I don't think you can put a cap on deals because technically it is supposed to be between the player and third parties. Can you legally limit what someone in the free market can make?
The only way to regulate this is to put the players under contract and pay them like pros. I know everyone hates that idea (and I do too) but Pandora's box is open and even if things calm down it will only ramp up if boosters think they are close to having "the team". Egos of rich people will drive this as much as greed from the players.
I do hope the NCAA slaps some of these programs for setting us these Alumni funded entities that are guaranteeing money to every player like Miami and Texas seem to be doing.
Come fall aTm is going to be on the hook for 30mm if the rumors are true. The SEC distributed 55mm to each school last year so just do the math and see how ridiculous and unsustainable that is.
Putting them under contract makes them employees. No way they are doing that until NIL is fully tried.
The NCAA can have some regulation as to how NIL works ... the rules they wrote covered it, they just chose to ball up into the fetal position and suck their thumbs. Now that the NCAA has benched their president, let's see what real businessmen can do.
For now, put guard rails in place that take the boosters out of direct contact, and then give it time. Seems that it about to happen:
Two Power 5 commissioners are set to lobby lawmakers Thursday about creating federal legislation to regulate the name, image and likeness landscape.
www.si.com
I've thought a lot about this and we all knew that lots of money would be going out. There are two things that surprised us: (1) was the huge amounts ... no one saw $8 million to a high school QB, and (2) that the boosters would be so brazen about it. But, if you look more closely, the teams that are being brazen about it are those that are desperate for relevancy - ATM, UTjr, Miami, USC, and others. I don't mean any offense to the fans of those teams, but those are 4 teams that are begging to get back to their former greatness, or in ATM's case to get out of the UT shadow. They and their boosters are doing dumb things to try and get there.
The large amounts will take care of themselves. Once the players don't get the money, get it and then transfer, get it and don't perform, the egos aren't stroked any more, and/or the NCAA cracks down on boosters, you will still see payments that aren't market related/driven, but it won't be as crazy.
As to the relevancy point, once 4 years go by so that all the players have had a shot at getting their NIL, I believe the transfer portal will calm down. By then, everyone will have figured it out, and most of the P5 will be able to pay the amount needed to stay at their current pecking order. In other words, Bama, LSU, UGA, tOSU, OU and the other top teams the past decade will come close enough to matching the money of the brazen schools such that the reason they are the top schools will still attract most of the top talent (although for the good of the game I hope it spreads it around a bit more). I left Clemson out because who knows what Dabo will or won't do.
www.outkick.com
