POWERS Podcast #398: Cody Campbell – Saving College Sports, NIL, & A $7B Opportunity
Date: November 18, 2025
Host: Chris Powers
Guest: Cody Campbell
Episode Overview
This episode features Cody Campbell, Texas Tech board member, NIL Collective co-founder, and former football player. The conversation dives deep into the tectonic shifts in college sports—NIL (Name, Image, Likeness), legal and financial pressures, conference realignment, the importance of college athletics to local communities, and an evolving $7 billion opportunity for college athletes and institutions. Cody brings an insider’s perspective on how recent legal changes upended collegiate sports governance and funding, why this moment represents a once-in-a-generation chance for reform, and what practical solutions could ensure college athletics not merely survive but thrive.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. College Sports as the American Social Fabric
- College Football as Culture:
- Cody highlights how college football is "the most American sport that exists," representing meritocracy, masculinity, and patriotism. For many rural and mid-sized communities, college sports are the heartbeat of local culture.
- Quote:
"People talk about culture as being like the opera or symphony… but in places like that, the culture is college sports. It's college football. And I don't think we need to discount the importance of that part of their culture just because we're on the east coast or the west coast and we look down our nose at it." (00:00 & 53:45 - Cody)
2. The NIL Revolution: Breaking the Old Model
- Legal Tectonics—California Law & Supreme Court Shift:
- The pivotal California law of 2020 and Supreme Court decisions, including Alston v NCAA, declared NCAA’s longstanding rules as anticompetitive.
- Quote:
"…based on any interpretation of antitrust law, the NCAA has been violating it for the last hundred years." (13:04 - Cody)
- Chaos and the 'Gap Period':
- A "no rules" era emerged, allowing collectives and boosters to aggressively fund recruiting, with Cody and his team executing a “once-in-a-generation” mobilization at Texas Tech ahead of the anticipated legal settlement.
- House v NCAA Settlement:
- Intended to allow direct athletic revenue payments to student-athletes, but loopholes, weak enforcement, and ongoing NIL deals have kept the 'wild west' atmosphere alive.
- Quote:
"Now we have these rules, but people…are just no enforcer…There is nobody that has the ability to actually enforce any rules at the end of the day." (40:18 - Host/Cody)
3. Inside a Modern College Football Talent Grab
- Strategy at Texas Tech:
- Mobilized boosters, mapped out talent needs with analytics, and executed a focused strategy to fill critical roster gaps, emphasizing both fit and character alongside skill.
- Quote:
"We were able to, and we were able to communicate exactly what the players are getting and exactly when they're going to get it to all their families and to them…We were able to actually get commitments from every one of our top prospects in each position…" (05:48 - Cody)
4. Beyond the Team: Ripple Effects for Texas Tech
- Alumni Passion and Community:
- Massive and passionate alumni base is a unique economic engine for Tech, with high donor engagement and Lubbock’s identity deeply tied to Red Raider sports.
- Quote:
"Texas Tech is the heartbeat of West Texas…It brings communities together, it brings families together. It's important." (10:02 - Cody)
5. The Broken Business Model: Finances, Stakeholders, and the Threat of Collapse
- Unsustainable Deficits:
- 95% of FBS schools run significant athletic deficits, supporting non-revenue sports through football/basketball surpluses siphoned from state funds, tuition, and fees.
- Quote:
"The average budget deficit in FBS among those 136 schools is $20 million per school per year." (19:35 - Cody)
- Stakeholders:
- Schools, student-athletes, conference commissioners (often focused on maintaining their power and position), broadcasters who benefit from underpriced media deals, and fans.
- Quote:
"I've never heard a commissioner talk about the well-being of the student athletes. They don't talk about it. What they talk about is that any plan that isn't exactly what they want…has all these problems with implementation…" (27:41 - Cody)
6. Why College Sports Get Half the Revenue with Twice the Eyeballs
- Antiquated Media Rights:
- Unlike pro leagues, colleges can’t pool their TV rights; the 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act gave pros collective bargaining but not colleges, leading to shoddy media payouts and nonsensical conference realignment.
- Quote:
"College football has twice as many viewers as the NBA, but college football receives half as much revenue each year as the NBA." (21:26 & 29:19 - Host/Cody)
- This leads to fractured schedules, cannibalized viewership, and diluted rivalries, hurting both fans and bottom lines.
7. Dangerous Financial Trends: Private Equity and Desperation
- Private Equity Encroachment:
- PE firms and, in some cases, foreign interests (e.g., Saudi Arabia), are pitching cash-for-revenue-share deals at usurious rates, mortgaging the future for near-term survival.
- Quote:
"...how does it make sense for one of those institutions to borrow money at 15 or 16% effectively? ...it's just going to make your life harder in the future...mortgaging your future at this very high rate…" (35:22 - Cody)
- The risk: the development pipeline for Olympic athletes, social mobility for students, and crucial elements of American leadership all at risk as sports like track, swimming, and gymnastics are cut.
8. A Path Forward: Cody’s Vision for Reform
- New Governing Body with Real Authority:
- Replace the NCAA with a new commission backed by an antitrust exemption, empowered to set and enforce rules—mirroring the NFL model.
- Quote:
"...I would set up a new governing body to replace the NCAA. I would empower that governing body with an antitrust exemption to make and enforce rules..." (44:28 - Cody)
- Revenue Potential:
- Unified media rights could unlock an incremental $7 billion a year, easily covering women’s and Olympic sports and maintaining competitiveness for top revenue sports.
- Maintain a Free Market—Within Limits:
- Endorsement of player pay and a degree of free market negotiation, but with guardrails like salary caps to protect broad program sustainability.
- Transfer rules to allow for limited mobility; agent regulation to avoid exploitation.
- Quote:
"Let the free market determine how much a kid gets paid…But they can't be paid so much that it destroys the whole system." (46:49 - Cody)
- Nonpartisan, Cultural-First Approach:
- Campbell emphasizes that the preservation of college sports transcends ideology and is a distinctly American institution worth protecting.
- Quote:
"This system was socialized a long time ago…The thing is socialized, it belongs to all of us, and it's in all of our best interests that it is preserved." (51:18 - Cody)
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
On the Social Value of College Sports:
"We've had sports for the whole…history of humankind, the modern history. And, like, the reason we do it is because we all love it and enjoy it, and it gives us an escape from, you know, life, which kind of sucks sometimes…" (53:45 - Cody)
-
On Regulatory Dysfunction and Frustration in DC:
"…it's not as simple as walking in and saying, look, we got a problem. Here's the solution. Let's go do it. It's like you got to go through just unbelievable…process and bureaucracy…" (38:13 - Cody)
-
On the Potential Loss of Olympic Development:
"All of our Olympic development programs is done inside of our colleges. Well…these Olympic sports…are being cut because the money's not there for them. So where are our Olympic athletes going to come from?" (36:59 - Cody)
Timestamps for Key Segments
- 00:00–03:00 – The cultural and economic role of college football in America
- 03:22–09:19 – The Texas Tech “Powder Keg” and mobilizing the NIL era
- 10:02–12:37 – Texas Tech alumni passion and ripple effects on community
- 12:44–14:13 – The California NIL law and court decisions breaking NCAA’s model
- 15:44–19:35 – Cody’s decision to engage in college sports reform; financial crisis in athletic departments
- 21:10–27:17 – Main stakeholders; institutional deficits and conference politics
- 29:19–33:27 – Why college sports earn less than pro leagues; media rights problem and conference realignment
- 35:22–39:15 – Private equity bids: implications and risks
- 40:08–41:44 – House settlement and ongoing rule evasion
- 44:28–47:44 – Cody’s ideal solution: new governing body, unified media, and fair pay
- 48:50–51:18 – Can this be solved in Trump’s term? Politics, priorities, and the path to reform
- 53:02–55:34 – How fans and alumni can support change
Listener Takeaways
- College sports are existentially threatened by financial realities, bad governance, and opportunism, but also sit on an unprecedented revenue opportunity if reformed.
- Local culture and national identity are at stake, as is the developmental pipeline for American leadership and Olympic competition.
- Effective reform demands a new governing structure empowered to act as a true collective, alongside practical legal and regulatory fixes.
- Preserving the breadth and vibrancy of college sports will require leaving ideology at the door; it is a unifying project that touches all Americans.
Episode Tone
The dialogue is direct, pragmatic, occasionally impassioned but always clear-eyed. Cody mixes strategic business insight with deep love of the sport and appreciation for its societal impact.
End of Summary