Contract holdouts have reached college football
College football’s newest NIL strategy…
The Western Michigan University Broncos bucked the monkey off their back over the weekend, topping Boston University 6-2 to win the school’s first NCAA hockey championship.
While not quite a Miracle, this year’s WMU team significantly exceeded expectations. The Broncos were outside the top 15 in the NCAA preseason poll, picked to finish sixth in their conference, and, prior to this season, had never made it to the Frozen Four.
Boston, on the other hand, was making its 26th NCAA Frozen Four appearance, as well as its 13th appearance in the championship game.
How do you like them apples??
In today’s edition:
- 🚫 Contract holdouts have reached college football
- ⛳ Rory McIlroy claims a green jacket (finally)
- 🍻 Hanging with John Daly at Hooters
On the clock: This newsletter takes ~4.18 minutes to read (1,112 words).
💰 NIL
Contract holdouts have reached college football
NFL-style holdouts have made their way to college football. And at the center of it is Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava.
More like I am a leaving: The QB skipped practice on Friday, one day before the team’s spring game, amid reports that he was renegotiating an NIL deal to stay in Knoxville. News then broke Saturday that the school will be moving on from Iamaleava, with coach Josh Heupel telling reporters that "no one is bigger than" the program.
The QB will now enter the transfer portal when it opens tomorrow—but he won’t be able to sign with another SEC team, since the conference has a Feb. 1 transfer deadline to be eligible for fall sports. USC, North Carolina, and Indiana are some of his rumored potential landing spots for Iamaleava, a former five-star recruit who threw for 2,616 yards, 19 TDs, and 5 INTs last year while leading Tennessee to the College Football Playoff and a 10-3 season.
Show me the money
Prior to his departure, Iamaleava was making $2.4M on a contract with a total value of ~$10M, per ESPN. But was reportedly seeking a new deal that included a bump up to $4M/year, a figure that would place him among the highest-paid players in college football.
Holdout, waitttt—hope you ready for the next episode: Analysts say more players could adopt a similar strategy to Iamaleava in order to grab a bigger bag moving forward. In this case, the athlete has substantial leverage, Sportico reports.
- If Iamaleava were sued for reneging on a collective-backed NIL deal, he could argue the contract is unenforceable. Tennessee’s NIL statute explicitly forbids compensation “provided in exchange for athletic performance or attendance at an institution.” Iamaleava could insist he was mainly paid to play for the Vols, and the contract should be deemed voidable at his discretion.
- In fact, Iamaleava has a stronger position than if he were considered an employee of the university bound to an employment contract, which could prevent him from leaving. And in this hypothetical scenario, there would also likely be a collective bargaining agreement in place between the athletes and schools that places some restrictions on the transfer portal.
Big picture: The athlete-school negotiation situation could change to some degree if the House vs. NCAA settlement gets approved. While it doesn’t involve classifying athletes as employees of their universities, athletes would be able to sign deals directly with schools, instead of third-parties like boosters or collectives, potentially opening the door to litigation that could change this classification. Because college athletes aren’t recognized as employees, they can’t form a union and there’s no antitrust exemption otherwise.
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⏱️ Catch Up Quick
Headlines
🏀 WNBA Draft: UConn’s Paige Bueckers was selected #1 overall; see the rest of the picks and their grades here.
🏒 An NHL first: All Original Six teams in the US—the Rangers, Bruins, Blackhawks, and Red Wings—will miss the playoffs this season, the first time in league history. Explore the full NHL playoff picture here.
⚾ Mike Trout had a foul ball ripped out of his glove during Saturday's win over the Astros, in a repeat of the Mookie Betts World Series incident.
🎾 Carlos Alcaraz won the Monte Carlo Masters, securing his sixth Masters 1000 title; only Rafael Nadal (11) won more before age 22.
🦾 Chicago Cubs SP Justin Steele is out for the season (3.10 ERA across the last three seasons); he’ll undergo elbow surgery Friday. | Playing fantasy baseball? Check out other news and player updates from Sunday and Monday that you should know.
🎽 Lakers star Luka Dončić topped the list of best-selling NBA jerseys in 2024-25; he’s the first player other than Steph Curry or LeBron James to do so since 2012-13.
📸 Snapped
Pics from the Weekend
Rory McIlroy claimed his first Masters green jacket. After faltering late Sunday and losing a five-shot lead with eight holes to play, McIlroy came Rory-ing back to beat Justin Rose in hole one of a sudden-death playoff and claim the 2025 Masters title. Rory, who won four majors by the age of 25 but spent the next ~11 years winless until this weekend, is now the sixth golfer to win a career Grand Slam. In other Masters news: the first two rounds on ESPN drew ~2.7M average viewers (down 21% from last year), while an amateur golfer from Arizona State apologized to Augusta National for urinating in a creek during the opening round.
ESPN is going bananas for baseball. Later this month, the Savannah Bananas—often called the Harlem Globetrotters of baseball—will begin a series of 10 games shown on ESPN/ESPN2 and simulcast live on Disney+ and ESPN+ across Summer 2025. These Banana Ball contests are scheduled for Friday or Saturday nights through mid-August, and will occur in various MLB and football stadiums, including Fenway Park, Camden Yards, and Clemson's “Death Valley.” ESPN’s broadcasts will also carry a “KongCast” option, with expert banana-based commentary from Donkey and Diddy Kong (okay, we made this up).
The NBA Play-In Tournament tips tonight. The top six seeds in both conferences have qualified for Round 1—but seeds 7-10 are competing for the final two playoff spots this week. A format refresher: The Play-In Tournament involves the winner of the 7-8 game becoming the #7 seed, while the loser plays another game against the 9-10 game winner to determine the #8 seed. This year’s playoffs are the first since 2009 to feature three 60+-win teams, who also represent the top betting favorites to win the NBA title (Thunder: ~36%; Celtics: ~34%; Cavaliers: ~15%).
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👀 Must See
Top plays
😲 Texas A&M caps crazy comeback w/two 9th-inning grand slams (ft. Moneyball)
⛳ Patrick Reed holes out for eagle at the Masters, stunning even himself
🏀 Harrison Barnes for the win, sending Warriors to the Play-In
⚽ Declan Rice nets two perfect free kicks against Real Madrid
⚾ Derek Hill’s tremendous catch robs the Mets
🔢 Facts & Figures
By the numbers
Here are five stats from this past week that made our team say “whoa.” Hopefully you will, too.
- 🏀 Nuggets star Nikola Jokić became the third player in NBA history to average a triple-double for the entire regular season (29.8 points; 12.8 rebounds; 10.3 assists).
- 💪 Spurs guard Chris Paul is now the only NBA player in history to start all 82 regular-season games in their 20th season or later.
- ⚾ Emaarion Boyd of the Miami Marlins became the first minor league player in 20+ years to steal six bases in a game without getting a single hit.
- 🤝 UConn star Paige Bueckers signed a three-year deal with 3-on-3 league Unrivaled that reportedly pays more in one season ($350k+) than her entire four-year WNBA rookie deal ($348k).
- 🎯 MLB umpire Mark Ripperger became just the second home plate umpire to call a perfect game since record-keeping began in 2015; at a rate of 0.20/season, ump perfect games are nearly as rare as pitcher perfect games (0.16/season).
🌐 Web Gems
Cool things to click
📳 That’s touching: Sports teams are adopting tactile tech for blind and low-vision fans.
📺 Add it to the list: A new documentary on Brett Favre is set to hit Netflix next month, documenting his pursuit of Jenn Sterger and involvement in the Mississippi welfare case. More on the rise and fall of the gunslinging Hall of Fame QB.
🍻 Almost like being there: Hanging with John Daly at the Augusta Hooters.
🧑🏫 Take a look: Inside Pete Carroll's weekly gig as a USC professor.
💪 Level up: Take your gym routine to the next level with The Ripped Report, a free bodybuilding newsletter filled with exclusive training tips and workout plans designed to help you lift (and feel) your best.*
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🤔 Trivia
Turning back the Paige
As you already know, UConn’s Paige Bueckers was selected by the Dallas Wings with the #1 overall pick in this year’s WNBA Draft.
Can you name the league’s five previous #1-overall picks?
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🤔 Answers
2024: Caitlin Clark (G, Iowa) by the Indiana Fever
2023: Aliyah Boston (C, South Carolina), also by the Indiana Fever
2022: Rhyne Howard (G, Kentucky) by the Atlanta Dream
2021: Charli Collier (C, Texas) by the Dallas Wings
2020: Sabrina Ionescu (G, Oregon) by the New York Liberty
