Pay and Play: Luck & Rice On the Changing Landscape of College Sports | Uncommon Knowledge

The past several years have seen consequential changes for NCAA schools and their athletes: the introduction of name, image, and likeness rules; the establishment of the transfer portal; and the realignment of the conferences in which all major college teams and athletes compete—and critically, the distribution of the TV monies the conferences generate. To guide us through this sea change, we drafted two of the most knowledgeable people in sports: former US secretary of state, current director of the Hoover Institution, co-owner of the Denver Broncos, and most recently, special advisor on athletics to the president of Stanford University (more on what that means in the show) Condoleezza Rice; and former Stanford and Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck (also the number-one pick in the 2012 NFL draft). Together, Rice and Luck explain the new terrain of college athletics, how it affects every sport played in the academic realm, what it means for both the Olympics and pro sports, and most importantly, how it will change the lives of college athletes.

Recorded on October 30, 2023.

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[leisurelane]

Wow! Two very impressive people with interesting viewpoints and a fun topic. Great job everyone on a great interview.

[rustynails]

Education needs to be first. Make these athletes good people who can do hard things.

[peteyb]

How does a life time politician become an owner of an NFL team?? What a weird, waste of time and resources this interview is…

[lawrenceralph]

Interesting and disappointing. No directions.

[bill]

I think Ms. Rice should work for free, look how her job landed her a slot on this talk show!

[palmer]

Colts fandom and watching Uncommon Knowledge. DIdn't see those interests intersecting but should have given Luck being Luck

[BitcoinMeister]

Luck may have a future in politics....

[jongrant]

This is my take. About 40 years ago I attended the University of Nebraska and studied Philosophy in grad college. One of my side hustles (as we now call it) I tutoring student athletes in philosophy. Some were football, some were swimming. One young man I tutored just could not understand certain concepts as it was so abstract. The issue was the mind-body problem. He just couldn't get it. I used the "ghost in the machine" concept by Ryle and others. We talked about it and he had an a-ha moment. It was like a ghost haunting a house. He ended up getting an A on his final exam using this. My point? College education is about college education, not athletics. Nebraska at that time emphasized tutoring and assisting student-athletes. With NIL and Transfer Portal, college education has been reduced and prostituted to mere money and how to get my share. I guess I am too old school but an education will get you much further than a roll of the dice in NIL and pro sports. I use my education in so many ways day to day!

As Pink Floyd says in the song "Money":

It's a crime
Share it fairly, but don't take a slice of my pie
Money
So they say
Is the root of all evil today

[HippoSquatch]

I have worked in Higher Education for the past two decades. I was very interested in the perspectives within the discussion and the comments I have read here. However, I think there is one very important element missing from the discussion. Universities are not schools.
Yes, Universities provide an education to paying customers (students), but if universities did not need a constant supply of revenue or new members, they would not be in the "school" business. As such, universities are not concerned about student athletes, NIL deals, transfer portals, etc... These things do not directly impact a University's goal or foundational mission. Athletics is, as it always has been, peripheral to a university.

[lawrenceralph]

Don't really care. Cal football has been so consistently disappointing for so long, that I don't care about college sports.

[billhollis]

Wish you could have had Dabo Sweeney join this discussion, maybe a revisit in February.

[cole]

…sport or not, production of value deserves its wages — people are paying to watch these kids play, they deserve their wages proportionally

It’s not complicated at all. The money has to go somewhere, why would a proportion of the money that would typically go to the athlete go somewhere else? To me, as a business owner, its nonsense.

[kylepatterson]

It’s very frustrating watching this. The interviewer is so over his head. He can’t keep up.

[davec]

excellent interview and I agree with much of what Dr.Rice says....

[Tadicuslegion]

I would just like to say, as a Utah alumni, I strongly oppose what that NIL team did in giving away those trucks to the entire team.

[anDonnchadha]

An out side the box prediction: Cross country travel by big time programs like Stanford et al, will accelerate the arrival of supersonic air travel.

[mdquaglia]

At the very least, the athletes in "revenue generating" sports should be beneficiaries of insurance policies against injury for future earnings.

[Georgesbarsukov]

That's so weird how a college degree is equated to 1 million dollars across a lifetime. That's kind of &#!T.

[gturcott]

Luck was burned out on football and the injuries

[danielhall]

Great interview Peter. Terrific interaction and insight from Andrew and Condi.