Some bowl leaders hope for CBA to help lower number of opt-outs - ESPN

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — As revenue sharing with college athletes becomes a growing possibility, some bowl leaders are already hoping for a collective bargaining agreement with the players that would help significantly lower the number of postseason opt-outs.

Nick Carparelli, executive director of Bowl Season, told ESPN at the Fiesta Bowl Spring Summit this week that his understanding from speaking with conference commissioners and NCAA president Charlie Baker is that NIL collectives are destined to be brought in-house and there have been discussions about contracts in exchange for NIL payments.

«If you sign a contract and receive compensation, you're obligated to perform certain duties — in this case, play 12 regular-season games and a bowl game or a bowl game and the playoff,» he said. «That's logical to expect. It's the way the rest of us working folks operate.»

Fiesta Bowl executive director and CEO Erik Moses agreed, adding that he isn't insensitive to the risks the players and agents might take.

«Think about the industry that we're in,» Moses told ESPN. «We put on live events. You come to see the talent. If the main talent isn't there — you go see the Stones and Mick Jagger's not playing, are you really seeing the Stones? We want the best talent to be involved in those matchups and those games and those events. That's what people are paying to see.

»Yes, they care about the name on the front of the jersey probably more than the name on the back; that's the special thing about college sports and college football," he said. «But you want to see the best guys play, and I think the only way we get to that is through a collective bargaining agreement and employment contracts that require you to play in the postseason if