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The free market says a college quarterback is worth $8 million

How do you persuade an 18-year-old Samoan kid with a howitzer for an arm to move from Southern California to Tennessee for college? If he's a 5-star quarterback, it's easy:

Since committing in March to Tennessee — signing a name, image and likeness deal with a school booster collective rumored to be worth $8 million — Iamaleava has been a recruiter and a promoter for the program, garnering a large platform on social media with his pajama-wearing appearances at 7-on-7 passing tournaments.

Nico Iamaleava is the fourth highest ranked quarterback recruit in the country. Fourth.

17 thoughts on “The free market says a college quarterback is worth $8 million

  1. painedumonde

    Further and further we travel from worth as value is further and further perverted by the Market.*

    *Full disclosure, I do not denigrate nor blame these young people for what their elders have done.

  2. danove

    I would feel better about this if some percentage of the money was split with
    team mates, the program, the school, charity, or something other than making a college player a pro in a program of amateurs. I guess the wealth gap in this
    country has now spread to college football. Capitalism. Go figure.

    1. golack

      The schools, via conferences, get TV money that's not shared with the kids. Coaches get huge contracts plus shoe deals, etc., that they don't share with the kids.
      But the kids should give back to the schools?
      If the kids get injured playing, they're basically SOL. Most don't make it to the NFL--so what....used car salesman? We need sales people, but that's a bit of a let down from an NFL contract.
      OK, the kid probably should include the rest of the offense, esp. the linemen, in the contract.
      Notre Dame ran away with it's game, yet had two kids injured in the last few minutes. It didn't look like anything serious, but still...

      1. fd

        No, the kid shouldn't "include the rest of the offense in the contract". They should get paid for playing because they make a lot of money for the school but it should be the school paying them.

  3. J. Frank Parnell

    I remember how shocked people were when, in 1965, the day after the Orange Bowl, Joe Namath signed a 3-year contract with the Jets for $427,000 (equivalent to just over $4 million today).

      1. iamr4man

        Namath had what has to be in the running for all time best book title “I can’t wait until tomorrow, ‘cause I get better looking every day.”

    1. Salamander

      Indeed. I've taken to leaving the room when one of his Medicare Advantage (or whatever) ads comes on and he grovels, begs and pleads the teevie audience to sign up for it.

  4. D_Ohrk_E1

    The transfer portal now has windows:
    -- 45-day window at the start of December after the bowl selections are complete.
    -- 15-day window at the second half of April, following the end of the spring practice period.

    With USC and Ole Miss having shown that the transfer portal is where the true value is at, expect a lot of money being thrown around come December.

    A lot of collectives will be burned as a result. Tennessee, Miami, and Texas A&M come to mind. The real value isn't in the 5-star recruit, it's in the player who has already proven himself on the field against P5 competition.

  5. J. Frank Parnell

    One has to feel a bit bad for the USC and UCLA beach volleyball teams. The PAC-12 has evidently made clear they will not be able to play in the PAC-12, and (surprise!) the Big 10 does not have beach volleyball.

    1. mudwall jackson

      oddly enough, usc and ucla don't field varsity ice hockey teams. of course the move to the big ten had nothing to do with any sport other than football and basketball. and for what it's worth, penn state, ohio state, nebraska, minn. and wis. field extremely competitive volleyball teams, particularly on the women's side.

  6. Five Parrots in a Shoe

    Nico Iamaleava's deal makes sense in context. Elite NFL quarterbacks are paid $30-60M per year, so an elite college quarterback making $8M per year is hardly out of line.
    I would rather just see college athletes paid salaries. Let schools have salary caps rather than scholarship limits. I hope this deal is a step in that direction.

  7. rrhersh

    I think we are just beginning to see what is the market value of an elite college player. This is going to be a very peculiar market. In true professional sports there is tension between the owner wanting to win a championship and the owner wanting to make money. This really comes out in sports with no salary cap. An owner with deep pocket will decide he wants a ring, no matter the cost. If there are two of these guys at once, the bidding really gets hot. But usually there are limits to how long they are willing to burn money.

    In the case of college ball, the school (the “owner”) isn’t the one paying the money. It comes from rich boosters, typically alumni, spreading out the cost. How much will they be willing to pay to get a championship? Who knows? Winning is the sole motivation here. They aren’t trying to turn a profit, or even break even. For a school with a large and wealthy fan base, $8 Million might in a few years seem paltry. Also consider that when an MLB team signs a guy to a huge ten year contract, only the first few years will be elite performance. Everyone knows this and it is baked into the process. College ball? This isn’t a factor.

    Are these one year deals? Just imagine if a junior wins the Heisman Trophy with a year of eligibility remaining. Let the transfer-window bidding war begin! Could an NFL team even compete for this guy?

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