College sports programs have gone all gas, no brakes regarding NIL (name, image and likeness) spending. Former Alabama Crimson Tide head football coach Nick Saban thinks schools should hit them before they crash.
Saban, now an ESPN analyst, testified before a Senate committee on Wednesday about the Protect College Sports Act (a bipartisan bill that aims to regulate NIL and the transfer portal). The former coach shared why he believes NIL expenditures now resemble a runaway vehicle.
Nick Saban comments on the state of NIL
“If you had the biggest, baddest Ferrari and it was going 100 mph toward the Grand Canyon, we need to tap the brakes,” Saban said in his opening statement (h/t Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger). “I think that’s what we all need to do here.”
Saban, of course, knows about prancing horses. He’s part-owner of a Ferrari dealership in Nashville. It takes money to help those cars perform, which schools may run out of if they don’t get a handle on their spending.