Vanderbilt is working on NIL and we may not be in the Top 25 or 50 or maybe even 100 schools for NIL opportunities, but we obviously have a lot going for us.
There is certainly more business activity (that could generate legitimate NIL deals) in Nashville than in 95% or more of the cities that are home to NCAA Division I programs in various sports.
But every time a highly-rated athlete expresses an interest in Vanderbilt, someone here writes something along the lines of: “Don’t get excited about it. Another school will make a better offer.”
The Japanese high school baseball star case is a good example. Some website suggests the guy favors Vanderbilt. Our own fans say, “It’s not going to happen.”
And then I read the Estes story about Chase Burns dumping the Vols to finish his collegiate career at Wake Forest, a potential founding member of the Magnolia League.
https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports ... 246208007/
It’s not ALL about how many wealthy alumni fans are out there. Let’s keep that in mind and stop giving our recruits second thoughts.
Nix the NIL talk
For fan discussion of the glorious Vanderbilt Commodore baseball program.
- geeznotagain
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Re: Nix the NIL talk
Post by geeznotagain »
My thinking on this subject is far different from yours. I'm much more pessimistic. Correct me if I'm wrong but, using your numbers, let's say year after we get the 50th or 60th best NIL-related baseball players. The SEC is the top baseball school in the nation, so how many of those 49-59 schools that out-recruited us in the NIL arena are in the SEC. Maybe 90%? Then we have lost ground, in the NIL world, to 90% of the rest of the league. How can I not worry about that happening?
Re: Nix the NIL talk
Business activity in Nashville that generate legitimate NIL deals...
Business doesn't have anything to do with NIL. The local car dealer isn't giving a star athlete $500,000 because he really thinks he's getting half a mil worth of marketing value out of the player's radio spot. The car dealer is obsessed with his alma mater's sports and he's willing to pony up the cash to bring in a big time player. The radio spot is just to maintain the pretense of amateur sports and make what used to be an illegal bribe into a tax deductible business expense.
The "business" part of NIL is a smoke screen.
Business doesn't have anything to do with NIL. The local car dealer isn't giving a star athlete $500,000 because he really thinks he's getting half a mil worth of marketing value out of the player's radio spot. The car dealer is obsessed with his alma mater's sports and he's willing to pony up the cash to bring in a big time player. The radio spot is just to maintain the pretense of amateur sports and make what used to be an illegal bribe into a tax deductible business expense.
The "business" part of NIL is a smoke screen.