In his capacity as a Columnist for California Sports Lawyer®, Founder and Managing Attorney Jeremy Evans has written a column about the potential for growth, partnership, and ownership between the United Football League and National Football League that may help alleviate NCAA and college payment issues.
You can read the full column below.
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Since its inception, the National Football League (“NFL”) has never had an established minor league system to develop athletes. One could also argue, as former Tennessee Titans head football coach Mike Vrabel would say, but the NFL does have a minor league system and it is called NCAA college football. Mike Vrabel is not wrong.
The NCAA and their member institutions, the universities and colleges and their football and basketball teams, have served as developmental systems to view, analyze, and draft college athletes into the professional ranks for the NFL and the National Basketball Association (“NBA”). Moreover, the NFL and NBA have also established league rules that require football and basketball college athletes to play for a designated period of time in college (three years in football, and one year in basketball) before the player can enter the draft. One could argue that the prohibition on declaring for the draft are the leagues' way of making sure talent scouts and front office executives get to view and analyze player skills, temperament, and personality before making a draft selection and spending millions of dollars.
To contrast the limitations on an athlete choosing their career pathway (e.g., forcing college and thus demands for payment), several instruments have been implemented. The first is name, image, and likeness (“NIL”), college collectives, gaming licensing rights (EA Sports), and the House settlement that all provide financial payments or opportunities to college athletes, while they are attending college and in some circumstances high school as well with regard to NIL endorsements. Second, was the introduction of the transfer portal that gave college athletes more opportunities to leave a school to play for another. Third, was the introduction of the non-NBA related Overtime Elite League for 16-20 year high school aged basketball players and separately the NBA’s G League for developing players after they turn 18 years old and graduate from high school. However, the G League Ignite team that allowed for the youngest non-college athletes to play professionally, while skipping college and the education requirements, was shut down after the 2023-2024 season. The G League’s press release stated, “The decision to end the program comes amid the changing basketball landscape, including the NCAA's Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) policy and the advent of collectives and the transfer portal.”
The NBA, even with the one-and-done rule for college and the draft, has cleared a pathway for high school graduates to enter the G League and avoid college, while the Overtime Elite League has provided an opportunity for high school athletes to get paid and play, then enter the G League, etc. However, Overtime Elite League players who choose the scholarship option as opposed to being paid directly, can also maintain their college eligibility. For baseball, soccer, and hockey, there are well established minor league and club systems where in Major League Baseball (“MLB”) a 17 year old high school graduate can declare for the draft. However, if a baseball player forgoes the draft and enters college, they are eligible for the MLB Draft after completing their junior or senior years, or if they are 21 years old. Lastly, junior college players can be drafted at any time. Major League Soccer (“MLS”) and the National Hockey League (“NHL”) have even fewer restrictions with NHL requiring an American-born player to be 18 years old with some restrictions for players younger than 13 years old.
Where does that leave the NFL? The United Football League (“UFL”) might be the answer the NFL was not looking for. The UFL is of course the marriage between the United States Football League and XFL that airs spring American football. The league is currently looking to expand and with the domination of football viewership these days on streaming platforms and regular television, it might be high time to utilize and grow the UFL as not only a developmental spring league, but also a minor league system where minor league teams are owned by the big league franchise therefore increasing team valuation and popularity in new communities and cities. The XFL, USFL, and Alliance of American Football have all tried to live in the football space alongside the NFL and none have succeeded to date. A partnership or ownership between the two might be the best path forward.
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About Jeremy M. Evans:
Jeremy M. Evans is the Chief Entrepreneur Officer, Founder & Managing Attorney at California Sports Lawyer®, representing entertainment, media, and sports clients in contractual, intellectual property, and dealmaking matters. Evans is an award-winning attorney and industry leader based in Los Angeles and Newport Beach, California. He can be reached at Jeremy@CSLlegal.com. www.CSLlegal.com.
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