Imagine NFL/NBA salaries if fans were allowed to raise funds so they could increase offers during contract negotiations.
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Is this actually illegal though? I just donāt think it happens.
I think itās mostly a different paradigm. Various cities/locations have advantages. Iām sure the TX teams plays up lower taxes. LA teams play up LA weather. Iām sure some markets have better marketing opportunities (Iād guess NY, but just a guess).
But just outright payments, outside the team salary, like NIL? Iāve never really heard that something like that happening. (1) teams might worry about the Mchale/Joe Smith thing. (2) there is no cultural precedent for it.
In the pros, you pay more for better seats, better perks, etc, and more access. But the way college sports has developed with boosters just makes it an easier transition to these odd NIL / collective payments
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Collectively bargained out in most pro leagues, I believe, as it is salary cap circumvention.
Exception might be MLS, where Apple is essentially paying a big chunk of Leo Messiās salary, but MLS has a very different structure organizationally.
Iām a broken record on this, but some of the things that annoy fans about the current NIL situation are a direct consequence of not having compensation collectively bargained.
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In the pros, a Free Agency pitch absolutely includes a local advertising angle, where the club middle-mans local endorsement opportunities. Lets the agents help figure out the ātrue valueā of a signing. Also a big reason big-market clubs have an edge, more money to be made as a celebrity endorser in Houston as opposed to Oklahoma City (though the counter argument is that in OKC or Portland or San Antonio youāre at least the only show in town).
The difference is that those are all legit marketing opportunities, all above board. Here in south Texas, HEB, the big grocery chain, is no joke just paying Spurs players to advertise for the store at a fair market rate befitting the value of their endorsement to the company. In college, NIL is way too often a front for just pay-for-play, the extreme versions of it being what actual value did Miami athletes provide for LifeWallet advertising.
Maybe you get some instances of, say, a Mark Cuban trying to get one of his local buddies in Dallas to shill out above market value an endorsement contract for car dealerships or something else local in the hopes of swaying a free agency pursuit, but I doubt that moves the needle all that frequently, not enough for it to be newsworthy anyways.
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Charlotte would be kinda funny given the history, but St Joes is the move Iām hoping for*. Program has been moving in the right direction.
*Pie-in-the-sky hope is heās a late cycle UVA recruit, but that might not be what heās looking for.
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Yeah, I dunno if UVA would work for him (probably as a walk-on). Lang knew pretty early on that the NBA likely wasnāt in the cards so he was focused on going to a good school, getting good grades, with the goal of eventually going to medical school. Heād probably be happy to play pro hoops somewhere for a while, but mostly its a way to get a free college degree, and as a bonus its via doing something he really likes.
Austinās more focused on playing basketball as long as he can, and I donāt know that UVA is the path for that.
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Looks like Gasaway moving on from ESPN:
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I hope his wife kept her maiden nameā¦.
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Just A Gas Away Gas Away Gas Away
Name that song Haney
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Gimme Shelter, Rolling Stones?
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Overrated
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The Stones? Yeah, not my cup of tea. If I have time later, Iāll share a mildly amusing Stones anecdote
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I went to law school a block or two from Lincoln Center. Was taking an exam at end my first year. One of those doozies. Exam was supposed to start at like 1pm or something.
Five minutes before it starts the Stones launch into a free outdoor concert in the Lincoln Center plaza. Some sort of tour promo.
Folks start freaking out. Asking the proctors if thereās anything they can doā¦ shocker , they couldnāt. Anyway, the point is this, @AnonymooseHoo , I only recognize law school exam grades when accompanied by a Keith Richards guitar solo.
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I canāt think of a quippy response at this time
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Nailed it
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But Shelter is my favorite song of whatever genre that is considered. Mick whoever and the woman belting out singing is completely unhinged. Almost uncaged even
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Merry Clayton is her name. Hereās the backstory on recording her vocals on āGimme Shelterā
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