- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,150,526
- Reaction score
- 59
As Nick Saban stepped up to testify in front of the United States Senate, he did so not as a representative of the SEC or Alabama football. He did so as a representative for college football as a whole.
And to explain where the state of college football stood and why the "Protect College Sports Act" is necessary, Saban used a car analogy.
"To put this in perspective, if you had the biggest, baddest Ferrari that you could ever have, and it was going 150 mph toward the Grand Canyon, somebody needs to tap the brakes," Saban said. "And that's what I think we all need to do here."
Saban brought the reality of the college football landscape home.
While discussing name, image and likeness and the call for it not being "pay-for-play," Saban brought up the role of the collective in college athletics. And with that, Saban brought up Alabama.
In the Crimson Tide's first year with a collective, 2021, it made $2.7 million, he said. 2022 brought $7 million before $10 million in 2023. Saban retired after the 2023 season, and he said the collective brought in $17 million in 2024 and $24 million in 2025.
"Now you have schools that have close to $40 million rosters, so if we continue to do that, we're going to lose Olympic sports, we're going to lose non-revenue sports, we're going to lose scholarships," Saban said. "And basically what's going to happen is we're going to have football and basketball succeed and we'll have club sports for everything else with no scholarships. That's horrible. I mean, we can't let that happen. I think we have to continue to figure out ways that we can raise revenue so that we can keep all sports and all opportunities for all young people intact."
Speaking about the call for a mandate for one undergraduate transfer, Saban said "unlimited transfers creates free agency, free agency with a collective."
"Now you're talking about bidding war for players, and then you've got agents out there that are not certified, that are enhancing players or encouraging players to get in the portal, 'I can get you more money.' So now we have this unbelievable number of players that get in the portal every year, and we have nothing to control agents, we have nothing to control tampering."
Saban mentioned he criticized the emergence of collectives when the University of Florida started the trend in July 2021.
"When a school did that, the first school that did it, I said, is this what we want college football to become?" Saban said. "And I got really criticized for them. But it has become that. It's become pay-for-play."
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at [email protected] or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter or Instagram @colingaytnews.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Nick Saban sheds light on Alabama NIL collective during U.S. Senate hearing
Continue reading...
And to explain where the state of college football stood and why the "Protect College Sports Act" is necessary, Saban used a car analogy.
"To put this in perspective, if you had the biggest, baddest Ferrari that you could ever have, and it was going 150 mph toward the Grand Canyon, somebody needs to tap the brakes," Saban said. "And that's what I think we all need to do here."
Saban brought the reality of the college football landscape home.
While discussing name, image and likeness and the call for it not being "pay-for-play," Saban brought up the role of the collective in college athletics. And with that, Saban brought up Alabama.
In the Crimson Tide's first year with a collective, 2021, it made $2.7 million, he said. 2022 brought $7 million before $10 million in 2023. Saban retired after the 2023 season, and he said the collective brought in $17 million in 2024 and $24 million in 2025.
"Now you have schools that have close to $40 million rosters, so if we continue to do that, we're going to lose Olympic sports, we're going to lose non-revenue sports, we're going to lose scholarships," Saban said. "And basically what's going to happen is we're going to have football and basketball succeed and we'll have club sports for everything else with no scholarships. That's horrible. I mean, we can't let that happen. I think we have to continue to figure out ways that we can raise revenue so that we can keep all sports and all opportunities for all young people intact."
Speaking about the call for a mandate for one undergraduate transfer, Saban said "unlimited transfers creates free agency, free agency with a collective."
"Now you're talking about bidding war for players, and then you've got agents out there that are not certified, that are enhancing players or encouraging players to get in the portal, 'I can get you more money.' So now we have this unbelievable number of players that get in the portal every year, and we have nothing to control agents, we have nothing to control tampering."
Saban mentioned he criticized the emergence of collectives when the University of Florida started the trend in July 2021.
"When a school did that, the first school that did it, I said, is this what we want college football to become?" Saban said. "And I got really criticized for them. But it has become that. It's become pay-for-play."
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at [email protected] or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter or Instagram @colingaytnews.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Nick Saban sheds light on Alabama NIL collective during U.S. Senate hearing
Continue reading...
