One of the most vocal and potentially powerful boosters in college sports lashed out at conference commissioners for stymieing changes he thinks could save the rapidly changing industry, and then the commissioners countered, with one of them saying the booster’s views “reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the realities of college athletics.”

The dispute began with an argument Thursday by Cody Campbell, Texas Tech’s billionaire head of regents, about how the proposed pooling of college TV rights could feed additional billions into school coffers, but that progress is being held back because “the conferences are all represented by commissioners who are very, very self-interested.”

“The commissioners don’t really care what happens at the institutional level,” Campbell said at a panel discussion held by the Knight Commission, an oversight group that released a survey in which a majority of college executives who responded said Division I sports was headed in the wrong direction. “All they care about is what happens to them. And I think that is fundamentally the problem.”

Campbell said he supports elements of the recently introduced SAFE Act, a bill co-sponsored by Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., that features a call for a rewrite of a 1960s law that would lift a restriction on college conferences from combining to sell their TV rights together. Campbell told attendees the move could be worth $7 billion, and said commissioners had said to him “privately” that they know a modification of that law would generate more revenue “but I don’t want to give up control of my own media-rights negotiation.”

Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey told The Associated Press those conversations with Campbell never occurred.

“I have never stated — publicly or privately — that pooling media rights would increase revenue, nor do I believe that it would,” Sankey said. “His misrepresentation of my position raises serious concerns about the accuracy of his other claims. … His comments reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the realities of college athletics.”

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark also denied making those remarks.

“Cody is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts,” Yormark said. “I’ve never said pooling media rights will increase revenue. The only thing I have said is that hope isn’t a strategy. There are unintended consequences to amending the [1961 Sports Broadcasting Act] that Cody and his team need to better understand.”

College sports has come under new financial pressure after the recent $2.8 billion House settlement that allows schools to directly pay players for use of their name, image and likeness (NIL) to the tune of up to $20.5 million per university, starting this season.

Media deals make up the backbone of most schools’ bankrolls. The Power 4 conferences each have different, multibillion-dollar arrangements with varied expiration dates spread across multiple networks. The proceeds for those deals then go to conference offices, which all have their own formulas for divvying it up. The Atlantic Coast Conference, for instance, recently reworked its formula to base a portion of its payouts on viewership numbers for specific schools.

The Big Ten, meanwhile, has made headlines recently for being in late-stage efforts to procure up to $2 billion from private equity, which would create a new entity that would market the league’s media rights and other properties.

“The fact that we’re bringing private equity into something that is, in my view, owned by the American public in college sports, is outlandish,” Campbell said. “We have halfway professionalized this thing. And so we have a professionalized cost model on one side where we pay coaches a lot. We’re now paying players a lot. But we have this amateurish media-rights marketing effort that makes absolutely no sense to anybody.”

The Big Ten did not respond to an AP request for comment. Sankey and Yormark, however, pushed back on the idea that commissioners are out of touch with what’s good for college sports.

“My responsibility lies with the institutions I serve and the student-athletes on our campuses,” Sankey said. “Mr. Campbell’s suggestion that commissioners are indifferent to the institutional level is both irresponsible and damaging to his own credibility.”

“Our decisions are rooted in collaboration, accountability, and a deep understanding of the institutional impact for student-athletes,” Yormark said. “The SCORE Act is the first step in solving the issues facing collegiate athletics.”

The SCORE Act, which has support from the NCAA and the Power 4 conferences, proposes limited antitrust protection for the NCAA, mainly from lawsuits involving eligibility issues, and a prohibition on athletes becoming employees of their schools — a development that NCAA executive Tim Buckley said would be “the budget buster of the century” for college sports.

Campbell portrayed the SCORE Act as too broad a giveaway to the NCAA and the conference commissioners he challenged for wanting to run their own fiefdoms instead of looking out for the good of college sports in general.

“Protecting your position and protecting your importance and your ego, I could not care less about that,” Campbell said. “Because I know that if we don’t change something and bring more revenue in, a lot of sports are going to be cut, a lot of scholarships are going to be cut, and a lot of kids are going to lose opportunity.”

Though they may not quite be the all-conquering force they once were, there is still a sense of honor that comes with being a Manchester United player, coupled with an intense pressure to meet the high standards demanded by fans.

While certain players flourish in those conditions, many have wilted under the stresses, fallen out of favor or simply been unable to muscle into the starting XI only to find themselves occupying the sub’s bench week in, week out.

However, while some have seen their careers come to an abrupt standstill at United, there is a noted phenomenon in football circles known as the “post-United bounce,” where a number of players have successfully escaped their Old Trafford purgatory and almost immediately rediscovered their form elsewhere.

While the grass isn’t always necessarily greener, this season alone we’ve seen the likes of Marcus Rashford, Rasmus Højlund and André Onana join the ranks of players who have departed the Premier League giants at a low ebb before enjoying an instant upturn in fortunes after a fresh start.

Those three aren’t the only big names to benefit from the post-United bounce either, with an ever-lengthening list of players experiencing a similar turnaround in the relatively fallow seasons that have elapsed since Sir Alex Ferguson retired as manager.

– Every time Man United’s Ruben Amorim has talked about his job
– Man United fan grows hair for a year due to Amorim’s team’s results
– Dawson: Sunderland win eases Amorim pressure, but for how long?

2025-26

Marcus Rashford

Patchy form and a dip in morale saw Rashford made available for loan by his boyhood club at the start of the year, with Aston Villa first taking the plunge for the second half of last term before Barcelona weighed in by taking the England forward on a seasonlong deal in the summer.

The 27-year-old already looks like a weight has been lifted from his shoulders and the swagger is visibly returning. He has made a decent start to life in Catalonia, with three goals and four assists in his first 10 games for Barça, including an impressive two-goal salvo against Newcastle United in the Champions League which earned him a standing ovation from the home faithful.

play

Amorim: The pressure of playing for Man Utd was difficult for Onana

Ruben Amorim talks about the pressure of playing for Manchester United following confirmation of Andre Onana’s loan move to Trabzonspor.

André Onana

A figure of derision under Erik ten Hag and Ruben Amorim, goalkeeper Onana was responsible for a string of handling and positioning errors in big games that eventually saw him lose his first-choice designation before ultimately being allowed to leave the club.

The Cameroon international signed for Trabzonspor on loan for the 2025-26 campaign and kicked things off by being named the man of the match on debut for the Turkish club despite them falling to a 1-0 loss. He then upped the ante by registering an assist in his second outing by laying on the equaliser in a 1-1 draw against Gaziantep FK.

Rasmus Højlund

A dearth of goals last season saw Højlund left out of the United squad altogether at the start of the 2025-26 campaign until Napoli came to his rescue in September with the offer of a return to Italy.

After mustering four Premier League goals last season, the 22-year-old Denmark striker took just 14 minutes to score his first for the Partenopei and has now produced four goals in his first six games for the club, including a brace in a 2-1 Champions League victory over Sporting CP and the winner against Genoa just before the October international break.

2024-25

Scott McTominay

McTominay sealed a surprise move to Napoli in the summer of 2024 after finding his game time limited under Ten Hag the previous season.

The Scotland midfielder then proceeded to win the Serie A title and be crowned the league MVP in his debut season in Italy while becoming a cult hero among Napoli fans by virtue of his tireless work rate, intense physical play, and of course his knack of scoring important goals in clutch situations.

play

Why Antony felt disrespected at Manchester United

Real Betis winger Antony reflects on the end of his tough time at Manchester United.

Antony

Signed by Ten Hag from former club Ajax in an £82 million deal that made him United’s third-most expensive player of all time, Antony unfortunately misfired in England and quickly became a target for derision after routinely failing to make any impact in games while desperately running through his repertoire of superfluous skills.

After two largely unproductive seasons at Old Trafford, the Brazil winger joined Real Betis on loan for the latter half of the 2024-25 season and was immediately reborn, with nine goals in 26 games and a nomination for the LaLiga player of the month award after just a few weeks in Spain, and he has now moved to Seville on a permanent basis.

2023-24

Dean Henderson

A product of the United academy, Henderson was on the books at his boyhood club between 2015 and 2023 but managed just 13 games in all competitions. Following a succession of loans up and down the Football League, the goalkeeper signed for Crystal Palace on a permanent deal in August 2023 before going on to win the FA Cup and make his England senior debut during his second season at Selhurst Park.

David De Gea

The second goalkeeper to leave United in 2023-24, former stalwart De Gea saw his 12-year stint come to an underwhelming end when his contract was allowed to expire and he was released without much in the way of fanfare. The former Spain No. 1 then remained a free agent for the entire campaign before ending his extended sabbatical by joining Fiorentina in August 2024. With penalties saved and clean sheets kept, the 34-year-old then played an important role in helping La Viola qualify for Europe (via the Conference League) in his maiden season.

2019-20 and 2020-21

The Inter Milan Exodus

Thanks to a tricky regime change at United, a sizeable number of high-earning and/or underperforming players were cleared out to make room for fresh blood in the squad.

This considerable exodus saw a number of players join Inter Milan just in time to fuel the Nerazzurri’s charge to the 2020-21 Serie A title with a good number of said players still in situ when they won the Italian top flight again in 2023-24.

Indeed, Romelu Lukaku (2020-21), Ashley Young (2020-21), Alexis Sánchez (2020-21, 2023-24), Matteo Darmian (2021-22, 2023-24) and Henrikh Mkhitaryan (2023-24) all claimed major honors with Inter after leaving Old Trafford, and also played in Champions League and Europa League finals for the club too.

After having his ability to lead the line for United repeatedly brought into question, Lukaku was voted Serie A MVP in 2020-21 and finished second behind Cristiano Ronaldo in the scoring charts. Lukaku then won his second Italian league title at Napoli last season.

Chris Smalling

Smalling also left United for Italy around that time, initially on loan to Roma for the 2019-20 season before the deal was made permanent the following summer.

The center back was an instant success at the Giallorossi and even emerged as a European champion when they won the Conference League in 2021-22 under José Mourinho’s guidance. Smalling was voted man of the match in that final against Feyenoord and was included in the UEFA team of the tournament — a feat he then repeated the following year when Roma finished runners-up in the Europa League.

2018-19

Daley Blind

A fairly reliable and versatile defensive option for United, Blind enjoyed success during his four years at Old Trafford by winning an FA Cup in 2015-16 and then the Carabao Cup and Europa League in 2016-17.

However, despite being seen as something of a fading force on his United exit, the Netherlands international kicked on by returning to boyhood club Ajax to claim three more Eredivisie titles and two KNVB Cups before spending a single season with Bayern Munich and lifting the Bundesliga shield in 2022-23. The 35-year-old veteran is still going too, and is currently in his third season with Spanish side Girona.

2016-17

Memphis Depay

It’s fair to say that Depay failed to fully ignite at United under Louis van Gaal, with an underwhelming 18-month spell at Old Trafford coming to an end in January 2017 when he signed for Lyon in a permanent deal.

Still only 22 at the time, the Dutch forward’s career soon began to gather momentum and he technically won LaLiga with Barcelona in 2022-23 (though left the club halfway through the season after making just four appearances) to join Atlético Madrid. However, Depay has been a bona fide league winner in recent months, taking the Brazilian Serie A title with Corinthians in 2025.

2015-16

Ángel Di María

With stints at Benfica and Real Madrid already under his belt, Di María was recognized as one of the most skillful playmaking wingers in the world when he signed for United in August 2014 in a huge deal worth almost £60 million — the highest transfer fee ever paid by a British club at the time.

Unfortunately despite early promise, a failure to settle in England, untimely injuries and a dramatic oscillation in form saw Di María regularly squeezed out of the first team under Van Gaal and it all came to an end after 12 months when Paris Saint-Germain offered to rectify the situation in the summer of 2025. The nimble Argentina star duly went on to win a domestic quadruple in his debut season before adding a further 15 major honors to his collection during the seven years he spent in Paris — also winning the FIFA World Cup and two Copa Américas with Argentina.

At the grand old age of 37, Di María is still playing in Argentina with his boyhood club, Rosario Central.

2014-15

Wilfried Zaha

Something of a poster boy for the false start of the post-Alex Ferguson era at United, Crystal Palace star Zaha was actually signed by Fergie in January 2013 but had his move delayed until the following summer, by which time the legendary Scot had retired and been replaced at the helm by protégé David Moyes.

Zaha made just two appearances under Moyes, who sent the young winger out on loan to Cardiff City for the second half of the 2013-14 campaign. Without making a single league start for United, the 22-year-old then returned to Palace in 2014-15, initially on a season-long loan and soon found his ridiculously quick feet again, immediately re-establishing his “fan favourite” status at Selhurst Park while subsequently hitting the best form of his career in the Premier League, carrying the Eagles for several seasons and winning the club player of the year award in 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris hosted WNBA star Napheesa Collier at the activist summit, “A Day of Unreasonable Conversation,” this week, where the player addressed recently alleging an explosive conversation with WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert. 

Collier recently alleged that Engelbert said in a private conversation, “[Caitlin Clark] should be grateful she makes $16 million off the court because without the platform that the WNBA gives her, she wouldn’t make anything,” and that “Players should be on their knees, thanking their lucky stars for the media rights deal that I got them.” 

In her conversation with Harris, Collier defended her decision to make the statements publicly, as the WNBA player’s union is currently negotiating with the league over a new collective bargaining agreement. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

“No matter the consequences, I felt like it was something that needed to be done,” Collier said. 

“I am on the union for our CBA negotiations, like our collective bargaining negotiations for our league, and for so long I felt like I saw what was going on behind closed doors,” she added. “For so long, we tried to have these conversations and move the needle in those meetings that we would have with the league within our leadership. And I saw nothing was changing. Coaches, winning and losing alike, were complaining about the same things over and over again, players over and over again, and we weren’t seeing a change that our leadership was trying to make.

“I think I just got to the point where I was fed up. … Whether I was going to get annihilated for this or people were gonna support me, I felt like what I was doing was right. I felt like it needed to be said, so no matter the consequences, I felt like it was something that needed to be done.

LYNX’S NAPHEESA COLLIER RAILS AGAINST WNBA LEADERSHIP, CALLS FOR OFFICIATING CHANGES

Engelbert said at a press conference last week that she did not make the comments about Clark.

“Obviously, I did not make those comments. Caitlin has been a transformational player in this league. She’s been a great representative of the game. She’s brought in tens of millions of new fans to the game,” Engelbert said. 

Engelbert addressed the alleged comments about the other players, claiming there have been a lot of “inaccuracies” reported in the media, but she did not explicitly deny making those comments as she did with the alleged Clark comments. 

Caitlin Clark poses with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert after she is selected as the No. 1 overall pick by the Indiana Fever in the 2024 WNBA Draft at Brooklyn Academy of Music in Brooklyn, New York, on April 15, 2024. (Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports)

“There’s a lot of innacuracy out there through social media and all this reporting,” Engelbert said. “A lot of reporting, a lot of innacuracy about what I say, what I didn’t say.”

Engelbert later said, “I’m disheartened. I’m a human too. I have a family. I have two kids who are devastated by these comments. So, all I say is that it’s obviously been a tough week, and I just think there’s a lot of innacuracy out there.”

Still, Engelbert acknowledged that if players don’t feel “appreciated” then she has to do better.

“I was disheartened to hear that some players feel the league and that I personally do not care about them or listen to them,” Engelbert said before Game 1 of the WNBA Finals Friday night. 

“If the players in the ‘W’ don’t feel appreciated and value from the league, we have to do better, and I have to do better.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert speaks during a news conference before the WNBA All-Star basketball game, Saturday, July 19, 2025, in Indianapolis.  (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

The players’ association and the WNBA agreed to an eight-year agreement in 2020, but the WNBPA voted last year to opt out of the agreement early. The current agreement expires Oct. 31. 

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.