meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The Journal.

Inside the Black Market for High School Football Players

The Journal.

The Wall Street Journal

News, Daily News, Business News

4.25.8K Ratings

🗓️ 16 January 2026

⏱️ 23 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

From a young age, it was clear that Phillip Bell was a football phenom. He got his first college scholarship offer in middle school. But that talent drew Bell into Southern California’s unruly youth football black market. In that system, high schoolers and their families are paid millions to play football. WSJ's Harriet Ryan reports on a system that ultimately tore Phillip Bell's family apart. Ryan Knutson hosts. Further Listening: - NCAA President on a New Era for College Sports  - Private Equity Finally Can Get a Piece of the NFL Sign up for WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

It's well known nowadays that millions of dollars are flowing to college football players.

0:10.7

Now the players are allowed to do endorsements through name, image, and likeness deals,

0:16.7

playing for a big college can mean big bucks.

0:20.4

But did you know that millions of dollars in are flowing into high school football, too?

0:25.7

High school football is this kind of beloved and cherished institution in our country,

0:30.5

and we have a lot of warm feelings about it, like Friday night lights and all that.

0:34.6

That's our colleague Harriet Ryan.

0:36.5

She's an investigative reporter based in Los Angeles,

0:39.3

where high school football is a very big deal.

0:42.2

Southern California is just completely different beast.

0:44.8

The competitive level, the number of D-1 prospects,

0:48.0

it just rivals Florida or Georgia or Texas.

0:51.8

Families come from all over the country

0:53.0

to have their kids play in Orange County or L.A.

0:58.1

And for a long time,

0:59.8

Harriet's been hearing rumors that high school players there

1:02.0

were getting paid under the table.

1:04.3

There's a lot of great high school football teams here,

1:05.9

and I always got this.

1:07.8

Well, everybody knows it's dirty.

1:09.4

But, you know, I never seen it proven.

1:11.9

And when I started working on this story and I started seeing the amounts, I was very surprised.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Wall Street Journal, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Wall Street Journal and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.