Most athletic departments were barely keeping their heads above water before 2020 and the COVID nightmare has really caused some serious financial strain, even in the more prominent universities. College athletics is a non-profit enterprise. There is no impetus for running it to pay dividends to shareholders, hence the primary focus is on receipts and the ability to cover expenses. If the business model was changed to directly compensate players, the expenses would go up without a commensurate increase in receipts and the first thing that would have to happen is there would be a move to contract the number of sports programs. The NCAA rules currently require Division 1 schools to sponsor at least six sports for men and eight for women. That's 14 sports with hundreds of athletes at every university. That problem alone is a headache very few university Presidents and AD's want to tackle, not to mention the feeding frenzy and sharp elbows that would be thrown among the athletes while dividing up the pie. Hard feelings, alumni antipathy and a renewed interest on the part of Congress to regulate college sports would ensue. It would be opening Pandora's box. But you can trust a few sciolists to support the idea.