The important realm of change is football, but in many colleges and universities, revenue from football supports other sports, some of which produce no income.
One issue is injuries that are due in part to the increased size and athleticism of players. When I was an undergraduate at UGA (1952-56), there were a few linemen who weighed as much as 250 pounds and some of them were fat. Today, linemen often weigh 350 pounds or more, are all muscle and they are fast. Most quarterbacks, running backs, pass receivers and linebackers top 200.
In a pile-up, a ton of well-honed athletes crash into and onto one another. Woe to those on the bottom of the heap. Running plays look like a rugby scrum -- offensive players trying to drive runners forward and defensive players trying to shove them back. It is a perfect scenario for injury and frayed tempers. Not long ago, helping the runner was against the rules. To protect players, it seems like a good idea to return to that rule and for referees to blow a quick whistle to end the play and keep defenders from crashing into runners en masse.
In fact, players sometimes hurt themselves. Muscles can be built up, but some other parts of the body cannot. Connective tissue like tendons in the ankles, knees, legs and other places might hold up under turns, sudden stops or changes in direction with a driving muscle mass of 150 to 200 pounds, but today’s athletes are much heavier, stronger and faster.
Another source of injuries is playing surfaces. Turf -- meaning soil and grass -- is more forgiving than modern surfaces designed to stand up to wear and weather. These are essentially rugs stretched over concrete. The best of helmets cannot protect heads being banged onto such surfaces. Concussions have long-term effects, including dementia. Multi-talented athletes might begin to opt for another sport.
Money for athletes impacts many aspects of college sports. In fact, it created modern college sports. When I was an undergraduate, Sanford Stadium seated 35,000 and was full of paying fans two or three games a year. For recruitment purposes, high school football teams and marching bands were guests at many games. When I returned for graduate studies a decade later, Sanford had been enlarged by more than double its original seating capacity and was always full on game days.
The reason was television revenues, which pumped money into Bulldog football. Nationally, TV turned football into the national sport and its fan base exploded.
Television -- actually money from television -- is reshaping college football. First, the number of games televised each week is enough to suit the most avid fan. The established networks -- CBS, NBC, ABC -- are joined by ESPN in three versions, the Southeastern Conference Network and others. Advertisers love all those viewers.
However, a lion’s share of the money goes to a limited number of teams, those whose schedules best match prime time and those whose games attract more viewers. By longstanding agreement, teams in the Southeastern Conference share money from TV and bowl games. (Sponsors of the many bowl games in the region like to invite SEC teams because their fans fill venues.) SEC schools that never win championships receive enough of these shared revenues to sustain their athletic programs.
The big money now is flowing into two conferences, the Big Ten (Michigan, Ohio State, etc.) and Southeastern. Powers that be in teams from other regions understand the issue and have been moving into the big two for some time, but recent changes have been dramatic. Oklahoma and Texas are joining Texas A&M -- an old partner from the Big 12 -- as well as Missouri and Arkansas as members of the SEC. Old powerhouses from the Pacific 12 that have not fared so well lately are jumping ship to join the Big 10 and the Atlantic Coast Conference. In the future, game travel for all sports will be challenging for such widely-separated universities.
It seems inevitable that football soon will be composed of two mega conferences and then everything else. As strong teams leave conferences for the two, depleted conferences will collapse or be reduced in income and recognition. The structure of college football five years hence is anybody’s guess.
The other money issue is income for players. Even the transfer portal has to do with money as players opt for teams where they think they will have better chances to be drafted into the pros. However, the NIL (name, image and likeness) gambit is not a solution. It offers athletes money while they are still active players, but does not include all of them or those who participate in all sports.
I understand. With so much money being poured into football, isn’t it fair that the athletes who create the games should be compensated? After all, coaches become instant multimillionaires and still get paid if they fail.
Why not just pay the players’ salaries complete with contracts that require them to play in every game as needed, including playoffs and bowl games? Issuing last salary checks after the last game would strengthen motivation.
Football teams should be compensated when players enter the transfer portal. Every transferee is better than when he arrived in terms of skills gained from coaching, conditioning and academic progress provided by free tuition and fees. These costs can be calculated and should be due and payable from the players or the teams which accept them. This if fair if players become employees.
These issues will loom larger in the future, but already impact the game. A case in point is the SEC championship game between Georgia and Alabama. Because Georgia’s offensive line was not as dominant as usual this year, its running game was not as potent and it relied more on passing and won. But for this game, three of its best receivers were injured, one out entirely and two seriously hampered. Go-to-guy Ladd McConkey was a shadow of himself. Brock Bowers, the best college football player in the country, was not as effective at any of the things where he excelled, even failed to catch a pass that previously he would have caught. Meanwhile, Jermaine Burton, who had gone through the portal from Georgia to Alabama, caught crucial passes. These things might have been the difference in the conference championship.
Finally, what happens if fans get sick of players deserting and the domination of a few teams on TV and in championship contention and decide to abandon TV and stadia? If fans leave, so do advertisers and their money.
Roger G. Branch Sr. is professor emeritus of sociology at Georgia Southern University and is a retired pastor.