Paul Finebaum says college football’s popularity won’t be hurt by current NIL landscape
By Adam Spencer
Published:
Paul Finebaum hears the complaints people have — fans, coaches, media members — about the current NIL landscape.
It’s too much like free agency, some say. It’s ruining the game of college football, others argue.
Well, the SEC Network host joined “McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning” on WJOX on Monday to explain why the current NIL free-for-all simply doesn’t matter to the game’s popularity:
A strong statement from @finebaum on @macandcube yesterday. He says he has lost the kind of faith he used to have in college football. https://t.co/prYwr99vhR pic.twitter.com/8ewx8dHtfl
— Barrett Sports Media (@BSMStaff) May 3, 2022
“I’m tired of hearing it because it’s not true,” Finebaum said. “You’re 100% correct. On Saturdays this fall, there will still be, depending on the game, millions of people watching. Cumulatively, the numbers are massive. And there will be 90,000 people, 100,000 people in the stadiums and you know what, there will be millions of people around the country betting on football, and that’s what drives it.”
Finebaum said that there will be coaches who reconsider their futures and might move back to the pro ranks, but it won’t hurt fandom:
“All the conversations that we hear don’t really matter,” Finebaum continued. “Yeah, there will be people that leave college football to go back to the NFL. There will be people that say ‘You know what, I’ve had enough of this, I’m retiring’ or ‘I’m moving to something else.’ That’s fine. That’s not going to affect the number of people interested.”
Finally, Finebaum said there is tampering going on, but that’s just part of the game today:
“I’ve spent so much time early on looking into illegalities, and I was passionate about it. I believed college football should be run honestly,” he said. “I don’t believe that anymore. I don’t believe it is an honest game. I want to vomit every time I hear some administrator talk about student-athletes, because that’s really not what they are anymore.”
Will the NCAA do anything to rein in this current system? Finebaum sounds skeptical, but he is confident the game itself will continue to thrive in its popularity.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
