A bold new vision for the future of college sports that balances professionalism with education.
The Problem: College Athletics in Crisis
College athletics is experiencing a seismic shift. What was once a regulated, education-centered model is now spiraling into a commercialized, ungoverned pay-for-play system. The Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) era has granted athletes long-overdue rights but created a shadow professional system without proper oversight.
Student Athletes
Academic priorities diminished, increasing pressure to build brands, exploitation by unscrupulous agents, and mounting mental health concerns.
College Coaches
Lack of roster consistency, disrupted team culture, challenges in strategic planning, and many elite coaches leaving the profession.
Universities
Consumed by fundraising arms race, managing NIL collectives, and navigating a chaotic landscape without consistent guidance.
Competitive Balance
Wealthy schools pulling ahead, smaller programs left behind, and competition becoming more about cash reserves than strategy or development.
The Solution: Federation of Collegiate Professionals
To address these systemic failures, we propose creating the Federation of Collegiate Professionals (FCP)—a new governing body specifically tasked with managing the professionalized elements of major college sports.
This structure would not dismantle the NCAA. Instead, it would realign responsibilities so that each organization can thrive within its proper domain. The FCP would focus on major revenue-generating sports—primarily football and men's and women's basketball—while the NCAA would continue to govern Olympic and non-revenue sports.
Revenue Sports
Football, basketball, and other major revenue-generating sports managed under the FCP with recognition of their commercial nature.
Olympic Sports
Non-revenue sports remain under NCAA governance, maintaining the amateur mission and educational focus.
Balanced Approach
Each governing body develops sport-specific policies and resources appropriate to their unique contexts.
Sustainable Growth
Structure allows both professional and amateur sports to thrive without compromising each other's missions.
Key Features of the FCP Model
Structural Separation of Sports
Revenue sports managed under FCP with recognition of their commercial nature, while Olympic and non-revenue sports remain under NCAA governance, ensuring each can develop appropriate policies.
Salary-Based Contracts
Players sign formal contracts with base salaries, academic incentives, and term commitments, bringing transparency and fairness to athlete compensation instead of the current black-market-style NIL structure.
Regulated NIL Market
NIL continues but with standardized reporting, guardrails to prevent recruiting bribes, and a fee structure for collectives to fund governance and compliance, ensuring fair competition.
Reformed Transfer Portal
Transfer windows tied to academic calendar, movement limited by contract terms, with buyouts and trade protocols, promoting continuity while preserving athlete freedom.
Expected Outcomes of the FCP Model
Sustainable Growth
Unified structure attracts investment and media deals
Fair Compensation
Athletes paid properly with academic incentives
Competitive Balance
Regulated NIL and salary caps create equal footing
Educational Focus
Academic progress tied to contract incentives
Institutional Stability
NCAA returns to core academic mission
The FCP model creates a system where athletes are fairly paid, academic progress is incentivized, coaches can build team cultures, and competitive balance is restored. Revenue can be equitably distributed across all levels of collegiate sports, ensuring adequate funding for all NCAA-affiliated institutions.
A Model for the Future
The Federation of Collegiate Professionals is not a radical departure—it's an evolution. It is a necessary and practical response to the rapidly professionalizing world of college athletics. By embracing a two-tiered governance model, clearly defining roles, and prioritizing both competition and education, we can ensure that college sports survive—and thrive.
Historical Parallels
The formation of the English Football Association in the mid-1800s presents a compelling parallel to the current transformation of college athletics. This split allowed professional soccer to evolve commercially while amateur athletics preserved its educational focus.
Past
In 1885 the English Football Association (Soccer) legalized professionalism, allowing clubs to pay players under certain conditions. In 1888 the Football League was founded, becoming the world's first professional league. This serves as an analog for the current state of the NCAA.
Present
On July 1, 2021 NIL, or Name, Image, and Likeness, became legal for college athletes. And in 2025, House v. NCAA may change things even more. However, NCAA President Charlie Baker noted that this is only a temporary solution to the significant issue of athlete compensation.
Future
Top revenue-generating sports must separate from NCAA to form a semi-pro league, allowing fair compensation while preserving education.
To successfully develop a new model, a comprehensive stakeholder analysis is essential. This ensures each group is understood and incorporated into the design. The landscape involves athletes, schools, conferences, media partners, governing bodies, and coaches—overlooking any group could derail the initiative.
The Framework
Below we explore the proposed framework which addresses the complex issues in collegiate sports, focusing on stakeholder needs, league formation, and sustainable governance.
Formation of the FCP includes the following
League Formation
Power 4 Conferences collectively form the FCP, selecting revenue-generating sports like Football, Basketball, Baseball, and Hockey.
Conference Structure
Divisions based on current Power 4 Conferences, preserving continuity and leveraging established brand equity.
School Athletic Departments
Become separate legal entities under academic institutions, managing both revenue and non-revenue sports separately.
FCP athlete contracts and overall revenue & compensation structure
Salary Tiers
Structured system based on player ratings and contribution
Flexible Contracts
1-4 year durations with team salary caps
Academic Incentives
Bonuses for taking courses; escrow funds for degree completion
Revenue Sharing
Portion allocated to universities and supporting programs
Academic Engagement & Life Skills
Mandatory Life Skills
All athletes must complete basic life skills courses with emphasis on financial literacy. Athletes cannot access their salary until these mandatory classes are completed. Agents cannot be paid until Athletes take mandatory classes.
Optional Academics
College coursework is optional while playing but strongly encouraged through financial incentives.
Course completion unlocks portions of athlete salary, encouraging educational development.
Deferred Financial Incentives
If athletes opt out of courses while playing, they can come back to the school once their professional playing career is over. Once they complete their education, they unlock the remaining portion of their salary.
Team Logistics & Seasonal Structure
Roster Size Caps
Ensuring team stability and financial sustainability.
Location Requirements
Teams must be within 50 miles of affiliated schools.
Shared Facilities
Initial sharing of facilities with affiliated schools.
Traditional Schedules
Game schedules mirror current collegiate sports calendars.
Governance & Leadership
League Commissioner
Oversees operations and serves as public face
Board of Directors
Representatives from conferences or semi-pro entities
Formal Bylaws
Covering disputes, arbitration, unions, revenue sharing
Media & Competition Structure
Legacy TV Deals
Address and integrate existing television contracts, ensuring they're honored or renegotiated to align with the new league structure.
Cross-Play Opportunities
Allow limited sanctioned matchups between amateur and semi-pro teams, such as one game per year between each amateur conference and its non-NIL league counterpart.
Player Representation & Movement
Certified Agents
Only certified agents may represent athletes
Free Agency
Defined periods with anti-tampering rules
Draft System
Formal process for amateur athletes to enter semi-pro league
Player Union
Athletes form union for better representation
Eligible Sports & Evaluation
Immediate Inclusions
Football, Men's and Women's Basketball, Baseball, Hockey
Under Consideration
Lacrosse, Softball, potentially
Evaluation Process
Business cases reviewed every 5 years for new sport inclusion
Impact on Colleges & Universities
Revenue Sharing
Compensation mechanisms to offset loss of sports program revenue
Academic Integration
Incentivized education through salary linkage to academic progress
Title IX Compliance
Improved compliance through rebalanced non-compensated athletic programs
Non-Revenue Sports
Continued funding and support for swimming, track, and other sports
Benefits for Athletes
Athletes gain structured contracts, employment benefits, academic incentives, and personal development opportunities while maintaining mobility through regulated transfers.
Role of Athletic Directors & Conferences
ADs possess deep understanding of NCAA complexities and must be carefully integrated across the evolving structure. Key questions include whether ADs remain with amateur leagues, transition to RevGen leagues, or oversee both.
Current athletic conferences should become divisions within the new league, preserving continuity and leveraging established brand equity and media relationships.
Big Ten, SEC, and independent programs like Notre Dame must take the lead in shaping this model, as they now wield more authority than the NCAA.
Conferences should consider realigning geographically to minimize travel demands for student-athletes.
Television Broadcast Rights
Media Rights Value
Annual value of major conference TV deals
Conference Networks
Big Ten, SEC, ACC, Big 12 and other dedicated channels
Broadcasting Act
Key legislation affecting sports media rights
Existing conference networks and contracts must be preserved by repurposing current athletic conferences as "divisions" within the new league structure.
Impact on Coaches
Current Challenges
Coaches face instability from unregulated NIL and easy transfers, leading to early departures of highly-skilled coaches from the college ranks
Proposed Solutions
Multi-year player contracts, buyout clauses, and standardized pay scales would reduce volatility and restore balance.
Coaching Benefits
Market-based compensation preserved for coaches to attract top talent while providing more stable player relationships.
NIL Reform Proposals
Agent Certification & Athlete Education
A formal certification process ensures athletes work exclusively with sanctioned agents meeting ethical standards. Financial literacy education becomes mandatory, with compensation contingent on course completion.
NCAA's Future Role
No Role in RevGen League
NCAA's longstanding inaction on equitable compensation disqualifies it from governing the new professional model.
Amateur League Governance
Continue overseeing remaining amateur leagues affiliated with schools, ensuring structure for non-professional sports.
Periodic Sport Evaluation
Establish five-year review windows to evaluate whether additional sports qualify for semi-professional status.
Professional League Relationships
NFL Pipeline
Preserve development pathway for football talent
NBA Connections
Maintain draft preparation system
NHL Development
Continue player advancement opportunities
MLB Feeder System
Sustain collegiate baseball as talent source
Major events like bowl games and March Madness must be preserved through careful contract review and renegotiation.
Government Involvement & Legislation
Historical Involvement by Government
Historically, the federal government has kept its distance from college sports, giving the NCAA, conferences, and schools the autonomy to shape the landscape as they saw fit.
Recent Involvement by Government
Recently, the federal government has taken a more active role in shaping the future of college athletics. From the NCAA v. Alston decision, to the proposed 2025 Restore College Sports Act, and the formation of the Presidential Commission on College Athletics, external forces are beginning to assert influence over the system—potentially undermining current college sports leadership and placing athletes’ futures in the hands of government authorities.
Any Changes Made Must be Mindful of the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961
The Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 includes a provision that effectively protects Saturdays for college football by restricting the broadcast of professional football games on Fridays and Saturdays during the high school and college football seasons. This was done to prevent the NFL from competing directly with college and high school games for viewership and attendance.
If RevGen sports are formalized into a professional league, considerations must be made to understand how the new league can function in alignment with this act.
Contact Us
For all inquiries please email
Jason@reclaimcollegeathletics.com
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Reimagining College Athletics: A Proposal for the Federation of Collegiate Professionals