Ohio State Football: Could Big Ten players get in on revenue sharing?
By Ryan Stano
NIL has created a lot of opportunities not just for Ohio State football players, but student-athletes in all sports and all conferences. That has allowed these athletes to get compensated, and in some cases, make a lot of money. Some players get up to six figures based on their deals.
Apparently, that’s not enough for Big Ten players. They have met with Commissioner Kevin Warren to discuss some demands that they have of the conference, including revenue sharing. This coalition of players is being led by Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford.
According to ESPN, there are other demands that these players have also made of the conference. They include better health benefits and representation in talks about medical insurance. Warren indicated that these were positive talks and not contentious in any way.
Having access to better medical care when there is some sort of emergency for these athletes is something that everyone should be able to get behind. If these student-athletes are going to go on the field and compete for the school, it’s the least they can do for them.
The same can be said for getting better medical insurance. With the way medical costs are these days, they should have access to some of the best insurance there is, with the schools covering the costs. I have absolutely no problem with these players bringing up these issues.
What I do have an issue with is the players asking for some sort of revenue sharing with the conference. At that point, this is no longer amateurism. This is full-on professional sports. That’s a threshold that should not be crossed if we want to keep calling this “college football”.
The Ohio State football program is the one that drives media attention for the sport. Other players would be getting money based largely on the value that the Buckeyes bring, especially in terms of television revenue. Even so, I don’t think any of these players should be getting any revenue sharing.
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I think this is a bad idea for the Big Ten to even entertain. We’ll see what Warren and the athletic directors end up deciding to do with this issue. The medical issues should be fixed no question, but this is one step too far for me.