Now that college sports has become minor league pro sports, why does anyone still care?

[Anonymous]

The big-time college sports, mainly football and basketball, have now fully become minor league professional sports. You've got guys jumping in the transfer portal every offseason, playing at four schools in four years. Signing a "contract" to play at a school. Making big $$ to play their sports and likely not focusing on academics very much.

Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with the players being able to get something after years of the coaches and administrators making big $$ off the backs of their labor.

My question is more for the fans and general public. Now that big time college athletics is just minor league pro sports, why does anyone still care about it? Why do they watch?

Nobody watches AA minor league baseball. Nobody watches G-league basketball. Nobody watches minor league hockey. That's exactly what the big-time college sports have now become - minor leagues to the professional leagues.

My view is that if you're going to spend your time and money watching sports, watch the best players. Watch the NBA, the NFL, etc. Why waste your time and money watching minor league players "in college?"

[Anonymous]

I'm a big college basketball fan and I have always followed my alma mater, a mid major team. Our head coach is also an alum and was a player on the team when I was in college - I was so excited when he was hired - someone I saw around campus and cheered on when he played.

Anyways, my interest in following them has definitely lessened in the last couple of years. It's been a brand new team every single year. We get guys who were super stars in lower ranked programs and bench warmers who were at Power 5 schools. None of the guys stay for four years anymore. If they are successful, they jump to a Power 5, or if they don't get playing time, they transfer down. It's hard as a fan to be invested anymore.

[Anonymous]

If major networks invested billions of dollars into the broadcast rights of minor league baseball and G-league basketball then people would probably watch. College Sports will always continue to be popular and important because it's incredibly accessible to the common fan.

[Anonymous]

Darn good question, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If major networks invested billions of dollars into the broadcast rights of minor league baseball and G-league basketball then people would probably watch. College Sports will always continue to be popular and important because it's incredibly accessible to the common fan.

And a huge tradition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If major networks invested billions of dollars into the broadcast rights of minor league baseball and G-league basketball then people would probably watch. College Sports will always continue to be popular and important because it's incredibly accessible to the common fan.

And a huge tradition.

Fair, but what’s happening now is not that tradition. These universities now have minor league professional sports teams attached to them as appendages. And these appendages are increasingly disconnected from the idea of a university as a school of higher learning.

This is not the good old days of all American student athletes going to class and walking around campus in their letter jackets.

I’m probably romanticizing the old days but you get the idea.

[Anonymous]

I think it’s too early to know. We’re in a transition period where schools like Indiana are enjoying the thrill of something they’ve never been able to participate in (in football). Or Texas tech is excited to just outspend everyone trying to be the old Yankees. I agree with OP that the big tv money should be shared with players and also I think it’s a valid question to ponder whether people will still care with the rosters turning over so much year to year. Maybe a salary cap and multi (2-3) year contracts so the whole team aren’t free agents every year would help. Guess time will tell

[Anonymous]

I have the same exact musings as you OP. I say this as someone who has close relative who is D1 football player who has been to three schools in three years. No commitment whatsoever in his mind.

And like OP, I am glad that the actual laborers (athletes) are now reaping the spoils of the system — not just the institutions and the coaching staff.

I feel like we’re just all rooting for a jersey at this point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a big college basketball fan and I have always followed my alma mater, a mid major team. Our head coach is also an alum and was a player on the team when I was in college - I was so excited when he was hired - someone I saw around campus and cheered on when he played.

Anyways, my interest in following them has definitely lessened in the last couple of years. It's been a brand new team every single year. We get guys who were super stars in lower ranked programs and bench warmers who were at Power 5 schools. None of the guys stay for four years anymore. If they are successful, they jump to a Power 5, or if they don't get playing time, they transfer down. It's hard as a fan to be invested anymore.

We could be alums of the same school, but I was in HS when the now head coach played.

I don’t live locally and haven’t been to a game in a decade, but I try to follow. It’s increasingly hard due to constant roster changes. It was fun to watch a player develop over the course of 4-5 years, especially at that level as they were usually not big time recruits when they started. Now it’s just casually cheering for the jersey and not feeling any connection to the team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a big college basketball fan and I have always followed my alma mater, a mid major team. Our head coach is also an alum and was a player on the team when I was in college - I was so excited when he was hired - someone I saw around campus and cheered on when he played.

Anyways, my interest in following them has definitely lessened in the last couple of years. It's been a brand new team every single year. We get guys who were super stars in lower ranked programs and bench warmers who were at Power 5 schools. None of the guys stay for four years anymore. If they are successful, they jump to a Power 5, or if they don't get playing time, they transfer down. It's hard as a fan to be invested anymore.

We could be alums of the same school, but I was in HS when the now head coach played.

I don’t live locally and haven’t been to a game in a decade, but I try to follow. It’s increasingly hard due to constant roster changes. It was fun to watch a player develop over the course of 4-5 years, especially at that level as they were usually not big time recruits when they started. Now it’s just casually cheering for the jersey and not feeling any connection to the team.

Exactly. The real professional sports are at least honest about what they are and what they're all about. A team will turn over its whole roster year over year if that's what it takes to win. They don't care. A player will jump ship to another team for just slightly more money. They don't care. In the pros everyone is in it for the money and/or the winning, and nobody is trying to misrepresent what they really are.

With college sports, they still to present themselves as they were in the early to mid-20th century and it is just total BS.

[Anonymous]

Agree OP. The fiction that is college sports is head scratching. Why are people even pretending it has anything to do with higher education? Start football and basketball farm teams and turn other sports into intramural. It’s ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree OP. The fiction that is college sports is head scratching. Why are people even pretending it has anything to do with higher education? Start football and basketball farm teams and turn other sports into intramural. It’s ridiculous.

I hope this is the direction they go. Have true minor league football and basketball, and let college sports go rec.

[Anonymous]

It's interesting for sure.

I've lived in Richmond for over 20 years and it's been a big change with the portal. VCU Hoops in particular. When I first moved here, it was more how long would the Coach stay if the program was successful. There was decent continuity with the players. Now, it's both the players and the coach that are turning over. It's tough.

Grew up in Pittsburgh and while Pitt hoops was never a national power, they did have some nice runs in the old Big East. Now, they can't compete at all in the ACC. The rosters turnover every year. It's just bad.

The true minor league (AA baseball, ECHL Hockey, USL Soccer) while not popular on broadcast TV can have great followings in their hometowns. Back to Richmond, both the baseball team (Flying Squirrels - AA affiliate of the Giants) and the Richmond Kickers (USL1 team - Tier 3 in US soccer) have great attendance at home games here and are fairly reasonably priced for a night out.

[Anonymous]

I used to be a huge college hoops fan. Now I barely watch the games. There is a revolving door of players every year and no loyalty. I watch local high school and D3 games. The level of play isn’t as high, but games are competitive, players play hard, tix are cheap and it’s fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If major networks invested billions of dollars into the broadcast rights of minor league baseball and G-league basketball then people would probably watch. College Sports will always continue to be popular and important because it's incredibly accessible to the common fan.

And a huge tradition.

Fair, but what’s happening now is not that tradition. These universities now have minor league professional sports teams attached to them as appendages. And these appendages are increasingly disconnected from the idea of a university as a school of higher learning.

This is not the good old days of all American student athletes going to class and walking around campus in their letter jackets.

I’m probably romanticizing the old days but you get the idea.

You are romanticizing the old days. I remember when my Div 1 Uni came out in the 1980s saying it would not go as low as the NCAA was then allowing for SAT scores. I think it was 800 TOTAL at that time. I had taken the old SAT as a 7th grader and not known any algebra and gotten a 370 math off a few arithmetic problems. So basically the requirement was you could read and make change. Not impressive at all. And the bowl-winning teams liked to brag about the very ordinary scholarship capabilities of their teams...but they got first choice of the literate players because of their wins, not because of the free education. Our best football player (Heisman-eligible) left as a junior or so for the NFL after several violent incidents and a crashed loaner luxury car.

Looked up what the SAT are now and there are no rules anymore. Google AI says:

"The NCAA permanently removed the SAT/ACT score requirement for Division I initial eligibility starting in 2023, so there's no minimum score needed, but student-athletes must still meet core course requirements and have a certain GPA, with universities setting their own higher standards. While older rules had a sliding scale (e.g., a 900 SAT with a 3.55 GPA, or 1000 SAT with a 2.0 GPA), that system is gone, focusing now on your core GPA and high school courses."

The disconnection was there in the 1990s but people keep kidding themselves.