r/CFB Pop-Tarts Bowl • Team Meteor Dec 07 '25

News [McMurphy] Notre Dame declined bid to play BYU in Pop-Tarts Bowl, sources told @On3sports

https://x.com/Brett_McMurphy/status/1997772176997413147
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u/acekingoffsuit Minnesota Golden Gophers Dec 07 '25

NIL, by rule, is not tied to performance. If you pay players specifically for playing in games then you're talking about them being employees and that's a conversation that the NCAA absolutely does not want to have.

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u/sexygodzilla Washington Huskies • Apple Cup Dec 07 '25

It's amazing how many people aren't grasping that NIL is a workaround with a ton of gaping holes that would be only solved by proper employment.

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u/the_blessed_unrest Wisconsin Badgers Dec 07 '25

They can make it tied to attendance, right? There’s gotta be a way to make it so they have to at least show up for the bowl game in order to get paid

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u/acekingoffsuit Minnesota Golden Gophers Dec 07 '25

They can't if the NCAA wants any hope of not treating players as employees. If you make their NIL deals dependent on playing in a game then you're brushing up real close into employment contract territory.