Knight Commission eyes governance of CFP, money

• Heather Dinich, ESPN Senior Citizen WriterFeb 28, 2024, 02:43 PM ET

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  • College football reporter
  • Signed up with ESPN.com in 2007
  • Graduate of Indiana University

As the College Football Playoff works toward finishing a new financially rewarding media rights deal with ESPN, the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Sports continues to promote a new governance structure for college football, along with changes to the sport’s earnings distribution plan.According to a lengthy declaration from Knight Commission CEO Amy Privette Perko on Wednesday, if the CFP and ESPN eventually agree to a deal worth the formerly reported $1.3 billion, the CFP will produce more yearly revenue– approximately$700 million– than the NCAA. The NCAA receives no money from FBS football, however the nationwide company and its member schools are financially accountable for devastating medical insurance, rules enforcement, legal and other expenses.Perko called CFP income”FBS football’s unique and unrestricted earnings circulation strategy.

“”This upcoming CFP deal must lead to brand-new governance and management of the sport of FBS football and of the greatest pot of money in the history of college sports,”the declaration read.”… Spending information supply overwhelming proof that a new financial structure for handling CFP earnings is frantically required. “According to the declaration, the FBS conferences that control CFP revenue”do not require any CFP dollars to be earmarked for athlete education, health, and security.”Perko also restated the Knight Commission’s 2020 suggestion that FBS football ought to be governed by a new entity, different from

the NCAA and funded by CFP revenue. The proposal includes” a single management structure to combine authority of revenue administration with authority over guidelines administration. “The brand-new structure requires “significant football professional athlete representation,”together with medical experts, previous head coaches, former FBS football players and other

independent voices.The Knight Commission, which is a think tank that suggests modifications but does not have the power to implement them, likewise suggested the CFP ought to each year compensate the NCAA for all nationwide expenses related to FBS football. It included that FBS football should no longer be counted in the NCAA’s earnings distribution formula since the NCAA doesn’t run the sport’s postseason or get any money from it. “This change would permit more than$60 million in NCAA revenue distribution, currently tied to counting FBS football consider the circulation formula, to be reallocated,”the statement said.Perko referenced the Knight Commission’s instructional model, first launched in 2021, that prioritized professional athletes’education, health, safety, and programs that provide racial and gender equity as part of recommended systemic modification in revenue distribution.Perko stated the changes would collectively”improve the importance of education and athletic opportunities “for athletes in all NCAA championship sports– not simply football.”It is time for the CFP, and the FBS conferences and organizations that receive these earnings, to develop new steps of accountability,”Perko composed, “so that the $700 million in brand-new, uncommitted profits supports the core mission of college sports.”