If a new proposal from the Big Ten in dealing with the revenue sharing cap were to become the law of the land, Nebraska would be one of the few programs out there best suited to take advantage. However, to capitalize on an initiative to introduce “Bird Rights” to college sports, the conference needs strong allies.
The said proposition would need to be accepted by several entities, including the plaintiffs in the House vs. NCAA settlement. It would also need to meet the approval of the SEC and the other power conferences. An even more difficult push will get the smaller conferences, who might not be able to afford it, to go along.
According to the Sports Business Journal, the Big Ten is working on a proposal that would allow teams like Nebraska to exceed the revenue-sharing cap, as long as the extra spending is used to retain players already on the roster. This would closely resemble what the NBA does with Bird Rights, though the basketball league tends to require the players to be long-term veterans of the franchise they’re sticking with.
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Big Ten ‘Bird Rights’ proposal could give Nebraska athletics a major roster-retention advantage
The Big Ten’s Bird Rights proposal would likely be for one year and would mean that Nebraska, which is thought to rank near the bottom among teams that made the Sweet 16 in NIL money, could hang with the big boys more easily.
Nebraska may not be getting the kind of NIL money that some of the big spenders have, but with an athletic program that is routinely in the black, it has an advantage over nearly every other program. They could, in fact, make up for the shortfall in NIL with revenue share if they aren’t butting against that cap as hard.
For the moment, it’s only something Husker fans can dream on. The proposal is in its infancy, and only the Big Ten is pushing it at the moment. The conference isn’t even pushing it all that hard.
If it becomes reality, Nebraska fans across the country should pop champagne corks because the Bird Rights proposal would go a long way toward giving NU a leg up on its competition.