ST. PETERSBURG, FL—Governor Ron DeSantis took on the college football transfer portal Wednesday morning, hinting that he and other governors plan to set up a "framework" to curb what he sees as a "yearly free agency."
Why the governors? Because, DeSantis says, Congress "can't address anything."
"What's happened with this transfer portal—it's almost like a yearly free agency," he said at a St. Pete press conference, explaining that college football players will enter the transfer portal to try to make more via name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals at another university.
This has led to a mass exodus every year. According to 247Sports, there are nearly 4,000 names in the transfer portal, obliterating the 3,502 record set in the 2022-23 cycle.
While DeSantis acknowledged the positives of players making money off of themselves, he warned that a state of constant flux between colleges can hinder previously successful schools that may lack a consistent set of players.
"I think there needs to be a framework in place and you know, I've talked to some other governors about maybe we can come together on some things," he said. "I don't think Congress is ever going to address this—they can't address anything. But I think that will really be important because college sports are important."
Traditionally, college athletes were never paid for their sport because they were classified as "amateurs" until 2021 when the National Collegiate Athletic Association allowed players not to be paid directly but through NIL endorsements.
According to a 247Sports survey, first-year NIL contracts can range from a few thousand dollars a month to annual payments nearing one million.
The transfer portal, meanwhile, was launched in 2018 to help athletes have more say in switching schools. However, critics of the portal say it has become "chaos", with the 2023 transfer portal seeing a whopping 456 scholarship players on Day 1, and 780 players from FBS, FCS, and Division II trying their hand as well.
In the 2023 college football season, Florida State had an undefeated season for the first time in ten years but was excluded from the championship playoffs, causing outrage at the Seminoles' snub—DeSantis had even pledged $1 million from the state budget to sue the College Football Playoff committee.
Additionally, Florida State, recently joined by Clemson, sued their conference—the ACC—for charging teams $140 million for attempting to leave the conference.
