Should Opting Out Of Playoff Games Be Allowed?

[SuperDuck]

The transfer portal and players opting out to get ready for the Draft are already being felt in many Bowl games. That said, I would think there'll almost have to be some sort of stipulation in scholarship/NIL agreements that all players must play if their team makes the playoffs. They should also not be allowed to enter the Transfer Portal. The only exception would be for injury.

All players should have insurance provided in case of injury, especially any that are draft worthy.

The reason I believe this should be mandatory is because of the amount of playoff money that will be involved.

I don't know yet if a team making the playoffs would be required to share with other conference teams as they do in Bowl games or not, but it will likely be that way. That means that they'll be more money for teams that advance to the quarterfinals, semi's, etc and players sitting out could have an effect on the entire conference.

Thoughts?

[OregonFan4Life]

Can’t do it with NIL, technically it can’t be pay for play, but in reality it is. I’m sure SEC teams can find a “creative” way to work around that which the NCAA will do nothing about. But yeah something needs to happen, I still the players should be required to finish the term at school unless if there’s some sort of hardship. If you enroll in a class and take a seat from a normal non-scholarship student, you owe it to the University to finish the term. If you don’t finish then it’s equivalent to failing a class which should leave you ineligible for a year.

[Duck07]

The transfer portal and players opting out to get ready for the Draft are already being felt in many Bowl games. That said, I would think there'll almost have to be some sort of stipulation in scholarship/NIL agreements that all players must play if their team makes the playoffs. They should also not be allowed to enter the Transfer Portal. The only exception would be for injury.

All players should have insurance provided in case of injury, especially any that are draft worthy.

The reason I believe this should be mandatory is because of the amount of playoff money that will be involved.

I don't know yet if a team making the playoffs would be required to share with other conference teams as they do in Bowl games or not, but it will likely be that way. That means that they'll be more money for teams that advance to the quarterfinals, semi's, etc and players sitting out could have an effect on the entire conference.

Thoughts?

Absolutely not on so many levels, unless of course the courts rule that they are in fact employees, at which point in time making a basic employer-employee agreement is fine. Right now, the NLRB in LA is stating that certain student-athletes at private colleges like USC are in fact employees.

https://www.si.com/college/2022/12/15/n ... es-pursuit

The National Labor Relations Board’s Los Angeles Region plans to pursue unfair labor practice charges against USC, the Pac-12 and the NCAA as single and joint employers of FBS football players and Division I men’s and women’s basketball players.

The National College Players Association announced the move 10 months after filing the charge with the NLRB office. The NCPA’s goal is to affirm employee status for Division I basketball players, men and women, as well as FBS football players. The announcement makes public a story published last week from Sportico.

A ruling is still many months away, but the NLRB’s latest move, while expected, is a giant leap forward in the fight to have college athletes become employees. USC, the Pac-12 and NCAA will likely soon stand trial to fight the charge, legal experts say.

“It’s big,” says Gregg Clifton, a sports attorney based in Arizona and a former agent. “We are to have a trial over whether or not student-athletes are actually employees.”

[DuckMastaFunk]

I’m not a lawyer but it seems like the easy work around is you require a short live video after each game with an honest assessment of how the company’s product (Nike for us) helped the athlete in the game.
Failure to completely fulfill the requirements results in an 80% reduction in paid benefits.