College football fandom is changing fast. Are you ready to step up and pay up?

The most obvious sign that college football has entered a bold, uncertain new era isn’t the fact that we now have a 12-team playoff, or West Coast teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference, or players moving like air hockey pucks from school to school. No, the most obvious symbol of 2024’s break with the 150-year history of college football is a 1.5-inch-square QR code that will adorn the helmets of Oklahoma State players this year.

We’ve seen players transfer from school to school. We’ve seen schools jump from conference to conference. We’ve had playoffs for years (decades, in some divisions). But we’ve never seen anything quite like the stark reversal in attitudes toward paying players. This sort of direct-to-player funding was the kind of thing that used to cost schools bowl eligibility or even the death penalty; now it’s a cover charge.

Fandom as a whole is rapidly changing across the sports landscape, but nowhere is that more apparent than in college football. Between NIL, the transfer portal, conference realignment, the expanded playoff, legalized gambling and, hell, even the new EA Sports College Football video game, we’re now in a world where fandom is an entirely different proposition than it was even a few years ago.

What does this mean for you? Well, if you’re of the Pokes persuasion, make sure your bank account is linked to your phone and you have an HDTV. If you’re a fan of one of the other 133 top-tier football programs, get ready. Your fandom is about to become monetized.

Gone are the days when players would etch themselves into the lore of a university and remain loyal forever. Last year’s Iron Bowl hero, Isaiah Bond — he caught the 4th-and-31 “Gravedigger” pass — transferred to Texas right after Nick Saban retired. Georgia’s potential future salvation at quarterback, Dylan…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-08-28 13:59:57

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