Like Dorothy once said about Kansas, Matthew Sluka isn’t at Holy Cross anymore. After four years in the relatively anonymous confines of local FCS college football, Sluka became national news this past week thanks to a decision that turned him into the face of the sport’s Wild West era.
Or, as it’s more commonly known, the NIL era, wherein arrangements that allow players to benefit financially from their name, image, and likeness have thrown the everyday brand of college football chaos to a whole new level of crazy. When Sluka announced he was leaving the UNLV team to which he transferred after a stellar career with the Crusaders and cited unfulfilled NIL promises as the reason, a simmering debate boiled over for all the world to see.
And argue about.
Where you come down in that debate likely begins with how you feel about college athletes earning money in the first place. But that ship has sailed. The money is here, and now the debate must move to how best it can be regulated. Maybe Sluka’s case can be the one that ignites the necessary change. His short-term pain in exchange for long-term gain.
What happened in this case is murky, likely falling somewhere between the opposing accounts.
Sluka believes a verbal contract by a UNLV assistant coach for $100,000 of NIL money was broken, with only a reported $3,000 ever paid to him. The Rebels coaches, and their university’s booster collective that handles such deals, counter that no such agreement exists. They assert instead that Sluka is looking for what essentially amounts to an in-season raise after helping the team to a 3-0 start and a potential run at the College Football Playoff.
Sluka wrote this on social media Wednesday night: “I committed to UNLV based on certain representations that were made to me, which were not upheld after I enrolled. Despite discussions, it became clear that these commitments would not be fulfilled in the future. I wish my teammates the best of luck this season and hope for the continued success of the program.’’
The testy response statement from the university didn’t even bother to name Sluka’s agent, Marcus Cromartie of Equity Sports, but pointed a finger at him:
“Football player Matthew Sluka’s representative made financial demands upon the university and its NIL collective in order to continue playing. UNLV Athletics interpreted these demands as a violation of the NCAA pay-for-play rules, as well as Nevada state law. UNLV does not engage in such activity, nor does it respond to implied threats. UNLV has honored all previously agreed-upon scholarships for Matthew Sluka. UNLV has conducted its due diligence and will continue to operate its programs within the framework of NCAA rules and regulations, as well as Nevada state laws.’’
The wide expanse between them is a stark reminder of how unstable the current situation is, with too much room for bad actors in the absence of making upfront deals directly with schools, which is currently disallowed.
The NCAA tries to help by including an NIL educational link on its website with contract templates and connections to reputable representatives, but that’s about all it can do. Its history of byzantine bureaucracy is bad, but still would be better than what is essentially a pay-for-play model through collectives that can rise and dissolve in an instant. But the NCAA has been more content to wait for congressional action, stay out of the regulation fray, and watch the chips fall where they may.
We’re seeing how that’s turning out. In one sense, this is improvement. Because anybody who has watched college sports knows under-the-table arrangements for cash or benefits were always part of the recruiting equation. With so much money flowing through the sport from television rights to on-campus merchandise sales rooted in the players’ names, images, and likenesses, the long-standing exclusion of those players from any profits was wrong. Never again should assistant coaches be afraid to pick up a tab for lunch or a school be unable to help financially when a student wants to get home for the holidays.
But the sunlight here can’t completely disinfect a broken system. As the NCAA continues to buck any effort to recognize athletes as employees, and there are strong arguments on both sides of that question, with employee status putting smaller programs and Olympic sports at risk but at the same time allowing for necessary collective bargaining to regulate this system run amok, the problem rages on.
And the collateral damage is real. Sluka can be commended for making his stand on an important, far-reaching issue. But he also cost himself the essence of what college sports are about, where putting team above self and reaching lofty goals together are lessons to last a lifetime. Former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner spoke to that cost when he posted his thoughts on X.
“The UNLV situation is so unfortunate for the young man,’’ Warner wrote, “and as the father of a college football player has me torn on what advice I would give to my son: The commitment to your teammates and great situation to succeed for future opps vs standing up for yourself (and other athletes) and making university/coaches responsible for their actions/words at possible expense of sitting out the entire season.’’
The way forward is so complicated, with everyone looking elsewhere for answers, including the NCAA.
Tim Buckley, the NCAA’s vice president for external affairs, issued this statement: “The NCAA fully supports college athletes profiting from their NIL, but unfortunately there is little oversight or accountability in the NIL space and far too often promises made to student-athletes are broken. Positive changes are underway at the NCAA to deliver more benefits to student-athletes but without clear legal authority granted by the courts or by Congress, the NCAA, conferences, and schools have limited authority to regulate third parties involved in NIL transactions.’’
But players have some control, as evidenced by what Sluka is doing. As much as the debate rages around him, the popularity of the sport is as high as ever. But without some sort of control and regulation, it all feels unsustainable.
Tara Sullivan is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at tara.sullivan@globe.com. Follow her @Globe_Tara.