theclemsonkid
Member
***This is an article I wrote for a local paper here in Ohio***
This is nothing new. It's been an ongoing, water cooler argument for the past quarter century. The "student" athletes at big-time NCAA colleges bring in billions of dollars for their universities and the NCAA (that's billions, with a "b"), but financially speaking, get nothing in return except a scholarship, that in most cases doesn't cover the basic cost of living.
Up until last week, this had been a discussion between friends and colleagues, knowing that ultimately "the powers that be" would never let the status quo change. Are college athletes really "amateurs"? Are they being taken advantage of financially by the very institutions that are supposed to be protecting them? Should college sports be kept "innocent" by amateur rules and regulations? Ultimately, is the system fair?
A ruling last week by the National Labor Relations Board, and a class action lawsuit filed against the NCAA by football players at Northwestern University, has folks at the NCAA and big-money colleges on edge. The NLRB ruled that Northwestern University football players are employees of the school, and based on this, are able to form a union if they so chose. For the first time ever, a courtroom has ruled that the players should have a seat at the table.
Ultimately, the NCAA is being challenged in a legitimate way, and their "these are simply student athletes" company line is going to be a lot harder to use as a defense. Student athletes who make millions of dollars for their respective institutions are not merely students, they are the backbone of the system that puts money in the pockets of everyone but their own.
For as long as people have been questioning them, the NCAA brass has insisted that college athletes simply cannot be paid because it would strip the entire system of it's amateur nature. They also claim that the mission of the NCAA is purely educational, and it's entire purpose is to support the students and institutions academic endeavors.
Please.
Like most of capitalist America, the NCAA is concerned with one thing, and one thing only.
The almighty dollar.
We're not talking insubstantial amounts here, either. The NCAA and it's member institutions bring in billions of dollars a year. This year alone, CBS paid around $700 million for the rights to broadcast the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, commonly known as "March Madness". And it's not just the NCAA and it's members, it's also the administration and coaches.
Look just down the road from here in Columbus, Ohio. Head football coach at The Ohio State University Urban Meyer makes a cool $4.6 million a year. If you were thinking to yourself, "Gosh that's a lot of money for a public employee!", you'd be right. Urban Meyers is the highest paid public employee in the state of Ohio. He's not alone. In 40 of the 50 United states, a football, basketball, or hockey coach is the states highest paid public employee. Also in the top 10 of highest paid public employees, you'll find not only university presidents, but college athletic directors as well.
It's no coincidence in this big money game. These salaries are very similar to what coaches and GM's of for-profit professional sports leagues earn, only these jobs are in what they love to call an "amateur" sport.
So what exactly are student athletes forbid from doing? In layman's terms, NCAA rules don't allow student athletes to be compensated in any way, shape, or form; other than their athletic scholarship. Aside from that, there are hundreds of "ticky tack" rules they have to deal with, including a personal favorite of mine, a "pasta violation". Yes, I said pasta.
Three student athletes at the University of Oklahoma consumed "excess" amounts of pasta per the NCAA regulations at a graduation banquet. The University had to report the "violation", and the three student athletes each paid $3.83 (the cost of the excess pasta) to a charity of their choice. I'd like to say I am making this up, but unfortunately, these are the rules that student athletes must live by.
The part that becomes even more frustrating, is while some students take economics classes teaching them the basic tenants of capitalism and the "free market" concept, they are forbid from practicing them. Talk about hypocrisy.
The question becomes, "how do they continue to get away with this?" The answer is shamefully simplistic.
They're amateurs.
The NCAA has spent decades successfully hiding behind the embarrassing guise of "amateurism" as legal and economic justification for pulling the wool over our eyes. The minute the NCAA and their members started turning profits on the backs of their students, was the minute they should have thrown "amateurism" out the window. The even more embarrassing part, is still hearing people within the NCAA still say things like "we're trying to protect our college athletes from commercialization". Really?
How can you possibly even suggest that? If you're really concerned with commercialization and the harm it would cause your student athletes, perhaps you should practice what you preach. That would mean no million dollar deals with Nike and Adidas for your jerseys and practice gear. That also means stopping the exploitation of your school's top players by plastering their number, but not their names on a jersey. Stop accepting money to put corporate names on the side of your stadiums and arenas. Let's not let every company in America throw a couple million dollars your way to get their own bowl game. I always thought the "Orange Bowl" sounded a lot better than the "Discover Orange Bowl", don't you?
Perhaps this weekends "Final Four" TV rights should just be given away pro bono, to protect the "amateurism" of those poor college athletes running up and down the floor. I mean, that's what you are trying to do anyways, right NCAA?
WHAT'S THE ANSWER?
This seems to be the million dollar question. If you can't pay college athletes, what can you do?
For starters, you could offer all college athletes a simple stipend. I'm not asking for a six figure annual stipend. I'm talking about just enough to cover the basic cost of living in whichever market you're attending school. That means a student athlete attending St. John's in New York City would expect more than someone in Bowling Green, Ohio. Figure the cost of rent, food, basic necessities like gas and utilities, entertainment, and a small amount of spending cash. Doing simple math, I would place that at somewhere between $800 and $1,200 a month during the season. It would be simple, cost effective, and most importantly, it would satisfy 95% of the student athletes complaints.
For the others, specifically the top 5% of student athletes who make the majority of the money for the NCAA and it's members, I think they should resort to a variation of the Olympic model. The Olympic model allows athlete's to hire an agent, sign endorsement deals, and use your name and likeness for personal entrepreneurial endeavors. For the NCAA, this should be a no-brainer, as it doesn't cost them a dime. The money would come from the shoe companies, local businesses and the like. This would also be the fastest way to eliminate the "black market" of student athletes in back rooms and under the table handshakes.
Lastly, there should be an escrow account set up for current and future medical issues directly associated with your days playing for the member institutions. If you live and die on the field, in some cases literally breaking your back, they should stand by you financially for the long haul. This would be only a small sliver of the the massive TV endorsement deals.
No option is perfect, and all would have their own challenges. There is no doubt about that. However, the time has come and gone to pretend that the amateurism of the NCAA is in tact. It isn't now, nor has it been for the past half century. If the NCAA and it's members want to continue to reap billions of dollars off the backs of their student athletes, it's time they start treating them like the money making employees that they are.
If you don't like it, I hear communist Russia is real nice this time of year.
This is nothing new. It's been an ongoing, water cooler argument for the past quarter century. The "student" athletes at big-time NCAA colleges bring in billions of dollars for their universities and the NCAA (that's billions, with a "b"), but financially speaking, get nothing in return except a scholarship, that in most cases doesn't cover the basic cost of living.
Up until last week, this had been a discussion between friends and colleagues, knowing that ultimately "the powers that be" would never let the status quo change. Are college athletes really "amateurs"? Are they being taken advantage of financially by the very institutions that are supposed to be protecting them? Should college sports be kept "innocent" by amateur rules and regulations? Ultimately, is the system fair?
A ruling last week by the National Labor Relations Board, and a class action lawsuit filed against the NCAA by football players at Northwestern University, has folks at the NCAA and big-money colleges on edge. The NLRB ruled that Northwestern University football players are employees of the school, and based on this, are able to form a union if they so chose. For the first time ever, a courtroom has ruled that the players should have a seat at the table.
Ultimately, the NCAA is being challenged in a legitimate way, and their "these are simply student athletes" company line is going to be a lot harder to use as a defense. Student athletes who make millions of dollars for their respective institutions are not merely students, they are the backbone of the system that puts money in the pockets of everyone but their own.
For as long as people have been questioning them, the NCAA brass has insisted that college athletes simply cannot be paid because it would strip the entire system of it's amateur nature. They also claim that the mission of the NCAA is purely educational, and it's entire purpose is to support the students and institutions academic endeavors.
Please.
Like most of capitalist America, the NCAA is concerned with one thing, and one thing only.
The almighty dollar.
We're not talking insubstantial amounts here, either. The NCAA and it's member institutions bring in billions of dollars a year. This year alone, CBS paid around $700 million for the rights to broadcast the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, commonly known as "March Madness". And it's not just the NCAA and it's members, it's also the administration and coaches.
Look just down the road from here in Columbus, Ohio. Head football coach at The Ohio State University Urban Meyer makes a cool $4.6 million a year. If you were thinking to yourself, "Gosh that's a lot of money for a public employee!", you'd be right. Urban Meyers is the highest paid public employee in the state of Ohio. He's not alone. In 40 of the 50 United states, a football, basketball, or hockey coach is the states highest paid public employee. Also in the top 10 of highest paid public employees, you'll find not only university presidents, but college athletic directors as well.
It's no coincidence in this big money game. These salaries are very similar to what coaches and GM's of for-profit professional sports leagues earn, only these jobs are in what they love to call an "amateur" sport.
So what exactly are student athletes forbid from doing? In layman's terms, NCAA rules don't allow student athletes to be compensated in any way, shape, or form; other than their athletic scholarship. Aside from that, there are hundreds of "ticky tack" rules they have to deal with, including a personal favorite of mine, a "pasta violation". Yes, I said pasta.
Three student athletes at the University of Oklahoma consumed "excess" amounts of pasta per the NCAA regulations at a graduation banquet. The University had to report the "violation", and the three student athletes each paid $3.83 (the cost of the excess pasta) to a charity of their choice. I'd like to say I am making this up, but unfortunately, these are the rules that student athletes must live by.
The part that becomes even more frustrating, is while some students take economics classes teaching them the basic tenants of capitalism and the "free market" concept, they are forbid from practicing them. Talk about hypocrisy.
The question becomes, "how do they continue to get away with this?" The answer is shamefully simplistic.
They're amateurs.
The NCAA has spent decades successfully hiding behind the embarrassing guise of "amateurism" as legal and economic justification for pulling the wool over our eyes. The minute the NCAA and their members started turning profits on the backs of their students, was the minute they should have thrown "amateurism" out the window. The even more embarrassing part, is still hearing people within the NCAA still say things like "we're trying to protect our college athletes from commercialization". Really?
How can you possibly even suggest that? If you're really concerned with commercialization and the harm it would cause your student athletes, perhaps you should practice what you preach. That would mean no million dollar deals with Nike and Adidas for your jerseys and practice gear. That also means stopping the exploitation of your school's top players by plastering their number, but not their names on a jersey. Stop accepting money to put corporate names on the side of your stadiums and arenas. Let's not let every company in America throw a couple million dollars your way to get their own bowl game. I always thought the "Orange Bowl" sounded a lot better than the "Discover Orange Bowl", don't you?
Perhaps this weekends "Final Four" TV rights should just be given away pro bono, to protect the "amateurism" of those poor college athletes running up and down the floor. I mean, that's what you are trying to do anyways, right NCAA?
WHAT'S THE ANSWER?
This seems to be the million dollar question. If you can't pay college athletes, what can you do?
For starters, you could offer all college athletes a simple stipend. I'm not asking for a six figure annual stipend. I'm talking about just enough to cover the basic cost of living in whichever market you're attending school. That means a student athlete attending St. John's in New York City would expect more than someone in Bowling Green, Ohio. Figure the cost of rent, food, basic necessities like gas and utilities, entertainment, and a small amount of spending cash. Doing simple math, I would place that at somewhere between $800 and $1,200 a month during the season. It would be simple, cost effective, and most importantly, it would satisfy 95% of the student athletes complaints.
For the others, specifically the top 5% of student athletes who make the majority of the money for the NCAA and it's members, I think they should resort to a variation of the Olympic model. The Olympic model allows athlete's to hire an agent, sign endorsement deals, and use your name and likeness for personal entrepreneurial endeavors. For the NCAA, this should be a no-brainer, as it doesn't cost them a dime. The money would come from the shoe companies, local businesses and the like. This would also be the fastest way to eliminate the "black market" of student athletes in back rooms and under the table handshakes.
Lastly, there should be an escrow account set up for current and future medical issues directly associated with your days playing for the member institutions. If you live and die on the field, in some cases literally breaking your back, they should stand by you financially for the long haul. This would be only a small sliver of the the massive TV endorsement deals.
No option is perfect, and all would have their own challenges. There is no doubt about that. However, the time has come and gone to pretend that the amateurism of the NCAA is in tact. It isn't now, nor has it been for the past half century. If the NCAA and it's members want to continue to reap billions of dollars off the backs of their student athletes, it's time they start treating them like the money making employees that they are.
If you don't like it, I hear communist Russia is real nice this time of year.
