Social mood is pushing the sport into the dead zone
Curt Cignetti, coach of the Indiana Hoosiers, should be happier than a dog with two tails. In January, he brought his team to their first-ever national football championship victory with a perfect 16-0 season — the NATI’s first undefeated streak in 132 years.
He proved the impossible “could be done.” But at a recent booster event on May 28, Cignetti warned of another impossible possibility: the NIL frenzy could end college football. From USA Today:
Curt Cignetti signals a sport near its breaking point… Something’s going to have to be done in the next 12 to 24 months, or universities might not be able to handle this. College football won’t exist the way we’re going right now.
Our June 2026 Socionomist cover story “Show Us the Money” uncovers a historic correlation between not-quite-professional athlete’s payouts and social mood.
Cignetti insists that something must change before the football bubble bursts. Our report reveals what that something really is.
Read the full report today, along with the entire June Socionomist issue — for just $30!