Should Fans Be Responsible for Funding NIL? Just a Minute

Alabama AD Greg Byrne recently made a public plea for fans to take action in the battles of NIL, but how much of that onus should be on the fans?

Oct 12, 2024; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver Ryan Williams (2) looks toward the crowd during the fourth quarter at Bryant-Denny Stadium. / Will McLelland-Imagn Images

Welcome to BamaCentral’s "Just a Minute," a video series featuring BamaCentral's Alabama beat writers. Multiple times a week, the writers will group up or film solo to provide their take on a topic concerning the Crimson Tide or the landscape of college sports.

Watch the above video as BamaCentral's assistant editor Katie Windham discusses whether or not it should the majority of the responsibility should fall on the fans to fund NIL to pay players across college football and college basketball.

Alabama athletics director Greg Byrne released a statement in an email to donors and on social media Wednesday urging Crimson Tide fans that it was time to take action and "fight back" against other schools trying to lure away their favorite players with better NIL deals. He asked fans to consider subscribing to "Yea Alabama," which is Alabama's NIL entity.

Fans should monetarily support their school if financially able, but fans have already been doing that for decades through season ticket sales, Tide Pride donations and the purchase of parking, merchandise and concessions at games.

Now, athletic departments like Alabama that make hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, want the fans to give at an even higher level. That is an option for some fans, but to ask fans the average lower class or middle class fan to help give money so that a 17 to 23-year-old athlete can make six or even seven figures can come across tone deaf.

However, that is the way college football and college sports in general are turning. And some schools have donors that are willing to pay whatever it costs. That doesn't necessarily mean it's right. It's a tricky situation all the way around.

Let us know what you think in the comments on social media. Should fans be responsible for funding NIL?

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