THE SPORTS BAR INTERACTIVE SPORTS NEWSLETTER

                    One Shining Moment

Volume 32  Number 49  Whole Number 1670

Issue Date:  Monday, April 6, 2026

Email Circulation:  554

===============================================================

OPENING PITCH:  There is none

The Streak:  1670

The Sports Bar online sports forum sportsbusiness.com online sports marketing and management forum: http://www.sportsbusiness.com

Email:  Brian@sportsbusiness.com

Twitter:  @SBNewsletter

Tuesdays at 11:00pm: Running flag football plays

Played football: 1930+197 days in a row

===============================================================

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE SPORTS BAR NCCA TOURNAMENT WINNERS:

CHAMPION OF THE 2026 SPORTS BAR NCAA REGULAR POINTS CONTEST:

    Mrs. Casey

CHAMPION OF THE 2026 SPORTS BAR NCAA SEEDED POINTS CONTEST:

    Mrs. Casey

NOT AWFUL ANNOUNCING

I love Ian Eagle. Not only is he a versatile, unassuming, outstanding announcer who's time has come as the lead PBP guy on the NCAA tournament, but he responds to me when I post something on X about how he and his son do such a great job calling games ("Noah's apple does not fall far from the Ian Eagle tree.")

Son Noah is now the lead play caller for NBC's NBA package.

So when Michigan's Elliott Cadeau ("KA-doh") made a play in the NCAA semifinal game, I am sure that Ian had this one his in back pocket, waiting for just the right moment.

My back was turned to the TV, but I can imagine that it was an assist, maybe an alley-oop from Cadeau when Ian Eagle said "He was Waiting for Cadeau".

I am sure most people didn't get it. But it was brilliant.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiting_for_Godot)

LAST YEAR: THE HOUSE SETTLMENT

Background at: https://honestgame.com/blog/house-vs-the-ncaa/

One of my favorite days of the year is the annual Villanova Law School sports law seminar, hosted by the Villanova Sports Law institute and its director, Andrew Brandt.

Each year, the former NFL executive presents a series of common-themed sets of interviews and discussions with some of the top people in sports. This often includes player agents, sports lawyers, athletes, team and league officials, and broadcasters.

Last year's theme was the pending House Settlement. It was a court case in which the named plaintiff and NCAA swimmer, Grant House, had sued the NCAA for compensation and benefits. He did not win the case, but he settled in a way that will compensate many past, current, and future college athletes a lot of money.

The result of the settlement is that the NCAA and member schools will have a starting budget of $20.5 million to directly pay student-athletes.

I mean, to directly pay professional student-athletes.

So last year, the Villanova law school sports law seminar had a discussion about the coming House Settlement.

This year they had Grant House.

Grant House set in on a panel discussion but also sat for an unusual one-on-one with Andrew Brandt. It was an enlightening account about how this good-looking, chiseled, college swimmer became the face the case that now allows -- demands actually -- that athletes get compensated by the participating schools.

Most participants on the panel commended House as a hero who bravely stood for the rights of college athletes.

Or, he might go down in history as having destroyed college athletics as we know it.

And if you think there is a flip side to that coin, you are correct.

While the House Settlement calls for member schools to contribute to a payment pool of $20.5 million per university, it fails miserably at any egalitarian distribution of that wealth. While most schools will pay hefty sums to men's football and men's basketball, most other sports are left out.

Some schools have decided to pay softball or volleyball players, which are not among the "revenue sports". Instead, they are called non-revenue or euphamistically "Olympic sports".

So after the Big Boys get paid, some money might filter down to a couple women's programs. But that leaves lacrosse, fencing, swimming, gymnastics, track, chess, and Key Club left out.

Key Club?  Why not?  That is a school activity somewhere on par with football. Bad example? How different are the rowers -- who will not get paid -- from the football team which will get compensated.

The Olympic Sport athletes are apparently not worthy of payment because they don't generate revenues nor eyeballs.

THE MEDIA DON'T GET THAT NIL IS JUST SO 2024.

Let's get one thing straight.

NIL has nothing on the House Settlement.

While most sports commentators and TV sports talk shows are focused (obsessed?) with Name, Image, and Likeness issues and the money that brings to college players, they rarely mention how the House settlement allows for direct pay-for-play by the players.

I have to credit Brandt for being so timely. When NIL was an emerging thing, he dedicated his sports law seminar to that topic. When The House Settlement became an equally important deal as it neared approval in the summer of 2026, he morphed the conversation towards the significance of House.

But the media don't get it. They are hung up on NIL as if NIL is the only source of pay for players.

Far from it.

Colin Cowherd on his "The Herd" talkie on FS1 how this to say the day after Michigan's win in the NCAA Tournament:

   "How is NIL and the transfer portal working for your school?"

He went on to describe the "model" where alums give money to NIL to pay the players.

But NIL is so 2024. As The Sports Bar started to cover last year, there is now a direct pay-for-play model in place. And that's thanks to Grant House.

During the NIT basketball tournament final between Oklahoma and West Virginia, announcer Gus Johnson repeatedly mentioned the incentive for the winning team -- $300,000 in "NIL money". I'm not sure if that really is NIL or coming from some other pool.

A guest on a TV sports talkie said that success in college basketball is about "roster construction, NIL money, and turnover."

Oh, really? Ever hear about the legal settlement which requires schools to distribute $20.5 million to its top programs?

I guess the media folks need to attend the same sports law seminars that I am.

FOR THE GLORY,

See ya somewhere online.

  -- Brian, somewhere near Israel

===============================================================

For Free Subscription/Removal or Comments: Brian@sportsbusiness.com

The Sports Bar online sports forum: http://www.sportsbusiness.com

Copyright 2026 The Sports Bar Interactive Sports Newsletter. All rights reserved.  No pictures, accounts, or descriptions of this newsletter may be reproduced without the express written permission of Major League Baseball.