There will be no future in major college sports. There are several things working against it, to the point where I can easily see this unfolding:
1. The NCAA is replaced by a professional sports organization.
2. Colleges and universities shut down their sports programs.
3. The revenue from the sports programs is replaced by licensing deals with the professional sports teams. There will be a professional football team called “the Michigan Wolverines,” for example, that has no affiliation with the University of Michigan but is permitted to use the school’s name, mascot and trademarks by paying an annual licensing fee to the school.
4. Students at all these colleges and universities who still want to have sports teams will organize their own club teams like they did in the past (and many still do today).
THE END.
That would be a major hit to University’s finances. The schools get TV contracts which is a huge part of financing scholarships. Likewise, the games would need to be played at University facilities because of the gate. Getting kids on campus is a big part of recruiting, not just athletes, but non-sport students. Jeez, you would think these Universities could just get by on government funding and tuition (paid for with student loans) ... but then they could not afford all the scholarships for DEI students.
There are around 20 athletic programs that make a profit.
All the other schools lose money.
The Winners:
exas – $92 million
Tennessee – $70 million
LSU – $58 million
Michigan – $56 million
Notre Dame – $54 million
Georgia – $50 million
Ohio State – $50 million
Oklahoma – $48 million
Auburn – $47 million
Alabama – $46 million
Oregon – $40 million
Florida State – $39 million
Arkansas – $38 million
Washington – $38 million
Florida – $37 million
Texas A&M – $37 million
Penn State – $36 million
Michigan State – $32 million
USC – $29 million
South Carolina – $28 million
Everybody else is losing money and if you lose money, you should get out of the game.