Possible NCAA eligibility rule changes are a money grab by collegiate sports

Let's be honest.

College sports have always and forvever revolved around money. That's just the way they are. It's the way all sports are.

Don't get me wrong.

Collegiate athletes have deserved the money they get these days, they make their athletic departments millions of dollars each year.

However, while athletes are getting rich, schools and the NCAA are getting richer right along with them.

That wasn't the point.

Athletic programs and the NCAA were already rolling around in cash.

NIL deals, COVID eligibility, and redshirt seasons were all supposed to benefit the players.

Now?

The NCAA is finding its way to grab a better hold of the cash cow.

Recently, it was announced that the NCAA was considering applying the football redshirt rule to all sports, where athletes can play in a specific number of games and still redshirt the season.

As of now, in most sports other than football, athletes can't play at all if they want to use their redshirt year.

This change, which would virtually add a year of eligbility to thousands of athletes across the country, is a money grab by the NCAA.

Collegiate sports have seen just how much money student-athletes bring in.

Whether its the Texas Longhorn backup quarterback Arch Manning or the LSU Tiger gymnast Livvy Dunne or Duke Blue Devil freshman basketball star Cooper Flagg, these "kids" can bring in some dough.

Also read: NCAA roster sizes are going to shrink, which Texas Longhorns will be affected?

Keeping the highest-evaluated college athletes in college keeps the money in collegiate sports.

Sure, the athletic departments and schools are fine on their own.

However, people hardly tuned into women's gymnastics until athletes like Dunne and Suni Lee became brand-associated and recognizeable.

Brands like StateFarm and Gatorade only brought more viewers to women's college basketball as stars like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese stepped into the spotlight.

College is college, it's supposed to last for four, maybe five, years - especially if you're playing a sport.

Collegiate athletics were never supposed to be made of 18-year-old freshmen facing 25-year-old super seniors.

This isn't to say that athletes should get an extra year of eligibility when they experience a season-ending injury or that athletes don't deserve to take home their stack of cash.

However, there comes a point when a student-athlete, who has remained healthy and played their sport to its fullest extent, should need to say goodbye to college.

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