally heard from the NCAA. But since they met in D.C. with the supreme court and they not only voted against them, they basically told them don’t ever come back, they seemed to have retreated and just let everything happen. Now, they come out with a statement.

“So, I don’t know how — does this thing have much teeth, as far as the ruling that they’ve recently come out with, and is anybody even going to respond to them? Is anybody going to fear that they have enforcement? Is this just lip service, or is something going to happen?”

While Herbstreit is in wait and see mode when it comes to the NCAA putting some guidelines on NIL, he revealed a strong belief that college athletes will now look towards getting a share of the gigantic revenue the NCAA generates through television deals.

“I think all of us have reached a point where we agree that players obviously should be freed up to do whatever they can with NIL,” explained Herbstreit. “I think that there’s another step to this. With the TV networks — I never really said this publicly — but with the TV networks giving a lot of money to college athletics, I think it’s inevitable that eventually the players are going to have it, whether it’s a union or somebody’s going to represent them, and they’re going to say hey, why not allow us to have a share of the television money?

“Everybody’s talking about the players are entitled and that kind of thing to be able to have NIL. That, at this point, is a given. I’m thinking more about, if you’re really looking at the players and saying hey, what’s in it for them — if I were a player, wouldn’t you be talking about that next step. So, I think it’s inevitable, the path that we’re heading down.”

Still, Herbstreit believes we can’t go on like this forever, thinking there will be some rules coming in the future: “With all that being said, it does need some rules. I mean, the NFL has rules for free agency. There’s rules that you have to abide by.

“Right now in college athletics, there are no rules. So, I think that needs to be curtailed, and under control. But I do think that the players right now have a ton of momentum.”