Tom Izzo calls for transparency in college sports during NIL era
Although general managers are on the rise in college basketball, Tom Izzo still oversees all aspects of his Michigan State program. He noted key differences between the collegiate and professional games when it comes to dealing with money. With that, though, Izzo wants to see an important change in college sports.
He called for more transparency as the NIL era continues to evolve with revenue-sharing now in place. SUBSCRIBE to the On3 NIL and Sports Business Newsletter Although there’s a revenue-sharing cap in college sports, which is due to increase this summer, Izzo said it’s different from the salary caps in the NBA and NFL. Because player salaries are known at the professional level, there’s a different dynamic when dealing with money.
That’s why Izzo wants to see similar transparency in the college game. “I hear all these guys got GMs and all that, I think it’s great,” Izzo told Dan Patrick . “But at the end of the day, the head coach is making the decisions.
In the NBA and NFL, it’s different because there’s salary caps, everybody knows there’s transparency. “If I looked at everything we’re doing – the NIL, the tampering … the transfer portal – if I had one thing I’d like to change, it would be just transparency so we all know what everybody’s making and doing, and then, we’re not getting lied to by everybody. Transparency would really help the profession right now.
” Through the early part of the rev-share era, the College Sports Commission has taken steps toward more transparency. The CSC releases regular NIL deal reports from the NIL Go clearinghouse detailing the amount of third-party deals cleared and denied, as well as how much they’re worth, and the number of deals in arbitration. The most recent NIL deal flow report came out March 10.