The shifting landscape in college sports is putting more money in players’ pockets. It is also—perhaps not surprisingly—getting more expensive for fans.

With schools soon set to be allowed to pay athletes around $22 million per year if and when the House v. NCAA settlement is approved, Tennessee is planning to get a portion of that money from a 10% “talent fee” that will be added to tickets across all sports. 

That money—like a tip on top of a bill at a restaurant—will go directly to paying athletes. If fans want, they can choose to give Tennessee additional talent fees beyond the 10% of their ticket costs. Volunteers athletic director Danny White told On3 he hopes to raise about $10 million from that initiative. Separately, Tennessee football tickets in 2025 will increase 4.5%.

Front Office Sports college reporter Amanda Christovich has more on that move here.

Friendly Fundraising?

Most successful football schools haven’t exactly been hurting for cash in recent years. 

During fiscal year 2023, Tennessee’s athletic department reported more than $200 million in total operating revenue for the first time ($202 million, to be exact), resulting in an $11.1 million surplus—its largest since 2015. Football was responsible for a record $134.9 million, helping fund many nonrevenue sports across the university.

But even still, with increasing NIL (name, image, and likeness) budgets for many football and basketball rosters, as well as the pending settlement to pay players directly, university leaders remain uneasy about funding the future. 

This past spring, a congressional hearing dived into college athlete unionization efforts, and Sen. Ted Cruz hosted an NIL roundtable, highlighting the gravity of the situation. At the time, Alabama suggested Olympic sports could be cut to keep up with the increased costs of football and basketball.

Money Games in Other States

Meanwhile, Georgia on Tuesday became the second state to prohibit the NCAA or conferences from punishing in-state schools for “offering compensation, or compensating an intercollegiate student-athlete for the use of such student-athlete’s NIL.” An executive order from state Gov. Brian Kemp followed a similar law passed in Virginia over the summer. 

Despite the laws, though, sources told ESPN that neither Georgia nor Georgia Tech have plans to start paying their players immediately—following the lead of Virginia and Virginia Tech—both of which also have not taken advantage of the legal loophole.

Soccer’s Champions League is back—with an elevated prize pool, an expanded competitive format, and also no shortage of player unrest. 

The UEFA-organized competition involving Europe’s top pro clubs began Tuesday, featuring a $2.71 billion prize pool, increased from a prior $2.2 billion. A revamped and expanded group stage—now known as the “league phase”—organizes the 36-team field in a single group before moving to knockout rounds. The new structure will feature four additional competing teams and 64 additional matches over the course of the tournament.

Real Madrid will seek to defend its title, won less than four months ago. Premier League power Manchester City, meanwhile, is the betting favorite, even as it faces allegations of financial misconduct back home.  

As action on the pitches begins, though, a growing number of players are questioning the wisdom of expanding this event along with a still-robust domestic club schedule, a new, 32-team Club World Cup organized by FIFA, international friendlies, and a men’s World Cup that will grow to 48 teams in 2026.

Because of that, a players’ strike—something that is much more of a rarity in European sports than in North America—is increasingly possible.

“I think we are close to that,” Manchester City star midfielder Rodri said Tuesday. “It is easy to understand. If you ask any player that, he will say the same. It is not the opinion of [just] Rodri or whoever. It’s the general opinion of players. And if it keeps this way, there will be a moment when we have no other option, I really think. It’s something that worries us because we are the guys that suffer.”

Individual players and FIFPRO, the global soccer players’ union, have been sounding similar alarms for months over the sport’s increasingly compressed schedule. In June, French superstar Kylian Mbappé, now playing professionally for Real Madrid, said European soccer is “getting closer to the NBA model,” with seasons of 70 games—to the detriment of the sport. 

Now, with UEFA’s showcase event unfolding, many of those same players and organizations are shining a new spotlight on the issue.

“We understand that we have the side of the media and TV, we have the side from UEFA, from FIFA, from the Premier League, and the other domestic competitions,” said Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker. “We are not stupid. We understand that people want more games. But the reasonable thing would be for all these sides that I mention and the people who are responsible for making the calendar to sit together and to listen to all the parts, including the players.”

Big Workload

High-performing teams such as Manchester City are firmly in line to play more than 60 matches per year. That figure is well above an optimal level in the minds of some players, such as Rodri, who point to diminishing returns from players after about 40 games played annually.

“Not everything is money or marketing. It is also the quality of the show,” Rodri said. “In my opinion, when I rest, when I’m not tired, I perform better. If people want to see better football, we need to rest.”

Inter Miami is heading into the final month of the MLS regular season with a huge lead atop the standings, and—to the surprise of no one—star striker Lionel Messi is yet again leading the league in jersey sales.

Messi returned to Miami’s starting lineup Saturday after a three-plus month absence in which he helped Argentina win Copa América but also sustained an ankle injury. But his MLS squad has been humming along over the summer, and three of his teammates join Messi inside the top 15 of the league’s jersey sales list released Tuesday: Luis Suárez (second), Sergio Busquets (11th), and Jordi Alba (15th). The popular international quartet previously played together at Barcelona.

Last year, Messi topped the list in his debut MLS season, and he was joined in the top 25 by Miami teammates Busquets (13th) and Josef Martínez (21st). This year, LAFC’s Denis Bouanga, FC Cincinnati’s Luciano Acosta, and the Columbus Crew’s Cucho Hernández rounded out the top five MLS jersey sales. 

Also benefiting from the Messi Mania are Adidas, MLS’s jersey provider, and Fanatics, which runs the league’s online store.

Building Blocks

While Inter Miami has been extremely successful on the pitch this year, there has been a setback off it.

In July, the club formally announced it was delaying the opening of its 25,000-seat, $350 million stadium by one year to 2026. When Messi signed with Miami in 2023, he agreed to a three-year deal that allowed the MLS club to market a new venue opening in 2025 with the Argentine superstar on the field. Messi would be 38 at the new stadium opening date in 2026.

Last fall, Miami sold out of its 2024 season tickets for its 19,000-seat Chase Stadium shortly after the previous season ended.