With NIL era ending, college sports is on verge of seismic change. How will schools adapt with industry in upheaval?

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COLUMBUS, Ohio — On the wall in Ted Carter’s office is a framed picture of two fighter jets in mid-flight against a blue sky. “I’m in one of those,” he says.

No university president in the country can claim the exploits of Ohio State’s leader.

In 38 years of active military service, Carter, 65, logged more than 6,300 flying hours, flew 125 combat missions, received more than two dozen awards and retired in 2019 as Vice Admiral, the third-highest rank of the 25 positions in the U.S. Navy.

Given the life-saving missions and life-risking aerial shows of his military career, his next great assignment seems to pale in comparison. But, in certain circles, it may be the most important mission yet: keep Ohio State football relevant in the age of athlete revenue sharing.

“I’ve been thinking about it since the day they hired me,” Carter said from his office during an interview with Yahoo Sports in late November, his 15th month on the job. “The landscape was obviously changing already and now we’re at the doorstep.”

This murky, three-plus year period of college athletics — the “NIL Era,” as it’s known — comes to an end, fittingly, with some of the sport’s most valuable programs battling for the national championship.

On Friday night in Dallas, Ohio State (12-2) meets Texas (13-2) in a collision of, arguably, college football’s two biggest brands with a trip to the national title game on the line. The meeting is a clash between two schools spending more on their football programs and football rosters than, perhaps, any others in America, a pair of blue-blood powers whose investments within the NIL Era have vaulted them to this position.

But can they stay there?

By next season, when college football’s more professionalized era arrives, the historic powerhouses like Ohio State and Texas stand to lose both their decades-long inherent recruiting advantage (their historical brand) and the financial edge they used in this unruly, booster-fueled NIL Era:…

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Source link : https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/with-nil-era-ending-college-sports-is-on-verge-of-seismic-change-how-will-schools-adapt-with-industry-in-upheaval-154722732.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2025-01-07 15:46:00

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