A lot of comments regarding NIL and the affect this has on VT being unable to compete with SEC and PAC10 schools and I was curious what factors the boards sees as critical. I agree this poses a major challenge for our ability recruit 5* and 4* athletes, mainly because of 2 things I see which indirectly tie to our University.

1) Booster $$: while NIL is technically paid by businesses (and not the university), a number of schools appear to be pooling booster money and funneling NIL funds through local businesses to “buy” recruits/players. Seems like the same game that caused the death penalty for SMU, but now it is legal and I suspect it will become more organized over the next few years. I expect schools in the SEC and PAC10 to be very creative in setting the bar for this activity and I do not see VT or the VT boosters playing this game.

2) State Laws: while this is still taking shape, it appears Ca, Fl and Tx already have laws which are more supportive of NIL than Va. I expect other southern states to further modify their laws to make it easier to pay large amounts to young athletes, while the political culture in VA is typically not supportive of these issues.

The facts are well outlined in this Boston Globe article. Other factors at play here?


[Post edited by jjbeat at 01/13/2022 09:33AM]