After Criticizing CFB Players on NIL Culture, Deion Sanders Reacts to Snoop Dogg’s Major Arizona Bowl Update

Right from when he was coach at Jackson State, Deion Sanders has voiced his take on paying college players. His main concern is that unequal pay can result in alienation from the coaches and fellow teammates, ultimately disrupting the team’s dynamics. For him, college is still a place to learn and not somewhere to get carried away with earning NIL income. 

Earlier in April, Deion Sanders had voiced his concerns about the student’s academic performance after hearing negative feedback from professors. He blames a “NIL State of Mind” for this distraction from their studies and rallied the coaches around the nation saying, “Coaches, we’ve got to emphasize education. We’ve got to emphasize life. We’ve got to emphasize the next step.” Just one month later, he reacted to rapper Snoop Dogg’s NIL announcement. 

Deion Sanders reacts to Snoop Dogg’s NIL Bowl update

Rap legend Snoop Dogg is going to go down in sports history as the sponsor of the first-ever NIL Bowl game. As Bleacher Report posted on X, “Snoop announces his Arizona Bowl game on Dec. 28 will be the first CFB bowl game to give NIL money to players.” And it’s not just selected players but all the players in both teams who suit up and arrive in Tucson and also do community service during their time there. As a response to this jackpot for the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl presented by Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop, Coach Prime retweeted the post on his X account. 

Snoop Dogg, who is expected to be in attendance for the bowl week activities and the game, said of his initiative, “Adding NIL opportunities for the student-athletes of the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl is the next evolution in college sports, and we wanted to lead by example.” This move could be a start towards reducing the number of players opting out of bowl games, which reportedly saw 78 players opt out last season. The recent changes are proving beneficial for the players financially as now, they can start earning while in college as per the new NCAA settlement. 

The NCAA settlement to pay college athletes 

In a recent settlement, the NCAA and the Power 5 have reached an agreement where they’ll pay college athletes for their performance. The settlement is set to dish out $2.7 billion to compensate past and current college players over 10 years while handing out $20 million to each school. But the question is – Is everyone getting paid?

Reports claim that the financial aid will primarily be enjoyed by football and basketball players as they generate the most revenue in sports. But as attorney Mit Winter put it, “It’s going to be up to each school to decide how they’re going to distribute that $20 million. And that’s going to probably vary a lot from school to school.” Hopefully, this bright streak for college athletes won’t disappear with Deion Sanders’ worst fears.