C.J. Stroud Wants Big Ten Players To Get A Piece Of The Conference's Media Deal

Ohio State superstar C.J. Stroud believes it's time for B1G football players to get a piece of the media pie.

The Big Ten has agreed to an unprecedented media deal with Fox, NBC and CBS that will pay the conference north of $1 billion annually.

It's worth several hundred million dollars more than the SEC's total deal with ESPN, and it represents a tectonic shift in TV deals.

Now, the star junior QB in Columbus wants to see the money trickle down to the players.

C.J. Stroud supports players earning money from the Big Ten's media deal. (Getty Images)

"I definitely think it should be shared, but if not, at the end of the day, we have the NIL space. We can do it that way. The new college world is turning around, and I’m here for it," Stroud said when addressing the Big Ten's unprecedented media deal, according to USA Today.

C.J. Stroud supports players getting paid. (Getty Images)

C.J. Stroud isn't the first B1G star to support media money being paid out to players. Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford also voiced support for the idea a couple weeks ago.

Clifford also wants to see medical benefits to be expanded for B1G athletes.

Will Big Ten football players earn a split of the media revenue? (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

The idea of players getting paid is far from a foreign idea. Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren said during an interview with Bryant Gumbel he can see a scenario unfold where players are paid.

So, there's definitely some interest in the idea.

The biggest question when it comes to paying players if the money comes from the school is how is it distributed.

Do only revenue generating sports—football and men's basketball—see athletes get paid? If that happens, you can bet the house there will be lawsuits and alleged Title IX violations.

As the NCAA states on its own website, "Under Title IX there are no sport exclusions or exceptions." So, how does that apply to distributing media revenue to players in sports that lose money?

Is paying college football players a potential Title IX violation? (Photo by John Cordes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Remember, football drives revenue and media deals. Yet, there are dozens of other sports that lose money that are definitely also going to want to get paid.

How do you square that issue? That's something a lot of lawyers and college leaders will have to figure out if the path of paying players is taken.

For the time being, C.J. Stroud and other players will just have to stick to earning NIL money.