Think Tank: College Sports Commission… Paper Tiger?

In 2025, the Power Four Conferences (Big 12, ACC, SEC, Big Ten) created the College Sports Commission (CSC) as part of the House v. NCAA settlement to monitor third-party NIL contracts and oversee the NCAA's revenue-sharing model.

At the time, an NIL spending cap (approximately $20M per school)was implemented. However, two of the four conferences (SEC and Big Ten) have largely ignored the cap and now spend as much as $40m a year.

What happened to those rules?

Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard is frustrated and reflects the feelings of many athletic directors these days.

"The four commissioners spent a lot of money creating the CSC," Pollard said Monday. "Then to have two of the conferences not want to adhere to it is perplexing to me, because then why did we spend the money? If you didn't want rules, then why did you create this entity? That's what's frustrating to me. The same people that say they want rules only want rules if they don't apply to them.”

A recent CBS Sports report indicated most Power Four rosters now cost at least $14 million to $16 million a year. Other national sources indicate true contender rosters have already surpassed the $30 million mark. Several teams are expected to approach $40 million in 2026.

Frustration is growing rapidly among athletic directors and coaches. Pollard recent expressed that frustration clearly.

“We all agreed to spend a whole bunch of money to create a system with a CSC to move forward in this new era and two of the conferences just clearly don't want to follow what they created," Pollard said. "It's just perplexing to me, because it's a waste of money and waste of everybody's time. I'm asking the (Big Ten and SEC) commissioners to follow the rules that they agreed to participate with. We entered into a billion dollar settlement within college athletics that said there was going to be a cap in revenue sharing and the cap became the floor.”

When is CSC going to crack down on offenders?

GO CANES!