How has Alabama adjusted in NIL without 'Saban discount'? (2024)

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — A constant reminder of the changing landscape in college athletics hangs from Greg Byrne’s office door. It’s subtle, and nine times out of 10, it’ll go unnoticed if you aren’t looking for it directly.

Yet it speaks volumes when recognized. It’s a suit jacket held up by a hanger. It’s not the suit, which is common attire for a college athletic director. It’s the accessory on it: a lapel pin in the shape of a flag that reads “Yea,” which is representative of Alabama’s Yea Alabama collective.

The pin has become a regular part of Byrne’s attire. He sported it at Kalen DeBoer’s introductory news conference on Jan. 13. Days later, he wore a Yea Alabama sweater on “The Paul Finebaum Show” on the SEC Network. He did so again April 18 during an interview with “Next Round Live.”

Essentially, the pin is with Byrne anytime he’s in the public eye.

“The stage that I’ve been on (in 2024) because of (Nick Saban’s) retirement has put me in a more visible situation than you’d probably see a year ago,” Byrne said. “As much as anything, we’re trying to have brand awareness and have let people know that we’re behind Yea Alabama and support it.”

Alabama, like other schools, is building the plane as much as it is flying it in regards to name, image and likeness, according to Byrne. The ever-changing rules have forced constant adaptation, but the biggest adjustment has been the fallout of Saban’s abrupt retirement and the end of the so-called “Saban discount.” It’s the working theory that prospects turned down larger offers elsewhere to play for Saban and benefit from his track record of development and winning. Byrne doesn’t know where the phrase originated, but he’s plenty familiar with the idea.

The phrase itself isn’t popularized within the business world where agencies help athletes broker deals, but the actual practice is prominent. A&P Sports Agency is one of the biggest NIL agencies in the country and represents a large contingent of former and current Alabama football players. Passing up more lucrative offers to play under Saban was a regular occurrence, and that model has carried over to members of the current roster who stayed to play under DeBoer.

“I think (Saban’s) whole view on it was you’re coming to Alabama to win and play with the best of the best,” A&P co-founder Jacob Piasecki said. “That’s why people went to Alabama, even to this day. I have guys who would get a lot bigger NIL deals elsewhere, but they decided to stay at Alabama because of what Saban built. I mean, you’re playing at a level where very few schools can compete.

“I think that’s what they relied on heavily. Now that they have a new coaching staff, I think they’re transitioning a little bit. They’re becoming more open to other ways of doing NIL and focusing more on what the community can do as a whole.”

Engaging with the community is twofold: working with local businesses to partner with athletes and the general population to consistently donate to the collective. DeBoer’s previous program, Washington, and its Montlake Futures collective combined to form one of the leaders in community engagement, according to Piasecki. The collective is multipronged, pairing athletes with nonprofit organizations to leverage their NIL toward community service while also having a paid monthly membership (like Yea Alabama) and more.

“They have a very good collective out there,” Piasecki said. “They have a good sense of community; businesses are interacting with athletes, and they’re doing a lot of different stuff. I think that’s going to be something that we’re going to see more with Alabama.”

The past 100 or so days at Alabama have been transformative. Similar to a new president’s first 100-day plan, which lays the foundation for the term, Alabama is laying the groundwork for a new football era post-Saban. Perhaps no week was more impactful than the first one after DeBoer was hired during Byrne’s press run, as the collective gained more than 1,000 paying members.

“The hiring of coach DeBoer, I think, made a lot of our fans understand that we just wouldn’t have coach Saban here forever,” Byrne said. “That the comfort and safety that he brought to us was changed. And I think we’ve tried to be thoughtful with our messaging that we need to make sure we continue to evolve with the changes that are taking place in college athletics and that this is important to us.”

One of those messages includes a post from Yea Alabama’s X account the night DeBoer was hired:

Seventeen years ago, fans poured into Tuscaloosa Regional airport to welcome Coach Nick Saban. In 2024, things are very different. Let’s welcome Coach Kalen DeBoer through supporting the thing he needs most: NIL. Join today: https://t.co/bhbVCfPgxU

— Yea Alabama (@yea_ala) January 12, 2024

Alabama’s NIL efforts are ramping up, but the infrastructure isn’t critically behind, according to Piasecki, who described Yea Alabama as “a good setup” during the Saban era. An area in particular where the collective is at the forefront of college athletics is in merchandise. One of the agency’s clients, Isaiah Bond, had a signature moment with Alabama last season when he caught the game-winning touchdown against Auburn. Within a few days, Yea Alabama partnered with Bond on a T-shirt to commemorate the moment, and more than 20,000 units sold in less than a month.

The expectation is for Yea Alabama, which covers all Alabama athletics, to continue leaning heavily into merchandise, including a setup similar to Fanatics’ that will streamline player-specific merchandise. It’s a method that can generate revenue while also allowing athletes to connect with fans and capitalize on big moments.

“Who’s the No. 1 college football fan?” said A&P Sports co-founder Stefan Aguilera, Bond’s NIL agent. “It’s Alabama.”

The collective’s growing impact has been felt in the past few months, most notably by adding Michigan transfer Keon Sabb, a move that was announced by the collective. Another significant boost in donations came as a result of the men’s basketball team’s Final Four run.

“I do think our fans recognize (the need for proactivity),” Byrne said. “Them being active with Yea Alabama was a good and necessary thing right now.”

Even with the momentum, there are challenges administratively, including a two-timeline track of short-term and long-term fundraising. There’s a heightened sense of urgency to raise money for football, but at the same time, the men’s basketball program has been active in talent acquisition and the possible retention of its top players.

Plus, large-scale projects like a new basketball arena still loom. It’s not a unique challenge to Alabama, but the reality is that complementary entities like Alabama’s athletic department and Yea Alabama can dip into the same pool of donors and fans.

“Most of your donors — most — have more of an interest in supporting infrastructure, endowments and resources that allow young men and young women in your program to have an incredible experience,” Byrne said. “From an NIL interest, there are some very good, legitimate opportunities that have been out there that our young people have benefited from. I think of (football player Bryce Young’s Heisman season) and (softball player Montana Fouts), and we’ve had others.

“I think the collective part when I talk to my peers, there isn’t a strong appetite for long-term support for those collectives. So I think more for it than anything else, it’s kind of bridging that gap in the short term as we navigate the waters we’re in from a legal and long-term structure standpoint.”

Alabama has a healthy relationship with its collective, but there’s growing momentum for legislation that moves all NIL activities in-house under the jurisdiction of the universities. Court cases such as House vs. NCAA and the antitrust suit filed by Tennessee and Virginia will have a significant impact on NIL in college athletics and for collectives specifically whether these entities operate in their current capacities or shrink and supplement university efforts.

In all likelihood, collectives won’t completely go away. If NIL moves under the university’s umbrella, an analogy Aguilera offered is that the university would be the potatoes and the collective would be the gravy.

“Most of the money the athletes will make whenever revenue sharing/employee model comes into play will be from the university,” Aguilera said. “I think the collective will provide additional money on top to certain players, like top athletes, which is the gravy.”

In early April, new rules were passed that permitted universities to assist student-athletes in NIL pursuits, whether that’s business advice, identifying opportunities or facilitating deals with third parties. That has helped bring a better-coordinated effort between the two entities that previously worked separately. But bringing NIL in-house means additional challenges that aren’t present currently.

“If you get to a point where these athletes become employees and we skip revenue sharing,” Piasecki said, “most schools are not equipped to handle salary caps, like the NFL scenario. I definitely have heard of private money possibly coming in.”

From an administrative perspective, colleges must comply with Title IX regulations. Using financial assistance as a reference, Title IX stipulates that the total amount of assistance awarded to men and women must be substantially proportionate to their participation rates in athletic programs.

According to Alabama’s 2023 Equity in Athletics Disclosure, about 52 percent of Alabama’s student-athletes are women. If NIL dollars were to be distributed the same way, that could have an impact on how in-house dollars are spent on student-athletes. Byrne is a strong advocate for Title IX but acknowledges a possible change from current operations.

At the intersection of continuing to fully support the model in place and more potential changes are universities making difficult financial decisions. On April 23, Texas A&M announced nearly 20 athletic administration layoffs due to what athletic director Trev Alberts called “unprecedented change in the world of intercollegiate athletics. As a department, we have to adapt and become more efficient and effective so that we are best positioned for the changes to come.”

At Alabama, the costs rise to about $190,000 per student-athlete per year, not including a potential in-house salary. Any changes will stretch athletic budgets to a new level, according to Byrne, and he has heard suggestions of cutting back resources for non-revenue sports such as Olympic sports.

He said that will not be considered.

“The question will be legally, if it’s brought in-house, what are going to be the responsibilities from a Title IX standpoint?” Byrne said. “I would argue that there should be NIL opportunities, revenues going towards that sport, whatever men’s or women’s, based on the revenue that’s driven in that sport. I think that is solid ground to stand on that helps the long-term health of broad-based programming in college sports.”

For the time being, Alabama’s focus is ensuring the existing NIL model remains competitive. Early returns have been positive; Yea Alabama has paying members in all 50 states, which wasn’t the case under Saban; and recruiting in its two most prominent sports is in a healthy place nationally. Alabama’s football recruiting is strong, boasting the No. 7 class nationally according to 247Sports, and the men’s basketball team holds the No. 2 overall class and has key player Grant Nelson committed to returning for one more season instead of entering the NBA Draft.

It’s hard to ignore the upward trajectory of the basketball program under coach Nate Oats, who will enter Year 6 next season. For DeBoer, who is entering his first season, the landscape might be different without Saban, but upholding Alabama’s winning traditions should remedy any concerns.

“There was a culture that Saban had,” Piasecki said. “If DeBoer can keep that, then it would put Alabama at a level to where people wouldn’t come just to talk about money; they’d talk about the NFL Draft and how to get to the next level from Alabama.”

Alabama’s aggressive campaign to add to its growing NIL war chest hasn’t stopped. Yea Alabama is in the middle of an initiative, “Tide on Tour,” featuring Byrne, DeBoer, Oats and Alabama football players, who travel to select locations to interact with fans, provide updates on the program and continue emphasizing the importance of fan involvement during this time.

“As we’re navigating these waters that we’re in right now, we think this is an important part of helping us provide a great experience across the board,” Byrne said. “We know not everybody will be able to do that, but we feel a lot will, and we’re very appreciative of it.”

The two-timeline track of streamlining as much support toward collectives in the present while being prepared for what could come has Byrne’s attention. Alabama’s NIL infrastructure isn’t a finished product, but the first quarter of 2024 gives confidence that the parties involved will do what it takes to maintain unapologetically high program standards.

“I think they’ve done a good job of continuing to try to evolve with this,” Byrne said. “If you still have collectives down the road, two or three years from now, I think it’ll be even stronger than what it is today.”

(Top photos of Nick Saban, Kalen DeBoer and Nate Oats: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images, Ronald Martinez / Getty Images and Gary Cosby Jr. / USA Today)