{"id":111343,"date":"2025-08-01T22:05:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T22:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/111343\/"},"modified":"2025-08-01T22:05:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T22:05:11","slug":"in-college-sports-billion-dollar-arms-race-philly-schools-are-being-left-behind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/111343\/","title":{"rendered":"In College Sports’ Billion-Dollar Arms Race, Philly Schools Are Being Left Behind"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLongform<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Villanova, Temple, and others face a harsh new reality: Without deep pockets, even winning might not be enough.<\/p>\n

\t\t\tGet a compelling long read and must-have lifestyle tips in your inbox every Sunday morning \u2014 great with coffee!\t\t<\/p>\n

\"ncaa<\/p>\n

Big financial changes have come to college sports, and Philadelphia schools are being left in the dust. \/ Photo-illustration by Leticia R. Albano; photographs via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Villanova athletic director Eric Roedl is not wearing a green tie this early May morning as an homage to his former employer, the University of Oregon. Even though he might not have intended it this way, it\u2019s more of a symbol of the current money-driven college sports climate. <\/p>\n

Roedl became AD in January. Two months later he fired men\u2019s basketball coach Kyle Neptune, and two weeks after that replaced him with Maryland\u2019s Kevin Willard. More important, however, than filling the most visible athletic role on Villanova\u2019s campus is that he has worked to raise the money necessary to fund the payment of Nova\u2019s basketball players, the result of a landmark revenue-sharing settlement<\/a> forged after the NCAA, the governing body of college sports, lost a $2.8 billion lawsuit about allowing athletes to profit from their names, images, and likenesses.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a wonder, then, that Roedl isn\u2019t dressed entirely in green.<\/p>\n

Roedl wants to make sure his men\u2019s and women\u2019s basketball programs are positioned to compete nationally, and that\u2019s going to take a lot of cash. With some athletes receiving millions in guarantees from schools (Brigham Young reportedly<\/a> will pay freshman hoops player AJ Dybantsa $7 million), Roedl might need a telethon to raise enough money to help the Wildcats. It\u2019s going to be even more difficult for the rest of the City Six colleges \u2014 Drexel, La Salle, Penn, St. Joseph\u2019s, and Temple \u2014 to reach that level.<\/p>\n

As part of the revenue-sharing settlement, schools will be allowed to compensate their athletes up to $20.5 million annually across all sports. Colleges in the so-called Power Four conferences \u2014 Big Ten, Southeastern, Atlantic Coast, and Big 12 \u2014 have the resources to do that, thanks to media rights deals tied to their strong football programs. Just about everybody else is way behind them. And the Power Four conferences want even more money, which translates to on-field success and off-field power.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a summary to all of this, the color is green,\u201d says former Temple and La Salle AD Bill Bradshaw, who now advises schools and coaches. \u201cThat\u2019s the only thing that matters. When all is said and done, those who have the cash and the football TV money are the ones who will survive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022<\/p>\n

Temple is the only City Six school that plays in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level. But it is part of the American Athletic Conference, a non\u2013Power Four confederation. Temple took in $9.7 million in revenue from the conference last year. By comparison, Big Ten members will receive up to $75 million in media rights each this year. Schools will also earn money from NCAA football and basketball tournaments, as well as conference championships. The Big East Conference, of which Villanova is one of 11 members, is slated to receive about $80 million in media rights this year, per sports business journalist John Ourand<\/a>. La Salle and St. Joe\u2019s of the Atlantic 10 receive less than that. Drexel\u2019s and Penn\u2019s conference payouts are negligible. Drexel\u2019s entire conference, the Coastal Athletic Association, signed a four-year, $10 million deal in 2023<\/a>. That\u2019s loose change for Power Four schools.<\/p>\n

According to the U.S. Department of Education<\/a>, Temple\u2019s 2024 athletic budget was $70 million; Villanova spent $61 million. Meanwhile, Ohio State shelled out $262 million, and Alabama\u2019s budget was $243 million. It\u2019s hardly a fair fight.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe NIL settlement is the last nail in the coffin,\u201d says Temple professor Michael Leeds, who studies the economics of sports. \u201cWe\u2019re going to have haves and have-nots.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NCAA basketball tournament is a perfect example, one especially important to local schools. If the powerhouse conferences limit \u2014 or eliminate \u2014 access to it for mid-major and smaller schools, like most of the City Six, in the name of funneling the tourney\u2019s payouts ($2 million for reaching the tournament, $2 million per win) to their members, local schools could leave Division I. Tournament access for all 365 Division I programs, says Drexel AD Maisha Kelly, is \u201cthe thing tethering schools together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

The NCAA has always had problems, but it was functioning and had a good balance between winning and academics. It feels now that the conversation is exclusively about money. That upsets me. I\u2019m sorry, but it does.\u201d \u2014 Temple University president John Fry<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The doomsday scenario involves the Power Four schools breaking away from the NCAA and forming a superconference of 70 to 80 teams. That would end Division I and drive almost all the top athletes to big schools. For now, local colleges are trying to raise enough money to appeal to good players so they can win and stay relevant. \u201cI would say it\u2019s 90 percent money and 10 percent the school,\u201d Willard says of recruiting these days.<\/p>\n

Local teams\u2019 recent struggles don\u2019t help. No City Six school has played in the NCAA men\u2019s basketball tournament in three years, after a 46-year run during which at least one school participated. Even Villanova, which won national titles in 2016 and 2018 and reached the Final Four in 2022, has floundered recently. Temple\u2019s football team hasn\u2019t won more than three games in a season since 2019.<\/p>\n

There has been success. The St. Joe\u2019s field hockey team reached the NCAA championship game last fall. Penn\u2019s women\u2019s lacrosse team has been a perennial NCAA tournament participant over the past decade-plus, and Drexel\u2019s men\u2019s rowing team has been ranked in the top 20 for 10 years. Nova\u2019s women\u2019s hoops team reached the Sweet 16 in 2023, and the school\u2019s track squads have excelled for more than 50 years.<\/p>\n

In today\u2019s college sports world, though, those achievements don\u2019t bring money or power. Football and, to a lesser extent, men\u2019s basketball do. The NCAA has piddling influence on FBS football and a dwindling impact on other sports, thanks to its losses in court. That has created a climate of urgency for Philadelphia-area colleges. If they can\u2019t find the money to compete, or the big boys keep changing the rules to give themselves more power, local college sports could become little more than sweaty extracurricular activities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe NCAA has always had problems, but it was functioning and had a good balance between winning and academics,\u201d says Temple president John Fry<\/a>. \u201cIt feels now that the conversation is exclusively about money. That upsets me. I\u2019m sorry, but it does.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022<\/p>\n

To see how we got here, we first have to look back.<\/p>\n

For decades, schools could provide a scholarship \u2014 tuition, room, and board \u2014 to Division I college athletes, who received nothing to cover discretionary expenses. The term student-athlete was coined by the NCAA in the 1950s to prevent players from being considered employees so they couldn\u2019t claim workmen\u2019s compensation benefits if injured. They had no input and certainly no share of the revenue.<\/p>\n

The NCAA controlled everything about college sports, including TV rights. In 1981, Oklahoma and Georgia sued the NCAA on behalf of the College Football Association, which included 61 big-time gridiron schools, about 30 of which had signed a TV deal with NBC \u2014 without NCAA approval. The schools won the right to negotiate their own contracts and pushed the NCAA out of the big-time business of college football.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince that suit, there has been a steady move by the big schools to amass more wealth and concentrate more wealth in a small group of schools,\u201d says Leeds, the economics professor.<\/p>\n

It took more than 30 years for athletes to get some freedom. In 2014, former UCLA men\u2019s basketball player Ed O\u2019Bannon successfully sued the NCAA<\/a>, claiming it had conspired to prevent athletes from profiting from the use of their likenesses in video games and on TV broadcasts. The verdict allowed athletes to earn up to $5,000 per year in additional compensation through use of their names, images, and likenesses (NIL).<\/p>\n

\n

It\u2019s very much a Moneyball situation. You have to look at your resources and decide what you\u2019re willing to do to keep players.\u201d \u2014 Temple\u2019s head football coach K.C. Keeler<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Five years later, California became the first state<\/a> to allow athletes to earn as much as possible from NIL deals. Other state legislatures followed, and in 2021, the NCAA \u2014 against its will \u2014 permitted universal NIL deals. Last year, the NCAA settled a class action suit<\/a> with plaintiffs Grant House, an Arizona State swimmer, and then\u2013Oregon basketball player Sedona Prince on behalf of more than 10,000 athletes for compensation from 2016 forward because NCAA rules limiting athlete compensation constituted a restraint of trade. The House settlement includes provisions for revenue sharing of $20.5 million per school annually, but athletes are still not school employees. The number will go up each year, while the $2.8 billion paid to former athletes will come from smaller payouts for NCAA Tournament participants over the next 10 years.<\/p>\n

In 2018, the NCAA instituted the transfer portal to formalize the process by which athletes switch schools, but transfers had to sit out a year. Three years later, the NCAA allowed one free transfer that didn\u2019t include that penalty. Then, in 2024, the courts forced the NCAA to allow unlimited athlete transfers<\/a> without sitting out. That created an annual marketplace for talent, with high-revenue football schools able to lure the best players in all sports.<\/p>\n

\u201cSchools in the big conferences more and more will decide what they\u2019re doing on their own,\u201d says Jeffrey Kessler, a partner at New York\u2013based Winston & Strawn and the co-lead counsel for plaintiffs in the House lawsuit. \u201cThey want more and more autonomy, especially with the College Football Playoff.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not good news for Temple, which is trying to rebuild its gridiron fortunes.<\/p>\n

\u2022<\/p>\n

When Temple hired Al Golden in 2006, it had posted 15 straight losing seasons and had lousy attendance. Golden established a foundation that would lead to six bowl appearances over the next nine seasons. In 2015, ESPN\u2019s College GameDay program came to Philadelphia ahead of Temple\u2019s game against Notre Dame<\/a> at sold-out Lincoln Financial Field.<\/p>\n

Just a few years later, the program bottomed out.<\/p>\n

On December 1st, K.C. Keeler took over as Temple head coach, inheriting a program that has had five straight losing seasons and attendance woes. Since his hiring, Keeler has persuaded the university to increase monthly room-and-board stipends for players and to improve the training table fare. He\u2019s also spruced up Temple\u2019s football facility.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s helpful, but the Owls are lagging<\/a> in the most important part of college athletics. Keeler must also afford recruits, develop them into contributors, and keep them from transferring for bigger paydays. \u201cAlmost every player we lost in recruiting, we got outbid,\u201d Keeler says of this offseason. Every Tuesday, Keeler calls alumni and asks them to help Temple compensate its players. That means increased donations. \u201cIt\u2019s very much a Moneyball situation,\u201d he says. \u201cYou have to look at your resources and decide what you\u2019re willing to do to keep players.\u201d<\/p>\n

Power Four schools are expected to devote up to 75 percent of their $20.5 million total to football. In contrast, Temple\u2019s conference, the AAC, is mandating that members spend at least $10 million across all sports over the next three years \u2014 total. Keeler will offer all players some money \u2014 \u201cWe tell them, \u2018You\u2019re not going to get much at Temple, but we can make your life more comfortable,\u2019\u201d he says \u2014 and the chance to play.<\/p>\n

Senior defensive tackle Demerick Morris transferred to Oklahoma State after Temple fired former head coach Stan Drayton<\/a> in November. Morris went through winter workouts in Stillwater but didn\u2019t \u201cfeel welcome\u201d there, he says. He contacted Keeler and asked to return to Temple.<\/p>\n

Morris admits Oklahoma State offered him more money than he\u2019ll get at Temple. But he will likely play more for the Owls.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I went to Oklahoma State, the money was cool, but it wasn\u2019t a good fit, especially position-wise,\u201d Morris says. \u201cI was third or fourth on the depth chart. I was getting money, but I didn\u2019t want to waste my last year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morris\u2019s story is encouraging, but Temple still could become something of a developmental program for bigger schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s likely we\u2019ll bring people in who won\u2019t be with us the whole four years,\u201d Temple athletic director Arthur Johnson admits.<\/p>\n

Former Temple assistant Gabe Infante thinks the Owls can be successful if the school\u2019s administration shows \u201can investment in the program and that it\u2019s an important part of the institution.\u201d Fry insists it is. Although while president at Drexel he wrote a 2016 piece in the Wall Street Journal<\/a> titled \u201cWe\u2019re Glad We Say No to College Football,\u201d he understands the sport\u2019s value at Temple. \u201cWe are committed to the program, committed to K.C., and committed to the long term,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Fry has told the board and alumni groups that to be competitive in this changing landscape, they need to support athletics, particularly football, at higher levels: \u201cI don\u2019t think Temple has done enough asking,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Other City Six schools are certainly asking \u2014 and also getting creative.<\/p>\n

\u2022<\/p>\n

In late April, the St. Joseph\u2019s athletic department hosted a symposium<\/a> titled \u201cNavigating Our New Normal: Settlement Implementation and a Future Focus.\u201d The symposium, which was created by SJU athletic director Jill Bodensteiner, brought together more than 40 mid-major schools from across the country that do not have big-time football (if they have it at all) to brainstorm.<\/p>\n

Afterward, on a questionnaire provided to the 111 participants, the most popular comment was \u201cCan we do this every year?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we go to professional conferences, our voices get drowned out,\u201d Bodensteiner says. \u201cBig schools are discussing how to share $20 million with athletes. The discussion doesn\u2019t include us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mid-major schools don\u2019t have the budgets to attract and retain top players, so they have limited sway in the administration of college athletics. And the influence they do have could dwindle. On May 7th, Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports reported<\/a> that big schools presented a structure to the NCAA that would weight the 67 Power Four members\u2019 votes to between 51 and 65 percent of the 365-school total.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bigger risk [than money] is if somehow the governance model changes, and the Power Four schools say, \u2018We don\u2019t want you in the club anymore,\u2019\u201d Bodensteiner says. \u201cIn that instance, access to championships goes away.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2024-25, smaller schools won NCAA titles in men\u2019s lacrosse (Cornell), men\u2019s ice hockey (Western Michigan), and men\u2019s soccer (Vermont). But those sports don\u2019t bring influence. Football does. And basketball helps schools gain recognition: Champions of all Division I conferences gain automatic bids to the tourney, an important consideration for non\u2013Power Four schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cBasketball and the NCAA Tournament in its current structure are what\u2019s holding everything together,\u201d La Salle athletic director Ashwin Puri says. And in order to stay relevant in that sport, teams need to raise money to build competitive rosters.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen donors see me coming, they say, \u2018Oh, shoot, he doesn\u2019t want a $10 cup of coffee.\u2019 It\u2019s $20,000 or $200,000,\u201d says new La Salle men\u2019s basketball coach Darris Nichols.<\/p>\n

Villanova\u2019s Willard estimates that gathering donations is \u201c80 percent of the job,\u201d an unthinkable percentage even just 10 years ago. Sports that aren\u2019t top priorities are often on their own. Nova football coach Mark Ferrante, whose team competes in the Football Championship Subdivision, one step below the FBS, doesn\u2019t expect to get any revenue-sharing dollars from the school, which has just introduced the Villanova Athletics Strategic Excellence Fund (which allows alumni and fans to donate directly to the school\u2019s revenue-sharing efforts) to support primarily men\u2019s and women\u2019s hoops. \u201cI\u2019m going to go out and try to fundraise,\u201d Ferrante says.<\/p>\n

Perhaps St. Joe\u2019s could devote enhanced resources to its outstanding field hockey program to make it a perennial power and become known nationally for that, but for now that isn\u2019t a consideration. Besides, it could take away resources from basketball. \u201cLet\u2019s see how the market plays out before we think about that,\u201d Bodensteiner says.<\/p>\n

The climate is fostering creativity. Bodensteiner says St. Joe\u2019s might give out only 12 of the allotted 15 men\u2019s and women\u2019s basketball scholarships and convert the extra $80,000 per scholarship to revenue sharing. St. Joe\u2019s will play in the Players Eras Festival<\/a> men\u2019s basketball tournament the next two years, which promises each school $1 million in NIL money.<\/p>\n

\n

I haven\u2019t spoken to one person who can give me an idea about what things will look like in five years.\u201d \u2014 John Fry<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Increased cash flow could help smaller schools keep players from transferring to bigger ones for more money. But bigger schools are looking for experienced help. In February, St. John\u2019s men\u2019s basketball coach Rick Pitino said he wouldn\u2019t recruit a five-star high school prospect because \u201cI don\u2019t think you can win, and win big, with high school kids.\u201d La Salle has one player returning from last year\u2019s 14-person men\u2019s basketball roster, in part due to coach Fran Dunphy\u2019s retirement. This offseason, Drexel\u2019s top four men\u2019s basketball scorers left for bigger paydays.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will not opt in to spend at high levels,\u201d Drexel athletic director Kelly says. \u201cWe\u2019ve stayed closely aware of how our peers in the [Coastal Athletic Association] are doing things and will be good stewards of the university\u2019s resources.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Temple, last year\u2019s second-leading men\u2019s basketball scorer, Zion Stanford, moved on to Villanova. St. Joe\u2019s top scorer, Xzayvier Brown, is now at Oklahoma. Players at every level are looking to improve their situations, and schools are struggling to maintain continuity. \u201cEverybody is trying to figure it out,\u201d Temple head men\u2019s coach Adam Fisher says.<\/p>\n

Ivy League schools don\u2019t offer athletic scholarships, so Penn certainly won\u2019t be sharing revenues with players. \u201cWe have to do the best we can with the resources we have,\u201d says new men\u2019s basketball coach Fran McCaffery. That makes the Quakers vulnerable to losing players. After the past three seasons, a trio of top players \u2014 Jordan Dingle (St. John\u2019s), Tyler Perkins (Villanova), and Sam Brown (Davidson) \u2014 transferred to schools that could compensate them. Last December, standout Penn running back Malachi Hosley moved to Georgia Tech, where he will receive money.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to constantly adjust as a football program, athletic department, and league,\u201d Quakers coach Ray Priore says. \u201cHow do you change and put your best foot forward?\u201d<\/p>\n

McCaffery returned to his alma mater after 15 seasons at Iowa and aims to revive a program that has played in just one NCAA tourney since 2008. Part of that is finding some NIL opportunities (allowed by Ivy League rules). McCaffery says he\u2019s \u201ctalked to more billionaires in my first few months at Penn than I did my entire time at Iowa,\u201d in an attempt to find companies to connect with his players. That makes sense to Penn professor Karen Weaver, an authority on the role of sports in higher ed. \u201cEvery school thinks it\u2019s one rich donor away from success,\u201d she says. McCaffery understands the challenges he faces: \u201cThis is, without a doubt, the most dramatic change [of my career], and it could be the most frustrating and create the most opportunity for you to say, \u2018It can\u2019t be done.\u2019 I\u2019m going to work with my staff and the players and get them ready. I\u2019m going to coach them up and compete. That\u2019s why I do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some players have a different motivation.<\/p>\n

\u2022<\/p>\n

When former Penn guard Sam Brown wanted to practice shooting after he announced he was transferring to Davidson, he would sneak into the Palestra late at night, hoping he wouldn\u2019t get booted by security for his move. The son of former Sixers coach Brett Brown scored more points during Ivy League games last year than any other player and decided to consider transfer options after the Quakers fired head coach Steve Donahue, who had recruited Brown.<\/p>\n

Brown seriously considered 15 suitors (including St. Joe\u2019s), a group he narrowed to three \u2014 Davidson, Notre Dame, and returning to Penn. He will get paid to play at Davidson, but Brown insists he didn\u2019t make the decision based on money. He wants to improve enough to play pro ball, in the U.S. or abroad. Davidson has had success turning players into pros, Brown says, a factor in his decision.<\/p>\n

Athletes\u2019 Ink agent Doug Young was an assistant at Lower Merion High while Brown was there and helped Brown through the portal process. He says Brown could have made more money if he\u2019d wanted. Temple\u2019s Morris says some players \u201care asking for millions,\u201d and Keeler says there are agents guiding clients to the most money, regardless of fit.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome families prioritize the best dollar amount,\u201d Young says. \u201cI can say all day to them that it may not be the best fit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just about every player has an agent, including many high school recruits. There is no denying that the players are profiting. \u201cSome mid-major kids are going to make more during their college careers than they will playing professionally in Europe,\u201d Young says. And there are still NIL opportunities available that allow players to represent companies, make personal appearances, and promote products, all while being compensated.<\/p>\n

Cody Wilcoxson, an associate at law firm Blank Rome in Philadelphia, has worked over the past five years to connect schools and athletes with NIL deals.<\/p>\n

\u201cAthletes are becoming parts of advertising campaigns for universities and for some of their business partners and sponsors,\u201d Wilcoxson says. \u201cIf a school is playing a big neutral-site basketball game, it may ask a football player to promote it on their social media.\u201d<\/p>\n

Opendorse, a Lincoln, Nebraska\u2013based company, provides NIL guidance for schools and a marketplace for athletes to earn endorsements. Julian Valentin, Opendorse\u2019s senior vice president of college services and marketing, says, \u201cThere are no better influencers for young people than athletes,\u201d especially female athletes.<\/p>\n

But Christy Hedgpeth, president of Playfly Sports Properties<\/a>, a Berwyn-based firm that negotiates multimedia rights, sponsorships, and NIL opportunities for 30 colleges nationwide, including Villanova, says the NIL climate must be regulated and that college-affiliated collectives that put together NIL deals should be controlled.<\/p>\n

\n

If nothing\u2019s done, I don\u2019t think this is sustainable.\u201d \u2014 Villanova men\u2019s basketball coach Kevin Willard<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWhat a collective would do is have an athlete do a clinic for the Boys and Girls Club, a service-oriented activity, or go to a children\u2019s hospital,\u201d Hedgpeth says. \u201cIt\u2019s noble, but the athletes were being paid at above fair market value. It was very clear [the NIL model] was being abused.\u201d<\/p>\n

As part of the settlement, athletes must report every NIL deal above $600, and they will be subject to audit by Deloitte. According to Yahoo\u2019s Dellenger<\/a>, a Deloitte official told ACC coaches and ADs in May that \u201c70 percent of past deals from booster collectives would have been denied\u201d under the new model. But schools will keep making NIL connections.<\/p>\n

\u201cSchools want to be known as destinations that create an environment that generates NIL interest,\u201d Hedgpeth says. \u201cSchools want to see as much NIL activity for student-athletes as possible. It\u2019s a differentiator.\u201d<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s something Villanova is counting on for its basketball team.<\/p>\n

\u2022<\/p>\n

In March, when Willard was leading Maryland to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, he told the media he believed basketball wasn\u2019t being funded properly. Villanova\u2019s basketball-first mentality influenced his decision to change jobs.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the first day I stepped on campus, everybody was talking about how to make this a championship program,\u201d Willard says. \u201cAt a football school, from the minute the spring game ends, everybody talks about how to sell tickets for football.\u201d<\/p>\n

Villanova has won three national titles and has high expectations. The school failed to reach the NCAA Tournament during Kyle Neptune\u2019s three years, and Willard was hired to revive the program. To do that, he needs money to attract top players and NIL deals to augment those payments. As a school without an FBS football team, Villanova is able to devote the bulk of its revenue-sharing resources to men\u2019s (primarily) and women\u2019s hoops. Some of those resources will come from its new Strategic Excellence Fund. (St. Joseph\u2019s has recently established a Basketball Excellence Fund to help finance its hoops aspirations as well.)<\/p>\n

It helps that Nova is part of the Big East Conference, which boasts four of the last nine NCAA basketball champions. Only one member \u2014 Connecticut \u2014 plays FBS football. UConn won this year\u2019s women\u2019s title and has hung 11 other banners. Nova\u2019s women reached the Sweet 16 in 2023. \u201cThe Big East as an entity will not be left behind by the Power Four,\u201d predicts former St. Joseph\u2019s men\u2019s coach and current TV analyst Phil Martelli. True, but nothing is guaranteed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest factor there is going to be continued investment,\u201d Nova AD Roedl says. \u201cThe various universities in the Big East are highly committed to success in men\u2019s and women\u2019s basketball, and that\u2019s going to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

That commitment is a big reason Duke Brennan chose to transfer from Grand Canyon University to the Main Line for the 2025-\u201926 season. The six-foot-10 forward, part of a core eight-person transfer class, describes himself as a \u201chard hat, lunch pail guy.\u201d \u201cIf you think of blue-blood programs, Villanova is a blue blood,\u201d he says. \u201cI consider them on a par with Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Connecticut.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brennan likes Villanova\u2019s blue blood \u2014 and green cash. He says his monetary deal wasn\u2019t an \u201coverarching\u201d reason for choosing the school, but it was big.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of us players are thinking about our futures, and of course, financial stability is important,\u201d he says. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say it\u2019s 90 percent of my focus, but I want to be able to put things away for my future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Villanova\u2019s money won\u2019t all go to the men\u2019s hoops team. Roedl says the school must \u201cfigure out how to resource\u201d its 24 athletic programs. That includes the women\u2019s basketball squad, which is a Big East stalwart. After the 2023-\u201924 season, leading scorer Lucy Olsen transferred to Iowa for a larger NIL payment and a chance to play in the Big Ten Conference.<\/p>\n

Playfly can help that commitment by connecting Nova players with brands and can create \u201cpremium\u201d opportunities that generate funds. \u201cWe could do an event like a bourbon tasting at a coach\u2019s house and charge a thousand dollars a person,\u201d Hedgpeth says.<\/p>\n

Fans may want to drink single-barrel whiskey at Willard\u2019s home, but not all of them like the current climate of players being compensated and being able to transfer freely. Nova must guard against supporters losing interest because of yearly roster turnover and substantial payouts to athletes. The school needs to educate fans on what some of the new realities are, Roedl says.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, some of those lessons will be incomplete.<\/p>\n

\u2022<\/p>\n

Good luck finding someone who knows what\u2019s going to happen next.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t spoken to one person who can give me an idea about what things will look like in five years,\u201d Temple\u2019s Fry says. He\u2019s not talking to the wrong people. Everyone is confused.<\/p>\n

One thing we know is that the Power Four schools will keep trying to get as much control of the revenue streams as possible. The College Sports Commission they created will continue to represent their interests. And that\u2019s bad news for everybody else.<\/p>\n

The expected expansion of the College Football Playoff from 12 to 16 teams? More money for the big schools. The predicted growth of the NCAA basketball tournament field? More spots for the power conferences. The revenue-sharing cap will increase every year, based on Power Four schools\u2019 annual revenues. As media rights deals expire in the coming years, the Power Four will try to expand their ranks with desirable schools from everywhere else to get bigger contracts.<\/p>\n

The City Six will move valiantly forward with creative revenue-generating strategies, but they could become glorified junior colleges, with players staying on campus a year or two before searching for better opportunities. The smaller schools are particularly vulnerable to the Power Four, which have largely emasculated the NCAA.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf nothing\u2019s done, I don\u2019t think this is sustainable,\u201d Willard says about NCAA \u2014 or perhaps federal \u2014 legislation.<\/p>\n

Even Villanova, which is banking on the Big East\u2019s continued relevance, might only have the best seat at the kids table, especially if Connecticut moves to the Big 12, which was discussed last year. Being a basketball-centric conference in a football world doesn\u2019t provide complete security.<\/p>\n

For now, fans should enjoy their favorite colleges\u2019 opportunities to compete for championships and hope the big boys don\u2019t decide to take everything for themselves. But change will continue. And it\u2019s unlikely things will get better for local schools.<\/p>\n

So get out those checkbooks and help the cause. Who knows how much longer you have?<\/p>\n

\u201cSchools had better understand this and adapt to it, or they\u2019ll get run over,\u201d Willard says.<\/p>\n

Published as \u201cVarsity Blues\u201d in the August 2025 issue of Philadelphia magazine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Longform Villanova, Temple, and others face a harsh new reality: Without deep pockets, even winning might not be…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":111344,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[1318,1317,1315,1316,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-111343","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-ncaa","10":"tag-ncaa-football","11":"tag-ncaafootball","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114955781614125373","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111343\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}