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Can Purdue Compete in a NIL World?

No, I’m saying I believe athletic revenue occasionally gets funneled through boosters. Millionaires/billionaires don’t obtain that status by giving money away. Some may support players altruistically, but I think many probably expect a ROI. That ROI can come in a number of ways, and I think kickbacks from the university are one of those ways (e.g. “Sign our players to NIL deals and we’ll make sure your construction business gets the contracts for facility improvements”). You can call me a conspiracy theorist, but we’re talking about $100M+ to some schools. I absolutely think they’d work under the table to protect that revenue.
Or maybe they get a dirt cheap season ticket on a suite in return for contributions to the collective.
 
No, I’m saying I believe athletic revenue occasionally gets funneled through boosters. Millionaires/billionaires don’t obtain that status by giving money away. Some may support players altruistically, but I think many probably expect a ROI. That ROI can come in a number of ways, and I think kickbacks from the university are one of those ways (e.g. “Sign our players to NIL deals and we’ll make sure your construction business gets the contracts for facility improvements”). You can call me a conspiracy theorist, but we’re talking about $100M+ to some schools. I absolutely think they’d work under the table to protect that revenue.
This would be a violation of the law and should be revealed in any routine audit. Of course, that doesn't mean it isn't happening.
 
This would be a violation of the law and should be revealed in any routine audit. Of course, that doesn't mean it isn't happening.
You’re right about the legality, but it wouldn’t necessarily be revealed in an audit (I’m a compliance manager for a corporation and audit all operational aspects, including fiscal management, for 20 of our facilities). Accounting procedures vary across companies, but all they’d need to do is identify expenditures that don’t require multiple quotes and a way for boosters to benefit from those expenditures. If multiple quotes aren’t required, the school can utilize the vendor of their choice. It wouldn’t show up on an auditor’s radar unless the difference in service costs between the vendor and their competition is substantial.
 
From our University President in the article below. Here is the part I thought was interesting? Does this mean that we will become the "also-ran", because I don't see us trying to throw big money out to recruits?

Schools comfortable spending huge donations on recruiting the best players — funds that might have been used to strengthen their academic missions — will be free to do so. When that happens, they should drop any pretense that these are “students” and any requirement that anyone attend classes or pursue a degree. Offer education, as more and more employers now do, as an optional fringe benefit of the job.

Only a couple dozen sports factories will be able to compete successfully in the pay-to-play echelon. The rest will be left with a Hobson’s choice between permanent also-ran status and dropping down into a further segmentation of today’s system, hoping that they can still fill stadiums and negotiate TV contracts to watch actual students play. Meanwhile, they will be deciding which non-revenue sports to cut so athletic department budgets come close to balancing. Maybe they can expand club sports.

 
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