Conference Realignment in the NIL Era

Conference realignment is once again dominating college sports headlines. One of the most common reactions to the news that Big-12 heavyweights Texas and Oklahoma are leaving the conference for the SEC is that this is another example of the rich getting richer in the college sports landscape.

This is not a “hot take”, nor is it even particularly newsworthy considering college athletic departments. The financial success of college athletics departments is determined by the health of the football program. Good football programs attract better recruits. Winning causes a snowball effect. Clemson, Alabama and Ohio State are in the college football playoff every year.

What is newsworthy in this latest iteration of NCAA musical chairs, is the impact on student-athletes, who were recently freed to pursue endorsement deals involving their Name, Image and Likeness (NIL). Ultimately the outcome is the same, the rich get richer. But at an individual level, this means that student-athletes at the rich schools can make more NIL money than the ones at schools left behind by realignment.

Consider the effects of realignment on two hypothetical student-athletes. An Oklahoma football player (we’ll call him Sooner) and an Oklahoma State football player (Cowboy). Sooner was probably a little more hyped as a recruit which is why he ended up at Oklahoma, while Cowboy was an under-the-radar 3 star who worked his butt off for a couple of years to become one of the stars at Oklahoma State. Even if both are equally talented, are perceived to have equally promising NFL futures, and play on competitive teams- Sooner will be able to command more in endorsement deals.

Because Sooner plays at Oklahoma he already has more fans paying attention to his social media and more household name recognition for traditional media deals. Because of realignment, he also gets opportunities to gain more followers and fans as he plays Alabama, LSU, and other marquee SEC schools in the fall.

Meanwhile, Cowboy not only misses those opportunities against SEC schools, he also loses out on one of his previous big spotlight opportunities. He no longer gets to play against Sooner because Oklahoma will no longer play Oklahoma State (a traditional rival) as part of its conference schedule.

This already existed when NIL rules changed. Successful schools with large followings in big media markets would be more attractive to student-athletes looking to profit off an NIL deal. But with conference realignment, the student-athletes already at some schools see their platform shrink. Student-athletes like Sooner will get even more opportunities to be in the spotlight and increase their value for NLI endorsements. Meanwhile, athletes like Cowboy, who committed to a school in a conference that may no longer exist, see their NIL opportunities dry up. 

-Conor