The Canyon Between Football and Everyone Else

This op-ed is courtesy of Paul Walker.

Note: The opinions in this article don’t necessarily reflect the views of SwimSwam as a whole.

Cody Campbell knows what it’s like to be a student-athlete. Before he became a billionaire oilman, he was a Texas Tech offensive lineman juggling classes, 6 a.m. workouts, and the dream of playing in the NFL. That background matters. It means he’s lived the grind, felt the uncertainty, and understands that for most athletes, education and opportunity matter more than trophies.

Now Campbell is aiming even bigger: replacing the NCAA with a federally chartered “United States Collegiate Athletics Corporation.” It’s bold. It’s disruptive. And it may even be inevitable. But here’s the only question that matters: does it put athletes first?

While I don’t know Campbell personally, I’ve been watching my fellow Texans’ moves (and noting his contradictions). Here’s what I think swim and Olympic sports fans should know.

The Athlete-First Litmus Test

If this reform is real, it should pass four simple tests:

Education First: Do athletes leave with degrees or real pathways to one? If academics get sidelined, we’re not talking about college sports; we’re talking about semi-pro ball in school colors.

All Sports, Not Just Football: Olympic sports, including women’s programs such as swimming and diving, track, volleyball, and rowing, are a significant part of college athletics for most participants. Campbell has hinted at protecting them; that’s encouraging. But unless it’s written into bylaws and budgets, a hint is lip service.

Athlete Voice: Do athletes get voting seats in governance (not token advisory panels)?

Health & Welfare: Are medical coverage, concussion protections, and post-eligibility support guaranteed?

What’s the Motive?

Campbell’s big political play is to ask Congress to “modernize” the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961. That law gave the NFL the right to collectively sell its TV rights. The NCAA once had that power, too, until the Supreme Court stripped it away in 1984. That ruling opened the floodgates of televised college football, but it also scattered rights across conferences, creating today’s patchwork marketplace.

Campbell’s pitch is innovative and straightforward: give college sports the same collective authority the NFL and NBA enjoy, so they can bundle rights, maximize value, and bridge the gap with the pros. That would generate billions more to stabilize athletic departments and universities and protect Olympic sports like swimming, gymnastics, and track.

Here’s where the credibility test comes in. While Campbell preaches reform, he’s simultaneously been one of college football’s biggest NIL spenders. Texas Tech landed recruit Felix Ojo with a reported $2.3 million deal, primarily funded by Campbell’s network. He’s acknowledged this contradiction himself, saying his school has “played the game as well as we could based on the rules that are in place,” while admitting “that doesn’t necessarily mean that I think it’s good for the long-term health of the sport.”

I respect his honesty. But his contradiction matters. Can someone profiting from the current system’s excesses genuinely reform it? Or is this about consolidating power for the benefit of football, while offering Olympic sports symbolic protection?

Still, if new revenues from bundled rights actually flow back to institutions, not just football powers or boosters, that’s a good thing. Because if athletic departments are stable and some of that money supports academic missions as well, then reform can serve the broader purpose of universities. However, if the money is diverted to football and men’s basketball, swimming, and other Olympic sports, education and research will be left behind. No one’s against improving facilities, but too often the dollars go to the recruiting event ice sculptures instead of scholarships or classroom support.

That’s the canyon test: who closes it for athletes and for the institutions they represent, not just for football.

The Value Gap

The disparity in media rights explains the stakes, though exact figures vary by source, and these estimates are directionally correct:

• NFL: Around $110–113B over 11 years in national media rights (2023–2033), or roughly $10–11B per year.
• NBA: New 11-year, $76B domestic package starting 2025–26, averaging roughly $7B per year.
• College Sports (fragmented): Big Ten (~$1B/yr), SEC (~$710M/yr), ACC (~$600M/yr estimated), Big 12 (~$380M/yr), CFP (~$1.3B/yr), March Madness (~$1.1B/yr), NCAA Olympic-sport bundle (~$115M/yr). Altogether: roughly $5–6B/yr.
• Olympics (U.S. rights): NBC’s rights total $7.65B through 2032, with a $3B extension through 2036.

The lesson? Pro leagues and the Olympics bundle and monetize rights as premium national properties. College sports are chopped into conference deals, leaving billions on the table. Swimming, track, and other Olympic sports get barely monetized at all.

The Political Reality

Campbell isn’t just any reformer; he’s deeply connected to Republican politics and the Trump administration. His “Saving College Sports” nonprofit shares its name with Trump’s executive order on the same topic. While his GOP connections might help pass legislation, they also raise questions about whether this is genuine reform or designed to benefit major conferences.

The reform concept itself originated not from Campbell, but from the Texas Public Policy Foundation. In this conservative think tank, Campbell serves on the board. This suggests his proposal may be more ideologically driven than experience-based.

Credit Where It’s Due

Campbell isn’t a pure outsider. He’s influential in Washington. He’s been in the locker room. He knows how fragile athletic careers are and how much education matters when the cheering stops. And unlike many reformers, he’s at least talking about Olympic sports. Those are positives.

However, his massive NIL spending raises a credibility issue. If the current system is so broken, why is he one of its most prominent players? And if bundled TV rights are the solution, how do we ensure that the billions generated actually protect Olympic sports, such as swimming, diving, rowing, and the rest, rather than just enriching football programs and their boosters?

The Private Equity Angle

Here’s another wrinkle: large private equity firms can also spot undervalued assets. They’re watching the revenue potential of college sports and working every angle to secure a profitable role. When PE sees billions in untapped media value, they don’t invest to protect Olympic sports; they invest to extract maximum returns for their investors.

If reform doesn’t happen on terms that protect all sports, we might see PE-backed solutions that prioritize profit over mission entirely. That could mean even less support for swimming, track, tennis, and other Olympic sports as resources flow toward whatever generates the highest returns. Think about it: when was the last time a private equity firm invested in a swimming program because they believed in developing student-athletes?

Campbell’s contradictions aside, at least he’s discussing the protection of Olympic sports. Private equity rarely does.

Bottom Line

Reform is coming. The NCAA is too weak to hold the line. Campbell’s plan may even be the spark that pushes Congress to act. However, “saving college sports” only counts if it protects all athletes in all sports — swimmers, divers, runners, rowers, and more — along with their education, health, and futures.

If money and power outrun the higher ed mission, we haven’t saved college sports; we’ve sold it. If the mission wins and Olympic sports finally get their due, then maybe, just maybe, we’ll have saved swimming and all the other sports we love.

By the Numbers: The Canyon in Sports Media Rights

• NFL: ~$10–11B per year
• NBA: ~$7B per year
• Olympics (U.S. rights, NBC): $7.65B through 2032 + $3B extension through 2036
• College Sports (P4 conferences + CFP + March Madness): ~$5–6B per year
• NCAA Olympic-sport bundle (40 championships, incl. women’s hoops): $115M per year
• Gap #1: Pro vs. College (Football/Basketball) — College sports make less than the NBA and far less than the NFL, even with similar scale and passion.
• Gap #2: Olympic Games vs. NCAA Olympic Sports — The Olympics generate billions worldwide; NCAA swimming, track, and 38 other championships barely clear $115M a year.

That’s the canyon. Whoever closes it for athletes and for the institutions they represent, not just football, is the one truly saving college sports.

About Paul Walker

Paul Walker is an entrepreneur based in Austin, Texas. A lifelong swimmer and supporter of Texas and Olympic sports, he sees the pool as a place where discipline, clarity, and community meet. He trains and competes with Longhorn Aquatics Masters and recently completed his first intercontinental swim, crossing from Asia to Europe across the Bosphorus Strait. The sport has shaped his life and that of his family, and he remains committed to helping protect and elevate it, one lap (or story) at a time.