CFB Exec Eyes Contracts for NIL Pay to Make Players 'Obligated' to Play Bowl Games

Future name, image and likeness (NIL) deals for college athletes could include stipulations requiring player participation in bowl games.

Bowl Season executive director Nick Carparelli said he recently discussed changing NIL standards with NCAA president Charlie Baker, according to ESPN's Heather Dinich and Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger.

"If you sign a contract and receive compensation, you're obligated to perform certain duties—in this case, play 12 regular-season games and a bowl game or a bowl game and the playoff," Carparelli said, per Dinich. "That's logical to expect. It's the way the rest of us working folks operate."

This plan would involve universities bringing NIL collectives "in house," Carparelli said, per Dellenger.

Collectives, which help fund NIL offers for student-athletes, currently operate independently from schools.

Carparelli said Bowl Season estimates approximately eight players per team currently opt out of their bowl game, according to Dinich.

Players entering the transfer portal or NFL draft have begun routinely opting out of these games, occasionally leading to lopsided matchups like last December's Capital One Orange Bowl. Georgia won 63-3 over Florida State after at least 24 Seminoles opted out of the game.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart spoke strongly against the opt-outs after the rout.

"People need to look at what happened tonight, and they need to fix this," Smart said. "Everybody is saying we had our guys, they didn't have their guys. I can listen to all that, but college football has gotta decide what they want. And I know things are changing, and I'll tell you, some things are gonna change next year.

"It's really unfortunate for those kids on that sideline that had to play in that game that didn't have their full arsenal. It affected the game, 100 percent."

The only way to make that change Smart asked for is to contractually obligate star players to show up to bowl games, Fiesta Bowl executive director and CEO Erik Moses told Dinich.

"You want to see the best guys play, and I think the only way we get to that is through a collective bargaining agreement and employment contracts that require you to play in the postseason if you're healthy," Moses said, per Dinich.

That practice could receive pushback from top players who know what is at risk when playing a big game months before the NFL draft.

One example is former Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith, who most recently played for the Las Vegas Raiders. Smith suffered a knee injury during the 2016 Fiesta Bowl that he later said cost him millions by hurting his draft status.

The NCAA is currently in "deep discussions" to settle an ongoing antitrust lawsuit with an agreement that would likely set the framework for how student-athletes will receive revenue in the future, ESPN's Pete Thamel and Dan Murphy reported earlier this week.

This plan could potentially involve a collective bargaining agreement, per Thamel and Murphy, which could require Baker and the NCAA to negotiate NIL stipulations like the bowl game requirement with players.