Unintended consequence of the NIL/Collective era - Facilities

Who knows where NIL will end up (House settlement might be a drastic change, but then again, that could blow up). But, one thing that I don't believe will change is that NIL will not be considered a charitable contribution, so, if you can't claim it as an advertising expense, spending on NIL will not provide the same tax benefit that contributing to facilities will. The other aspect of that is, if you're going to give millions of dollars, a lot of folks want something tangible with their name on it that will be around for a while, whereas NIL is mostly done behind closed doors and is ephemeral--it's gone as soon as you write the check.

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I've heard a couple of stories from schools who had to shelve facilities upgrades because they only have so many donors to hit up for funding and right now, they need all of those boosters directing their money to players.

For as long as we can remember, schools especially in the SEC have been involved in an impressive "arms race" to see who can have the biggest, best, shiniest, most technologically advanced facilities. And now, schools are having to make a choice between staying current with the latest facilities and paying for a roster.

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Yep, and once the Supreme Court settlement finally comes down, the P4 schools are going to be hit with an additional $20 million in additional costs that they will have to pay out to the athletes in all sports. Most schools simply do not have an endless supply of money to cover these new costs AND continue investing in facilities.

We've started a $250 million renovation to Faurot. Maybe we're siphoning cash from the baseball NIL? Yep, that's it. That's gotta be why our baseball is so bad.

LSU new arena involves city so it doesn't fall all on LSU

Athletic Departments are about to tie up $20 million in players, cuts will have to come from somewhere, either facilities or shedding salaries of employees

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I've heard a couple of stories from schools who had to shelve facilities upgrades because they only have so many donors to hit up for funding and right now, they need all of those boosters directing their money to players.

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And COVID has wrecked the economy. Building an outhouse would require major financing.

The biggest problem going forward is the speed at which these player auctions are escalating. We have a 4-year sample size, and out-of-control bidding has put most of the leverage with players. 18-year-old millionaires are about to run college football into the poorhouse. Take just a moment to grasp that reality.

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The other aspect of that is, if you're going to give millions of dollars, a lot of folks want something tangible with their name on it that will be around for a while, whereas NIL is mostly done behind closed doors and is ephemeral--it's gone as soon as you write the check.

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What’s to say you can’t get your name or likeness, or your company name tattooed on the thigh of that freshman point guard, or forehead of that flashy QB?

It'd be interesting to see how donations to the University in general are going in the NIL era....I would bet they are down somewhat.

War Memorial stadium has already been doing that.

I agree with this and the other posters, there is only so much money and NIL is like a newborn with a big appetite.