NCAA Men's Basketball Has Some Competition

I didn't know about these new leagues.

Overtime Elite

The league, which will host about 30 players aged 16-18, aims to prepare the most talented high school players for the NBA Draft. The league will be based in a single yet-to-be-determined city, and will feature teams with rotating rosters. They’ll play against each other and in international competitions.

Athletes won’t be eligible for the NCAA if they play in OTE. But they’ll see economic opportunities unheard of for high school athletes: For starters, they’ll make yearly base salaries of $100,000 and get shares in Overtime.

They’ll retain the ability to profit from their name, image, and likeness. And they’ll receive scholarship money to pursue a college degree if the whole pro thing doesn’t work out.

Players will also take classes covering everything from financial literacy to social justice.

Paid College League

The PCL will host its first season this summer in the Washington, D.C. area. It will feature teams from eight east coast cities.

The PCL plans to generously pay between $50,000 – 150,000 and allow players to profit from their NIL.

And education is important to the league: Players must be enrolled in a two- or four-year college to be eligible. That’s also why the league will be played in the summer, so athletes can focus on school and campus life in the off-season.

https://frontofficesports.com/newsletter/fos-college-abandoning-ncaa/

I suspect MSU losses OTPT to one of these leagues.

Let’s hope for a return of Slamball. Those games were freaking awesome.

tGreenWay wrote:Let’s hope for a return of Slamball. Those games were freaking awesome.

I'm sure you will take it more seriously when MSU losses a recruit and you have another one of your famous recruiting meltdowns.

Turtleneck wrote:

tGreenWay wrote:Let’s hope for a return of Slamball. Those games were freaking awesome.

I'm sure you will take it more seriously when MSU losses a recruit and you have another one of your famous recruiting meltdowns.

Not everyone can handle the pressure of being a member of Spartan Slamball.

Serious question Turtleneck, do you think either of these are good things?

Nordic wrote:Serious question Turtleneck, do you think either of these are good things?

More serious do you really think they are competition for the ncaa?

Nordic wrote:Serious question Turtleneck, do you think either of these are good things?

why not? competition of the norm seems good?

Nordic wrote:Serious question Turtleneck, do you think either of these are good things?

aualum06 wrote:

Nordic wrote:Serious question Turtleneck, do you think either of these are good things?

More serious do you really think they are competition for the ncaa?

I do think they are a more equitable alternative, and therefore a positive development in respect to individual athletes. I am also not a fan of the current model where the NCAA, mostly taxpayer-funded public institutions, is the primary development league for the professional league.

But no, I do not think they will compete with the NCAA. Fans will not have the connection to these teams that they have with NCAA teams. However, they could draw some top talent away from the NCAA and that could have unknown consequences for the NCAA.

Turtleneck wrote:

Nordic wrote:Serious question Turtleneck, do you think either of these are good things?

aualum06 wrote:

More serious do you really think they are competition for the ncaa?

I do think they are a more equitable alternative, and therefore a positive development in respect to individual athletes. I am also not a fan of the current model where the NCAA, mostly taxpayer-funded public institutions, is the primary development league for the professional league.

But no, I do not think they will compete with the NCAA. Fans will not have the connection to these teams that they have with NCAA teams. However, they could draw some top talent away from the NCAA and that could have unknown consequences.

Fair point. Though college is the primary development for most high paying professional jobs. I'm not against these leagues or alternatives to college. Competition is good. Hopefully it spurs the NCAA to move quicker on pay/likeness issues.

However, this just looks like the the NCAA in Millionaire Investors clothing. I couldn't find the info, but I heard last week that the Overtime HS league had some pretty big name investors and have raised over $300m in funding (I could be totally wrong about this). I don't see this as some moral superiority to the NCAA. Both are using kids to make money. The bottom line will be even more important in these leagues because their is no safety net to fall back on. If they don't make money, they will fold up (unlike college athletic departments). They will do whatever it takes to avoid this. Which could lead to even more exploitation.

There will be a handful of kids that it works out for, the others will be chewed up and spit out. The league is not going to GAF about them after they are gone. A kid might get $100k of walking around money (which he'll probably never see). But the odds of a crash and burn seem much higher and more catastrophic. I see a lot more Maurice Clarretts coming out of this than LeBron James.

Nordic wrote:

Fair point. Though college is the primary development for most high paying professional jobs. I'm not against these leagues or alternatives to college. Competition is good. Hopefully it spurs the NCAA to move quicker on pay/likeness issues.

I agree. There is a problem with the private sector farming out costly professional development and training to colleges and universities. However, I would argue the benefits of professional (and vocational and technical) occupations are widely distributed and meaningful compared to highly niche athletic skills.

Nordic wrote:However, this just looks like the the NCAA in Millionaire Investors clothing. I couldn't find the info, but I heard last week that the Overtime HS league had some pretty big name investors and have raised over $300m in funding (I could be totally wrong about this). I don't see this as some moral superiority to the NCAA. Both are using kids to make money. The bottom line will be even more important in these leagues because their is no safety net to fall back on. If they don't make money, they will fold up (unlike college athletic departments). They will do whatever it takes to avoid this. Which could lead to even more exploitation.

There will be a handful of kids that it works out for, the others will be chewed up and spit out. The league is not going to GAF about them after they are gone. A kid might get $100k of walking around money (which he'll probably never see). But the odds of a crash and burn seem much higher and more catastrophic. I see a lot more Maurice Clarretts coming out of this than LeBron James.

Agree here as well. It will be exploitative like any other job, but maybe less so than the NCAA. The article mentions Kevin Durant, Jeff Bezos, and Drake are all investors in Overtime Elite.

Maybe it's a stretch to label it competition for the NCAA. At least in the short term. At most, if successful early on, they'll draw top talent away from the NCAA, but there will plenty of talent left over to fill out NCAA rosters.

Ahhh, I see your link now. I knew it was being funded by some big names, but couldn't remember the names.

Nordic wrote:Ahhh, I see your link now. I knew it was being funded by some big names, but couldn't remember the names.

I doubt Bezos has jumped in out of the kindness of his heart. Maybe the future is teams based on corporate affiliation rather than location. The Amazon Tigers vs. the Microsoft Seals with Clippy as Microsoft's mascot

I just want my college sports back like it was in the 80's. (with the exception of MSU sucking pretty much except for Hockey and Scott Skiles.)

This is all the pro hoops I need: