Senate Leader Thune Tells Ruthless He's Ready To Help Fix Transfer Portal, NIL Problems In College Sports

The ongoing conversation around how college athletics is changing in this new era of NIL has been the hottest topic in sports, and Senate Majority leader John Thune is ready for answers on how to fix the current system that is running wild across college campuses, which he discussed this week on the ‘Ruthless Podcast’. 

Right now, university leaders are trying to figure out a way to curtail some of the problems that are tied to the out-of-control spending that we are currently witnessing, as schools look for different areas of support when it comes to how athletes are now essentially running college athletics. 

One of the solutions would be for congress to intervene in some manner, whether that is a bill passed that protects schools from antitrust lawsuits, or even the athletes becoming employees of each particular school, which would obviously lead to collective bargaining. 

But as we've seen over the past few years, there is a risk factor associated with letting this continue to run wild across the country, as athletes are now naming their price when it comes to playing for a particular school. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune Doesn’t Hold Back On Transfer Portal, NIL Problems

During an interview with ‘The Ruthless’ podcast that is now streaming on OutKick platforms, Senate Majority Leader John Tune pointed out that this is also hurting his South Dakota Jackrabbits, who have been known to cause trouble on the football field for opponents. 

"Those Power-Four schools keep sniffing around, trying to recruit people. The transfer portal and the name, image, likeness have really transformed college sports. And honestly, I think we're going to need a solution on NIL. Becuase every state is now putting their own- you got states in the SEC that span eleven states, and every state is passing laws that give their states a competitive advantage, with individual schools. 

But I do think what's happening when you look at these mid-major universities, and South Dakota State is a good example. There are a ton of these kids going in the (NFL) Draft now. I mean that the tight ends for the for the Philadelphia Eagles, from the Green Bay Packers, Tucker Kraft, Dallas Goedert, both SDSU grads. And we had a tackle last year that started for the Steelers, and Mason McCormick." 

And Senator Thune had a point when pointing out that the bigger schools are now poaching the smaller programs by offering them a very lucrative payday to transfer, which turns the mid-major schools into essentially farm teams for power conferences. 

"Well, the power conferences are starting to recruit and pay them, so you know it's working. So, As i mentioned earlier, one of our college presidents thought it's be a good idea to start creating a developmental fee that these schools pay for. The schools that develop them ought to get compensation."

Right there is the correct way to look at this, which is essentially a buyout for the student-athletes that are trained at the lower-tier schools, but then go on to great things at a program like Ohio State or Alabama. 

"It's Like The NFL, Without A Contract". Senator Thune Is Spot On

While there will be plenty of people who think college athletics is not yet at the level of the NFL, we are getting to that point. 

Currently, players do not have collective bargaining that would look out for their well-interests, but that hasn't stopped schools from offering very lucrative deals that can be broken on just about any day of the week. 

"I think there's an argument for Congress to act and I hope we can find a way to land this thing that doesn't entail unionization in creating this sort of new business model. I think one thing you could do for sure is just create, to create transparency, is have a standard form unit, standard uniform contract that athletes, you know, schools, parents, everybody knows what the deal is. 

"Because right now there's no it's like the NFL without a contract. You know, they go from one year to the next year. They just go to whoever's gonna pay him the most. Yeah, and so I think everybody can sort of know on what the deal is. So this isn't in the opaque."

Right now, there are conference commissioners, university presidents and athletic directors who are lobbying congress to pass some type of legislation that will protect the schools moving forward. 

If there can be some sort of bi-partisan agreement that makes it through the House and Senate, then changes will be made to how college athletics are governed. 

But, until then, we will continue to see problems arise in collegiate sports, and that's not good for anyone involved.