The Portal, NIL and Betting

I may be out of my league on this one, but in my view, college football is losing its game. The University of Michigan and Jim Harbaugh saved their program by diving deep into the transfer portal, along with who knows how much was spent in Name-Image-Likeness (NIL). Loyalty to your alma mater? Forget about it.

Top-ranked players are flooding the zones of top-ranked football programs. It’s this simple: “Show me the money.” Lesser programs can’t compete with the promises of commercials, endorsements and other promotional activities that high-profile teams can generate with their national television presence.

I remember when five Ohio State football players were given “gold pants” award trinkets for beating Michigan, and then sanctioned (suspended for five games) for trading their trinkets for tattoos. Yeah, “tattoo gate.” Now, players are making thousands of dollars for their NIL.