ESPN’s Jay Bilas predicts NIL settlement will end transfers: ‘Players aren’t going to go anywhere’

Most people attached to the NCAA are celebrating a judge’s approval of a $2.8 billion antitrust lawsuit settlement they hope will eliminate much of the uncertainty that has plagued the name, image and likeness issue.

ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas — one of the loudest critics of the NCAA and the highest-profile celebrity who long has demanded money for college athletes — says the new deal will allow players to get their money and schools to lock them down.

To start, colleges will be able to spend up to $20.5 million on players, with the amount likely rising each year as revenues increase. It’s a cap: The schools aren’t forced to spend that amount, and players still can earn “fair-market” additional money from endorsements and other endeavors.

But with the new arrangements will come contracts — with buyout clauses that probably will lock them down, said Bilas, a former Duke basketball player.

“The biggest I think thing for me in this is now schools can sign players to contracts,” he said. “So when you sign a player to a multi-year contract with this $20.5 million amount annually, that going to keep going up because revenues keep going up in those arm lengths negotiations. You can also put buyouts in those contracts. And when you put a buyout in, these players aren’t going to go anywhere.”

Bilas said other revenue streams for players will be policed.

“Any contract for your name, image and likeness in the marketplace is going to be subject to review by [accounting and auditing firm] Deloitte for fair-market value,” he said.

“If there’s a local car dealership in Ann Arbor that wants to pay the third-string quarterback $4 million a year to do commercials for a dealership that grosses only a million dollars per year, Deloitte’s likely to say that’s not a fair-market value deal.”

Bilas addressed the concerns that allotting big money to revenue sports like football and basketball will squeeze out athletes who compete in Olympic sports, which normally lose money.

“I’ve heard administrators over the years say, ‘Boy, if we start paying athletes, it’s going to really hurt the United States Olympic movement. Because college sports is the breeding ground for our Olympic athletes and Olympic movement.’

“And I’m going, ‘Oh, so now the college athletes must pay for our Olympic movement, too? They have to remain unpaid so we can win medals?’

“If we really care about our Olympic movement, the government should deal with that, not college athletes,” Bilas added. “I don’t see coaches anywhere taking a discount so we can win more medals, or facilities not being built so we can win more medals. We’ve got to get out of this idea that the players have to take a discount so we can do all these other things. Those days are over.”

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