The soccer earning power is when you’re young thi. The MBA could be acquired and cashed in at any point. If you want to play professionally and are getting offered the higher end of salaries, I think in most cases go for it. Nothing keeping you from finishing the degree later or working on it in the offseason.
Let us just agree to disagree. As a follower of multiple sports including the oblong football, I can tell you that most who leave early don't come back and get their degrees. When they do, it's a feel good story. Feel good stories are only good because they are not common. Can they? Yes. Do they? ?????
I did not say they had to sign her. They had to make a decision whether to keep her or not. If they chose to keep her they had to pay more than she was worth because other clubs drove up her price.
Because they obviously felt she was worth it. I do not sit in on their discussions. They are not the most desirable market and she wanted to be there. I am not here to debate why teams sign players. My original comment was simply about why she cost so much. Other teams were competing for her and drove up the cost.
No risk. No reward. She has one life to live. Make a great one! Or at least try. Go for it!!! That’s what I would tell her (or Ally Sentnor, who I also wish would stay at UNC for my own selfish reasons). But speaking of feel good stories…
No risk, no reward, is not frequently true. You act like if she doesn't strike now, the opportunity won't be available later. Says who? This was JD's first year devoting full time to soccer. She got tremendously better during the year. She is still on a rapid rise in performance. So let's say she comes back and has another phenomenal year and shows further growth. That is reasonable to expect! Her opportunities will expand and options overseas and here will know the cost of doing business went up b/c she has already shown she would stay in college. This idea that she has to go now or somehow be left out is insane. Now if she chooses to leave now, I will wish her well and follow her career, but I reject this 'she's got to strike now mentality.'
Hang on a second. Earlier in this thread, you said… My response was to your post, in which you said, “a decent NIL deal and a college degree is worth more” than $1.1M over the next four years. We’ve meandered a bit, but this is still about your statement. Nobody (certainly not me) has said that she must leave now or “she will be left out”. I’m seriously not trying to be antagonistic and apologize if that’s how I’m coming across.
No one has attempted to address what soccer NIL value is. I think it’s a lot less than some of these posts imply and is not directly correlated to on field impact. Just like NWSL salaries. The Mexicans in Houston are eligible for higher pay because they are internationals. Do we acknowledge that all international caps are not the same? I don’t know Dudley, but she would need to play international soccer among other to be eligible for more money from an NWSL franchise.
Maybe for another thread but.... - the lifetime value of a college degree is tremendous. Anyone reading these threads/posts would very likely agree with that. Books and articles about this even when the economy is good for non-degree workers as it is now. - the actual cost of an FSU (or flagship state school) degree is around 80-100K total. FSU tuition for in-state students is only about 8K per year right now. -NIL deals are all over the place in value for sure. There are websites and consultants now that will estimate and track the 'valuation' of P5 athletes and they all should know these numbers by now. No inside info on Dudley. But a player in her position would likely get a signing bonus in the lower 6-figure range, or promptly sign a sponsorship deal as a pro, that would be about the actual cost of a P5 state school degree. Comparing that to an NIL vendor deal on Instagram or a free truck or SUV to lease for the year (i.e. Utah athletes linked here) https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ot...eams-two-of-them-women-s-programs/ar-AA1lscWc Some of these kids just don't or won't value the college degree as much as me or anyone reading this might. Do you want to spend some of your primary playing days in college or in the pros? What makes more sense? Mallory Pugh and Rodman and Horan look like they are doing just fine. and they didn't just win a natty like Dudley just did! Super interesting that Pensky and other college soccer coaches now need to work hard to get real cash/benefits to their athletes to keep them around. Overall, it may stink for the individual teams that lose players but pretty awesome for the sport and those young athletes, IMHO. I wrote on the conference realignment thread about how an ACC AD recently said paraphrasing "we need to protect athletes and preserve their amateur status". That genie is now out of the bottle big time. Times they are a changing.....
To me the value of a college degree is tied to the major. A teacher is only going to make so much regardless of where they went to school. An MBA is different. An accounting degree or a degree in engineering or computer science all make a difference. The thought expressed in this thread is "strike while the iron is hot". I think that is correct in some cases, but not in others. It seems to me that salaries and in a nice upward trend in women's soccer. Last year Rodman signed for a 4 year $1.1 mill. This year Sanchez signed a 3 year deal for $1.5 mill. That's almost twice as much. While those circumstances are unique, I think it speaks to the upward trend in soccer contracts/salaries etc. Again, waiting may be better for some. They make more money, have most or all of a college degree in hand etc.
I guess my entire point in using MBA as earning potential example is because that requires an undergrad degree AND a masters degree and you’re still not going to make big $$$ for years to come (if ever). A decade or so ago we saw the shift in earning potential to favor software developers/coders rather than MBA/finance. Now the coders are scrambling to pivot because AI can do their jobs in seconds. Now same with many finance jobs. Nothing is guaranteed.
Is Sanchez 3 year for 1.5 or 4 for 1.5, because the contract is for 3 years plus an option. I don't think the tweets I saw on it were clear on whether the 1.5 is the total value of the contract (if both sides exercises the mutual option).
Thoughts on FSU losing Aaron Brunner Please welcome the new head women's soccer coach, Aaron Brunner, to #MasonNation. The PW County native has more than 20 years of experience coaching soccer. It's a homecoming for Brunner’s wife, Kristin Portell ('05), who played ⚽️ for the Patriots. 💚💛https://t.co/hZONZEIeRR— George Mason Women's Soccer (@MasonWSOC) December 20, 2023
According to seminoles.com, Jordynn "Plans to major in Architecture." According to bestcolleges.com: "Architects earn a median annual salary of $80,750, although salary expectations vary by industry and location. For example, government architects earn a median annual salary of $93,970, and architects in New York, the District of Columbia, Georgia, and Massachusetts earn average annual salaries of more than $100,000. However, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) only projects 1% job growth for architects between 2019 and 2029." Her NIL would need to be worth about $194k per year over 4 years to break even on a $1.1M contract to play pro soccer. ETA: Actually, that wouldn't even break-even since she won't start earning $81k per year as an architect for ~3 more years. ETA: Keeping the #s as simple as possible, Jordynn's earning BEP would be 2036, using your $1.1M over 4-years, Best College's $81k per year architecture salary, and assuming Jordynn earns $100k per year in NIL for the next 3 years. I am also assuming that Jordynn earns exactly $0 in years 2028-2036 after her 4-year pro soccer contract expires. I'm ignoring the time-value of money, potential endorsements, and a host of other things to keep the #s simple.
Damn Nutsy, you are like a dog with a bone. I've acknowledged that in some cases, leaving early would be good. But I have several problems with your example above. 1. Rodman did not get that deal her first year. 2. Using your argument of going back to school, you did not deduct what it would cost her to do that for 4 years or more. 3. You reduced the architect's salary from $100K to $81 K year four and left it there. 4. In a more realistic reality, she finishes 3 years of school and goes pro. By that time the contract she signs is better than it would have been had she left after year one. She finishes her degree in the offseason and finds a firm that will allow her to get experience in the offseason at a reduced income of course. 5 After a 12 year soccer career, she opts to retire and seamlessly moves into her career full time with a track record and a salary commensurate.
I think it is a mistake to reduce the pros and cons of going pro to economics. The players are about playing the game and their parents are about having a child who is good at the game, by and large. This especially is true of a lot of the players, whose families are not economically strained. I doubt that lifetime earnings potential is a major consideration for Dudley in the go/no go decision process. I personally think she needs more time in college. She seems to me to need a little more emotional maturity. This is something Rodman has had to work on and has done pretty well with, although I think she has a way to go. If I were a parent, that is something I would be thinking about -- is she ready for the next level yet or should she move a little more slowly. That is something they discuss at the national team level: How fast can we layer in what goes on at this level. It is an issue at the youth to pro club level too.
CPT, I agree that there is more in play than the economics. I was just trying to point out that waiting a couple of years is not economic malfeasance, in fact, in some cases it may be smart! I totally agree that JD needs a little more emotional maturity, and not just because it would benefit FSU. Opposing teams learned that continually pushing, pulling and generally knocking her around would get a rise out of her. As is the case many times, the instigator may not get caught, but the retaliator will. JD showed the beginnings of temper a few times even in the Stanford game late, she turned on a Stanford defender and was like ready for a confrontation. The Stanford girl simply put up her hands and walked away.
Where comes this idea that student-athletes should be paid? First, they are paid--big-time, via a scholarship and, for football and basketball players, a free college education (free food, housing, health care, counseling, tutoring, coaching) that is worth a LOT of money. The activists who've been pushing for student-athletes (football players, essentially) to be paid don't respect the education side and, natch, are mainly focused on cash--give us stuff. It's a little different for non-revenue student-athletes, but it's not been volleyball and soccer players or their supporters who've been bawling about getting paid for years. The genie is wafting out of the bottle--but I'm not sure why. Sports have always been extra-curricular activities--just like band and cheerleading. High-school athletic events get televised and put on the radio as well: Will high-schools have to start paying their kids as "employees" as well? It all got started when people started noticing the big revenues generated by major-college football--but conveniently left out of the conversation is the fact that a huge chunk of those revenues are devoted to subsidizing all the non-revenue sports at colleges, none of which make money. Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh, writing a concurring opinion in the case Alston v NCAA, which the NCAA lost, asserted that the the NCAA's business model "would be flatly illegal in almost any other industry in America." I have not seen or read his entire opinion, but I find that a very odd statement given that college athletics is not in any way a conventional business or industry; it is unique in part, if not largely, because athletic departments must invest in many other sports that lose money--and no other business would choose to do that. Kavanaugh and others have also mentioned anti-trust issues, but I'm not sure what they are--don't know enough about anti-trust.
Most if not all power 5 schools have degree completion programs for athletes who leave early for the pros. They can go back later and their scholarship is still valid. Certainly Florida State would be one of these schools.
Their scholarship is still valid? I doubt that because soccer only has 14 to divide throughout their team. I doubt they can afford to allocate even part of one to a non player. Now they may some other way to assist them, but I don't know the details. That would make a difference , except as CPT noted some players need more time to grow up a bit.
I agree, that doesn't make sense that these players can drop out of college, not play for the program but then come back and get a free education years later. Why would the school do that? The scholarship is for playing on the team not just a gift
Yes the scholarship is still valid. It does not count against the soccer program limits though. It exists in all sports. Schools want their graduation numbers high. At some schools you have to have completed one season and at other schools two seasons to get it.
If this is true then why doesn’t every elite player with a full ride go play one season then drop out and go pro and you have the best of both worlds