Latest news with #StewartMandel
New York Times
22-07-2025
- Business
- New York Times
College Sports Commission, House attorneys end standoff over policing collectives: Sources
By Ralph D. Russo, Stewart Mandel and Justin Williams The newly formed College Sports Commission and the plaintiffs' lawyers in the House v. NCAA settlement have reached a preliminary agreement to classify name, image and likeness collectives the same as other 'valid' businesses by the NIL Go clearinghouse, three people informed of the negotiations told The Athletic on Tuesday. Advertisement The deal settles a standoff that began on July 10, when the CSC issued a memo stating that 'an entity with a business purpose of providing payments or benefits to student-athletes or institutions, rather than providing goods or services to the general public for profit,' does not satisfy the new model's 'valid business purpose requirement.' The language came as a warning shot to collectives that they should expect their NIL deals with athletes to be denied by the newly established clearinghouse, even if the athletes are being paid to promote merchandise or attend a for-profit event. Jeffrey Kessler, the lead plaintiffs' attorney in the House settlement, sent a letter to CSC, the power conferences that oversee the new enforcement organization and the NCAA the next day, demanding the guidance be retracted, saying it violated the terms of the settlement. If not, he said, they would seek relief from the court-appointed magistrate overseeing the settlement. Kessler declined comment when reached by The Athletic. 'Conversations with class counsel remain ongoing,' a spokesperson for the CSC told The Athletic. 'A formal statement will be issued when the issue has been resolved.' The deal reached Tuesday avoids that step. Instead, a clarification of the guidance is expected to be handed down by the CSC that clarifies collectives can offer goods and services for profit in the form of NIL payments, and they can send those deals through the clearinghouse for approval. 'We're looking for more clarity on what's going to be allowed there, and until we get some of that clarity, it's going to be a little bit hard to move forward,' Ohio State coach Ryan Day said at Big Ten media days. 'We're going to make sure we're competitive with everybody else, but we have to make sure we're doing what's right.' Advertisement The change could be seen as a blow to conferences and schools, which have been banking on the CSC model to prevent members from going above the $20.5 million revenue-sharing cap to attract athletes. Allowing collectives to continue operating as they have in the past now opens the door to a 'soft cap' in the form of third-party deals with athletes. The collectives' deals, as with all third-party businesses, will still be subject to a 'range of compensation' limit that will be evaluated through a service run by the accounting firm Deloitte.
USA Today
14-07-2025
- Business
- USA Today
New agency to enforce legitimacy of NIL deals in college sports
For several years now, the world of NIL in college sports has essentially been the Wild West. Under the current system, every player is essentially a free agent after each season, and there is no salary cap for how much money schools can spend on players. However, that is reportedly about to change. With the dawn of the revenue sharing era, a new agency is reportedly going to enforce whether or not deals done outside of the revenue sharing system are legitimate endorsement contracts. A report last week from Stewart Mandel of The Athletic detailed plans for the new enforcement agency. 'The recently approved House settlement, which took effect on July 1, established a clearinghouse, called NIL Go, that must approve all third-party deals for more than $600,' Mandel wrote. 'The two main requirements for those deals are that they're for a 'valid business purpose' and within a fair-market 'range of compensation.' 'The goal is to prevent schools from utilizing booster-driven entities to funnel payments to recruits and transfers as a workaround to the $20.5 million revenue-sharing cap. 'Guidance issued Thursday by the College Sports Commission said that 'an entity with a business purpose of providing payments or benefits to student-athletes or institutions, rather than providing goods or services to the general public for profit, does not satisfy the valid business purpose requirement set forth in NCAA Rule 22.1.3.' 'It then cited as an example a collective that 'reach(es) a deal with a student-athlete to make an appearance on behalf of the collective at an event, even if that event is open to the general public, and the collective charges an admission fee (e.g., a golf tournament).' And, 'The same collective's deal with a student-athlete to promote the collective's sale of merchandise to the public would not satisfy the valid business purpose requirement for the same reason.'' If the new system works as intended, programs will not be able to simply pay as much as they want for players. The goal is to put all schools on more of an equal playing field, rather than giving a massive advantage to the ones with the biggest collectives. It will be interesting to see if this effort is successful, or if schools continue to find new ways to get around the rules.
USA Today
30-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
The Athletic's Stewart Mandel ranks Clemson, other conference champions by repeat chances
Stewart Mandel of The Athletic($$$) sees Clemson as the safest bet among defending conference champs to keep its crown in 2025. In a recent piece ranking Power 4 champions by their chances to repeat this season, Mandel put the Tigers at the very top of the list. 'The Tigers won last year's ACC by the skin of their teeth, sliding into the title game only when Miami got upset at Syracuse, then edging SMU on Nolan Hauser's 56-yard field goal,' Mandel wrote. 'But this year's team appears to be the clear top of the class.' Mandel pointed to the return of Cade Klubnik — 'one of the nation's top returning quarterbacks' — and standout receiver Antonio Williams as big reasons Clemson should lead the pack again. He also highlighted a defensive line headlined by T.J. Parker and Peter Woods, which could be one of the country's best, plus the expected impact of new defensive coordinator Tom Allen. 'That's not to say Miami and SMU can't contend as well,' Mandel added, 'but if it's Clemson vs. the field, I'll take Clemson.' If Dabo Swinney's group pulls it off, it would mark a ninth ACC championship in the last 11 seasons dating back to 2015. Georgia, Oregon, and Arizona State rounded out Mandel's ranking in that order, but none felt as certain to him as Clemson. The Tigers kick things off against LSU on August 30 in primetime before opening ACC play at Georgia Tech on September 13. Contact us @Clemson_Wire on X, and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Clemson Tigers news and notes, plus opinions.
New York Times
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
CFB's new best Group of 5 conference, plus why Wisconsin-Miami suit matters
Until Saturday Newsletter 🏈 | This is The Athletic's college football newsletter. Sign up here to receive Until Saturday directly in your inbox. Today in college football news, 'The Phoenician Scheme' ranks as Wes Anderson's third-weirdest movie behind 'Asteroid City' and 'The French Dispatch.' My top three remain 'The Fantastic Mr. Fox,' 'Asteroid City' and … hmm … 'Rushmore.' (On that note, here's the New York Times' new list of the 100 best movies of the 21st century, where two Wes movies I did not mention are in the top 25.) Let's be straightforward: Here come 700 words about the Sun Belt Conference. They're part of Until Saturday's haphazardly formatted 2025 conference preview series. (Those words will be followed by some actual CFB news, some lil jokes from your fellow Until Saturdayers and some free Stewart Mandel.) 1. ICYMI, the Sun Belt is good at football now. Three times in the 2010s, it was the worst conference in FBS, according to Sports Reference's SRS rating (and the human eyeball). That has flipped, and quickly. For the past two seasons, it's been the best Group of 5 league, based on those same metrics (or at least the SRS one). No longer The Southern Version Of The MAC, it now compares to the American and the current Mountain West — and maybe even the future Pac-12. One of the main reasons? Drawing high-quality upgrades straight from FCS. The winningest three-year FBS debuts since 1978, when Division I split into two levels, with current Sun Belt teams bolded: Sure, Marshall only left Conference USA for the SBC in 2022, but even that furthers the point. The SBC used to be at the bottom of the food chain. Now teams in CUSA aspire toward the SBC. (More on that below!) 2. As the latest hot starter, JMU is also uniquely fascinating. Public interest trailed off a bit after the Dukes' 'College GameDay' era in 2023, but they still dumped 70 on poor Mack Brown last year and won the program's first bowl. They're again right in the mix among this year's SBC favorites (more on that below), and with no particular end in sight. On that latter part, I turned to The Athletic's Justin Williams — author of a great explainer on JMU's whole deal — with a longer-term question on the 23,000-student school's football program: Which sounds likelier, a decade from now: JMU appearing in rumors about joining whatever the ACC might be? Or JMU having a decent cruising altitude in pre-Christmas bowl games, a la App State? 'Long term, it's hard to see JMU being content with pretty good. This is a school that was very deliberate about how and when it made the jump from FCS to FBS, because it was determined to avoid any setbacks from that transition. Outsiders fixate on the advantages of JMU's institutional support, but the fact that it has largely translated to growth and success is validating. Who knows what FBS football will look like 10 years from now — I suspect the power conferences could get smaller, not bigger, and that's a tough hierarchy for the Dukes to climb. But I also expect JMU will continue to be ambitious.' 3. Circling back to reigning Sun Belt champ Marshall, things are not as good as they were in 1999. But enough about Pizza Hut buffets. To me, the Sun Belt's second-most fascinating team this year is the one that had to skip its bowl game seven months ago because half the university had just departed for Southern Miss (which I guess thus ranks as the Sun Belt's third-most fascinating team). What will Marshall look like in year one under former NC State defensive coordinator Tony Gibson, with almost literally the entire two-deep overhauled? This week, I asked around about that. Everyone shrugged at me. Journalism. ✅ Moving on. 4. Overall, the Sun Belt might have this season's most competitive race of any FBS conference. Hell yeah, man. Now you're ready for some October weeknight football. 🤔 Well, you're pretty much guaranteed to click this one: What's the worst program Nick Saban could've led to a national title? Matt Baker nerded way the hell out on this one, and there's also a survey of 17 The Athletic staffers, which reveals at least one of us views almost every Power 4 team as a theoretical Saban champ. 🐝 Sacramento State has relatively big money and undeniably big names (Shaq!), but an NCAA committee just shot down the Hornets' FBS bid. Christopher Kamrani and Stewart with a great explainer on Sac State's whole deal. 🏹 What's it like to raise a kid all but guaranteed to be one of the most hyped CFB prospects ever? Bruce Feldman asked Arch Manning's parents. 📰 Elsewhere in college sports: 'The Trump administration announced Wednesday that the California Department of Education must forbid schools from allowing transgender girls to compete in girls' sports … or 'risk imminent enforcement action.'' The Pac-12 is indeed adding Texas State, Chris Vannini confirms. Chris adds, 'To fill the Bobcats' spot, the Sun Belt is expected to move quickly and is focused on Louisiana Tech or Western Kentucky from CUSA.' (See?) Meanwhile, earlier this week, Until Saturday readers responded to a call for other non-Western candidates the Pac-12 should consider, now that geography no longer matters, thanks to the conferences that tried to kill the Pac-12. Advertisement You had some great ideas. Peter recommended Pennsylvania Western University (in California, Pennsylvania). Hailey went with East Carolina, Eastern Michigan, East Tennessee State, etc. Dan brought us 'the University of Maine at Machias, THE most eastern team in the country.' All approved. Most importantly, Nathaniel broke out a comprehensive case for the Pac-12 ensuring all of its football members continue to have 'State' in their names: 'The obvious next choice for Pac-12 expansion is Florida State. '1. Adds the Florida footprint to the premier West Coast conference. '2. A built-in rivalry with Fresno State. Who's the REAL FSU?? '3. In their filing against the ACC, Florida State said they would have preferred adding Oregon State instead of Cal and Stanford. Now's your chance, Noles. 'The answer is too obvious for it to ever happen, but as we have seen, the simplest solution is always the most elusive in college football.' Tallahassee is very near the west coast of a coastal state, after all. With respect to the lawsuit by Wisconsin against Miami, what should fans really be thinking about this? Fans of Wisconsin? Fans of Miami? Fans of other power schools? Etc. — Brian H., Madison, Wis. Every fan of every school, not just Wisconsin and Miami, should be paying close attention to this fascinating suit, because it could have major ramifications for the future of the sport. Obviously, the House era in college athletics is brand new, and it appears Wisconsin is eager to set legal precedent affirming that a school-issued NIL contract binds a player to his or her school in a way outside collective deals could not. If Wisconsin succeeds, it could become a far more effective deterrent to schools poaching other teams' players than the NCAA's tampering rule, which is rarely enforced and only a minor penalty if it is. But there's an interesting subplot at play here. While transferring cornerback Xavier Lucas' deal is not public, I have previously obtained several other schools' rev-share contracts, including from one Big Ten school that uses the same template language as others. It has language specifying that it's not an employment agreement and not to be construed as pay-for-play. Which would seem to stand in direct conflict with Wisconsin's assertion that the deal bound Lucas to its team. Either Lucas' contract has different wording that says it is dependent on his participation in the program or the school is saying it would not have tendered the contract if not for Lucas' word that he would continue playing there. Obviously, not all lawsuits make it to trial, but I hope this one at least makes it to discovery, so we can peel back the curtain on how the portal and (alleged) tampering work. More Mandel mailbag here. Have a good weekend, y'all. I read and appreciate all emails to untilsaturday@ Check out The Athletic's other newsletters.
USA Today
25-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
The Athletic ranks the top 25 college football programs since 200. Where is Ohio State?
The Athletic ranks the top 25 college football programs since 200. Where is Ohio State? Do you agree with @slmandel's list of the top 25 college football programs of the 2000s? — The Athletic (@TheAthletic) May 23, 2025 Being at the top of list of best things is something everyone would be proud of. I mean, having a road or school named after you or a Wikipedia page is also noteworthy, but when it comes to ranking the best teams in a sport over a period of time, who doesn't want to be on top? On that note, the Ohio State football program should be able to beat its chest a little thanks to the latest ranking from The Athletic, which took on ranking the top 25 college football programs over the last 25 years. If you're counting, that's from the year 2000 on. And ... according to the piece, YOUR Ohio State Buckeyes are numero uno during that time period. Now, it's important to note how The Athletic came about these rankings, so we'll give you the cliff-notes version. Stewart Mandel took a look at win %, BCS/NY6 bowls, national titles, conference titles, top ten wins, top 25 wins, top ten rankings, top 25 rankings, and losing seasons. He ranked them all and came up with a final tally of how the teams stacked up. When you look at all of that, Ohio State is really the only team that has stayed away from a downturn over the last 25 years. Because of that, it is No. 1 in winning percentage (.840), top ten wins (39), top ten rankings (75.4%), and top 25 rankings (92.7%). That was enough to rank ahead of No. 2 Alabama -- largely because of the time period before Nick Saban's arrival in 2008. The staying power and recession-proof era for the Buckeyes is very, very impressive and you shouldn't let anyone tell you the program is overrated because of the numbers and success on the field. Teams rounding out the top ten behind OSU and Alabama are Oklahoma (3), Georgia (4), LSU (5), Clemson (6), Oregon (7), USC (8), Texas (9), and Florida (10).
