Episodes

  • Out of Bounds - Trailer

    Out of Bounds - Trailer

    The Battle for the Soul of College Sports
    Mar 15 2022
    On July 1, 2021, sports in America changed forever. After decades of protests, sanctions, and challenges, the NCAA fortress finally crumbled. The Supreme Court struck the decisive blow, ruling unanimously that restrictions on “education-related benefits” for college athletes violated antitrust law. At the same time, a host of new state laws took effect that - for the first time - gave college athletes the opportunity to earn money from sponsors. Immediately, college stars in football, basketball, soccer, volleyball, gymnastics, and many other sports began signing deals. The move minted instant millionaires, decriminalized a host of actions, and opened the floodgates for a whole new economy, creating ripple effects that will play out for decades while igniting long-smoldering controversies about equity, race, gender, and the values and power structure of “amateur” sports in America. In this first season of Out of Bounds, we take a deep dive into the hot-button issue of money in college sports by telling the compelling inside stories of those who were impacted the most. We follow six diverse athletes - three from the past and three in the present–across a range of sports. We look at all that was lost and risked in the era before the rules were changed - the sanctions and witch hunts, the vacated titles, reclaimed trophies, and the billions in income - while looking ahead to the enormous paydays and thorny questions this revolution entails. Along the way, we weave in the history of amateur sports in the US, the evolution and unchecked power of the NCAA monolith, and the long-brewing battle to provide fair pay to college athletes. It all relates to one huge overarching question: Is this finally the end of amateur sports in America?
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    2 mins
  • Episode 1 - The Mogul Man Vs. The Machine
    Mar 15 2022
    When the NCAA told Olympic skier Jeremy Bloom that he could only play college football if he dumped out of half a million in skiing sponsorship deals -- it ignited an early showdown in what would become a full-on battle between college athletes and the faceless empire of the NCAA.
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    43 mins
  • Episode 2 - The Quarterback and The Revolution
    Mar 22 2022
    When a Texas kid named D'Eriq King set his sights on being the best quarterback in the game, he had no idea he that his rise to the top level of Division I football would coincide with a sea change in college sports, giving him and other athletes room to run through a new field of opportunity. King, however, would face some unexpected obstacles.
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    40 mins
  • Episode 3 - The Most Famous College Basketball Team Ever to Be Exploited
    Mar 29 2022
    When Michigan's "Fab Five" took the nation by storm in the early 90s, all the starters made it to the NBA except one - a deacon's son named Ray Jackson, who was left to wrestle with the racial implications of a college sports system in which everyone except the players makes a profit.
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    48 mins
  • Episode 4 - A Walk On in a Brave New World
    Apr 5 2022
    As star college athletes sign lucrative sponsorship deals throughout the country, a charismatic and ambitious Duquesne walk-on basketball player named Noah Buono struggles to score free pizza. Buono's experience is contrasted with that of the top player in the women's game, an exuberant transplant from the Virgin Islands named Aliyah Boston.
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    39 mins
  • Episode 5 - A Star Without an Arena
    Apr 12 2022
    Kristine Lilly went from being a Connecticut kid playing youth soccer to one of the best players on the planet in the 1980s, but she still couldn't earn enough to pay the rent. Lilly’s journey through the soccer hierarchy parallels the fight for gender equality in college and professional sports.
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    40 mins
  • Episode 6 - The Girl with the Golden Foot
    Apr 19 2022
    When soccer prodigy Olivia Moultrie signed a contract with Nike at age 13, she knew it meant she could never play soccer in college, unless, that is, she and her parents fought the antiquated NCAA system that delineates amateurs from pros. In telling her story, we also look to the future and what it holds for the next generation of athletes.
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    39 mins