Bird Rights in the Big Ten? More likely than you might think
· Yahoo Sports
Can UCLA Bruins head coach Mick Cronin see into the future? At the beginning of the month Cronin spoke about his desire for the Big Ten Conference to adopt rules similar to the Bird Rules in the NBA. It’s starting to sound like Cronin might get his way.
Ben Portnoy of the Sports Business Journal reported that the Big Ten is pushing for a "retention pool” for the revenue sharing cap. If the conference were to adopt the retention pool, it’d help teams keep teams together and limit the incentive of transferring.
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“Multiple sources with direct knowledge of the conversations told Sports Business Journal that Big Ten athletic directors and Commissioner Tony Petitti are promoting a carve-out to let schools who have opted into the House settlement to spend beyond the stipulated revenue sharing cap to maintain their rosters,” Portnoy wrote. “The exact machinations of the proposed retention caveat are still to be determined, but the idea would be to allow schools to go a certain percentage or flat rate over the $20.5 million revenue sharing cap, sources said.”
If that sounds familiar, it’s because it’s not too much different from the NBA’s Bird Rules, which allows NBA teams to exceed the salary cap to help keep teams together.
College sports had to modernize with the addition of NIL for student-athletes but the retention pool could help prevent a constant transfer portal frenzy in the Big Ten.
“Those supporting the initiative imply that, in practice, it would help curb the creative accounting measures and shuffling of monies schools are currently employing to ensure deals get through the College Sports Commission’s clearinghouse, along with potentially slowing the persistent player movement plaguing college sports,” Portnoy said. “The idea has had limited conversation among the Power Four commissioners. Such a change would also likely necessitate input from plaintiff’s counsel in the House settlement, given it would be a direct change to the way in which the cap functions.”
Cronin said at the beginning of the month that he had heard rumblings about the idea from the Big Ten office. Those rumblings are growing.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: Reports come out of a Big Ten Conference 'retention pool' for players