College Recruiting Staffers Rejoice! NCAA Looking To End Photoshoots For Un-Official Visits. Here's Why It's A Big Deal.

The NCAA has been up to its neck in legislation to make certain changes in college athletics. But one piece of news from the FBS Oversight Committee has recruiting and social media staffs around the country rejoicing.

There are numerous topics to discuss over the next few months for the NCAA, which include how to fix the perceived gambling issue for student athletes. While this was going on, the committee also decided it was time to do away with photoshoots for un-official visitors.

You might be wondering why this would be a big deal for content teams around college athletics. Well, first of all it takes a serious amount of time to put these together. Starting from the player putting on pads and a full uniform, all the way to posing for the camera for extended periods of time. Do this for upwards of 20-30 young athletes on a given weekend and you've got staffers needing a coffee-filled IV to get through their day.

The South Carolina recruiting corner, where some of the phots are taken that you see on social media, involving unofficial visits.

College Media Staffers Aren't Paid Enough For This

Another thing about this piece of legislation that has athletic departments quietly rejoicing is that the staffers aren't paid enough. When a coach brings a player in for an unofficial visit, that athlete might also bring two of his high school teammates. So, not only are the staffers now having to make sure they impress the star player, they also have to take care of his buddies, who most likely aren't being recruited by the school.

Starting to get the point here? Most of the regular staffers, who aren't heading up the team, make anywhere between $30,000-$50,000 per year. If you take a job at a lower tier school, you're making as little as $23,000 for the same amount of work.

"I can't tell you how much extra time we spend on these athletes to take a bunch of photos so they can post on social media, but then it's on to the next school," a social media manager who works in the Big Ten told OutKick. "We spend countless hours editing, shooting, setting up, tearing down and that's just for unofficial visitors.

"If we have the main recruit on-campus, a player one of the coaches really wants, we go the extra mile to make sure everything comes out perfect. This usually means I get home around 2am, and continue working on the laptop from my couch. It's a never-ending cycle, especially working with all the different sports."

It's Not Just One Sport For A Content Creators, It's Up To Five

What the average fan fails to understand as well, is that these creators and photographers are also working gameday for each event. So, not only are they taking care of numerous recruits, most of them will never play for the school. Also, they're handling a football, basketball, or soccer events on the same weekend.

It's a never-ending cycle, which is the main reason why college football leaders in some conferences have been pushing for this over the last few years. The only time these folks get a break is when the dead period arrives, but then it's back to work for summer camps and pop-in visit that happens so often.

"The number one reason why people in the college creative industry are leaving is the time and energy spent on unofficial visit photo and video shoots, most of which never see the light of day," one Power-5 sports information director told OutKick. "Behind the scenes, many creative departments have been hoping and wishing for this move. The improvement in quality of life and focus on the work that actually matters is highly beneficial. 

Those videos you see on Sunday morning from your favorite school, recapping the win and letting you revisit the game with graphics and fantastic editing, it's all from the same small group. Speaking with another Power-5 media coordinator, they mentioned the football team has three full-time content creators, while also having two full-time photographers. They are helped during these hectic days by student workers.

Compared to other schools without the funding, this is a pretty big staff, while at the same time, one Sun Belt Conference official noted that they only employ two content creators. These schools rely on student-interns to help.

It might look like a small move to folks outside of the industry, but this could be a monumental move for the industry.