Same, one concern I have is that it becomes untenable, the NCAA makes billions off the backs of these players and their refusal to pay them, caused this. Now NIL offers these people money in their pockets, and I don't blame them, but it becomes like the wild west. Throw in the transfer portal and its like the NFL where everyone is on a single year contract.
The NCAA is fueled by March Madness (>80% of revenue), not football.
Compared to the nine-figure budgets for a top-tier athletic program, the NCAA's MM fund payout for a deep run into the tourney will only cover a fraction of that, and has to be split.
The big money is in football, with schools like Texas, Oklahoma, USC, and UCLA are defecting to the SEC and Big Ten respectively for larger football-contract driven payouts. The SEC figure was ~$54M last year, and those media deals are being renewed at higher rates.
The bowl system and CFP is entirely self-governing, and the revenues go straight to the conferences, which determine how to split it up to their members. NCAA plays little, if any role in the football postseason.
Ultimately, the schools are the ones who have benefited solely from the "student-athletes" and been resistant to change things, while hiding behind that term, until court cases and legislation forced their hand.
NIL, and the free transfer portal, is just a practical acknowledgement about what has driven the system all along.
Eventually, they could drop all pretenses, and football will end up with three mega-conferences.
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