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TPPF Chief Communications Officer Brian Phillips and Chief Policy & Research Officer Derek Cohen sit down with veteran college sports expert Michael Calabrese (New York Post, Action Network) to unpack the unprecedented mess in college athletics in 2026.
NIL deals are unraveling, schools are suing players to enforce multi-year contracts (see the explosive Darian Mensah-Duke-Miami saga), the House v. NCAA revenue-sharing model is straining budgets, most athletic departments are losing millions, and non-revenue/Olympic/women's sports face extinction. Is a super league or private equity takeover inevitable? Can pooling media rights or federal legislation (SCORE Act update) save the uniquely American institution of college sports?
0:00 – Cold Texas weather & snow day hot takes
3:16 – The crisis in college sports — NIL, revenue sharing, broke departments
5:35 – Guest intro: Michael Calabrese (NY Post, Action Network)
6:49 – What NIL actually is (and isn’t) — collectives, third-party money, no direct pay-for-play
8:59 – Darien Mensah-Duke-Miami case: multi-year NIL contracts, lawsuits, buyouts & precedent
14:00 – Can schools legally force players to stay? Contract loopholes exposed
18:00 – Fixing the transfer portal: residency rules, one free transfer, coach exit triggers?
24:07 – The $20–40M roster cost myth — boosters & collectives foot the bill
29:14 – Revenue sharing disaster: $20.5M cap too low, Title IX risks, foreign investment dangers
32:58 – Minor league / farm system comparison — short timelines kill loyalty
35:23 – Solution: New governing body + antitrust exemption + pooled media rights
47:11 – TV networks love the current discount — billions left on the table
51:41 – Gambling revenue, Saudi money, moral hazards if no fix
53:24 – Dystopia if nothing changes: organ donor programs, lost Olympic pipeline, middle-class mobility hit
59:04 – Federal legislation: SCORE Act status, executive orders, path forward
NIL deals are unraveling, schools are suing players to enforce multi-year contracts (see the explosive Darian Mensah-Duke-Miami saga), the House v. NCAA revenue-sharing model is straining budgets, most athletic departments are losing millions, and non-revenue/Olympic/women's sports face extinction. Is a super league or private equity takeover inevitable? Can pooling media rights or federal legislation (SCORE Act update) save the uniquely American institution of college sports?
0:00 – Cold Texas weather & snow day hot takes
3:16 – The crisis in college sports — NIL, revenue sharing, broke departments
5:35 – Guest intro: Michael Calabrese (NY Post, Action Network)
6:49 – What NIL actually is (and isn’t) — collectives, third-party money, no direct pay-for-play
8:59 – Darien Mensah-Duke-Miami case: multi-year NIL contracts, lawsuits, buyouts & precedent
14:00 – Can schools legally force players to stay? Contract loopholes exposed
18:00 – Fixing the transfer portal: residency rules, one free transfer, coach exit triggers?
24:07 – The $20–40M roster cost myth — boosters & collectives foot the bill
29:14 – Revenue sharing disaster: $20.5M cap too low, Title IX risks, foreign investment dangers
32:58 – Minor league / farm system comparison — short timelines kill loyalty
35:23 – Solution: New governing body + antitrust exemption + pooled media rights
47:11 – TV networks love the current discount — billions left on the table
51:41 – Gambling revenue, Saudi money, moral hazards if no fix
53:24 – Dystopia if nothing changes: organ donor programs, lost Olympic pipeline, middle-class mobility hit
59:04 – Federal legislation: SCORE Act status, executive orders, path forward
Creators and Guests
Host
Brian Phillips
Brian Phillips is the Chief Communications Officer at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. For over a decade, Brian has helped policymakers and political candidates develop effective messages and communication strategies. Phillips is a veteran of presidential, congressional, and gubernatorial campaigns, and has extensive experience working in the United States Congress and public policy think tanks.
Host
Derek M. Cohen
Derek M. Cohen, Ph.D, is the Texas Public Policy Foundation's Chief Policy & Research Officer and Right on Crime Senior Fellow. Previously the Vice President of Policy and director of Right on Crime, the Foundation’s criminal justice reform initiative, Cohen was instrumental in the passage of the First Step Act, federal legislation that borrowed from successful changes to prisons and sentencing that he had helped pass in conservative states. In addition to leading the Foundation’s work on criminal justice, he is also the lead researcher of firearms policy.
What is The Right Idea?
The Right Idea: The Texas Public Policy Foundation's weekly look at the people, policy, and politics that drive Texas.