Matthew Burke
English 1030
It seems as if everyone is making money off of
collegiate athletics besides the players…..
One of the greatest ever to play basketball, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, has made his
stance on the issue clear:
o“Despite the hours I put in every day, practicing, learning plays, and traveling
around the country to play games, and despite the millions of dollars our team
generated for UCLA—both in cash and in recruiting students to attend the
university—I was always too broke to do much but study, practice, and play”
(Jacobin Magazine)
o“Players who are seriously injured could technically make use of the NCAA’s
catastrophic injury relief,” he noted before going in for the jugular: “This sounds
fair and compassionate, except the policy doesn’t apply unless the medical
expenses exceed $90,000—which most claims don’t. If the student’s medical bills
are $80,000, they’re on the hook for it themselves.”
Many others have agreed with him
o NFL Player Arian Foster“Ncaa will win. They’ll get billions, players get a trophy.RT @mcorado33:
@ArianFoster which team do you think will win the NCAA tournament?”
— Arian Foster (@ArianFoster) March 19, 2014
o ESPN employee and practicing attorney Jay Bilas“The problem I am trying to solve is one of fundamental fairness,” “[NCAA is]
running a professional sports organization and I don’t think it’s fair that only one
class of people is restricted to their expenses only and nothing more.”
“The definition of amateurism under NCAA is essentially somebody who gets paid
only as much as what NCAA says they should be paid,”
Bomani Jones, a journalist and co-host of an ESPN program had this to say:
“If you don't agree with me [that players should be paid], you're wrong. I don't mean
that you're wrong as in like factually being wrong, I mean like inside of who you are,
you are wrong, you are reprehensibly wrong.....I don't see any way in the world that
you can argue the idea that people put in work and don't get paid a currency that the
market should bear out, and we're not talking about star NBA players making 14, 15
million dollars and having their wages capped, we're talking about guys that can't get
anything at all, and the reason is this collusion by all the schools to keep them broke.
Either you on the side over here with me and mine, or you're wrong, you're wrong
inside, you're wrong as a person, and you are wrong logically, and if you are one of
those people who believe that capitalism is a core principle of this country, then you
are also wrong as an American, I can tell you a zillion levels on which YOU. ARE.
WRONG. and me and my side is right, and if you just wanna be wrong, that's cool, but
someone's gotta look you dead in your grill and tell you: YOU. ARE. WRONG....and if
that's what it is and you just want to ride out with it, then ride out with it, but ride out
with the knowledge that you're wrong and you just don't care, and don't come in my
face talking about anything moral on any level ever again, because you are consciously
making the decision to be on the side of wrong....you just tell me, if you pay someone
with something they can't spend, while you know they're out hungry, while you know
some of these cats can't afford to drive cars and stuff like that, and on top of that you
know there's efforts made at every turn to KEEP. THEM. BROKE....you know this at
every single turn, and you know that on the back end, people are out here getting paid
millions of dollars off their backs...tell me how you don't know that you're wrong.”
(theeveningjones.com)
What does this…..
And this have in common?
o Both players got suspended by the NCAA for making money by selling
their autographs and autographed merchandise.
o The NCAA despite making millions of dollars off of these players also
forbids them from the players making money from their own name.
o This is because the NCAA deems them amateurs, not professionals,
and therefore don’t have the liberty to make money off their name
like professional athletes do.
Gurley and Manziel Weren’t The Only Ones
“Welcome to Tattoo U”- ESPN
o“Pryor and four teammates were suspended Thursday by the NCAA
for the first five games of next season for selling championship rings,
jerseys and awards. They also received improper benefits -- from up
to two years ago -- from the tattoo parlor and its owner.” (ESPN)
oThe reason?
Athletic Director Gene Smith said. "As a student-athlete, you're not
allowed to use your persona to get discounted services.”
o Pryor must repay $2,500 for selling the three items.
This what the NCAA might as well stand for.
A player can’t sell items that they won through hard work on the field, he has to repay for these
items….with the money going back to the school and NCAA.
Seems kind of backwards doesn’t it?
Which brings us back to our original question
Some argue that student-athletes are
rewarded with a free education
“Majoring in Eligibility”
o “By requiring an across-the-board, uniform march toward graduation, the NCAA’s academic requirements
prevent athletes from trying, failing, and taking a longer path in a more difficult but ultimately more
valuable major.” (John Infante, sportingnews.com)
o It’s not worth it for student-athletes to take challenging classes if it endangers their chances of staying
eligible.
o A lot of times, these student-athletes regret choosing their major that they are pushed to pursue-such as
Steven Kline who played football for Kansas State:
 "I realize I just wasted all my efforts in high school and college to get a social science degree” Klein said
(USA Today)
 Kline says he found not-so-demanding courses that helped him have success in the classroom and on
the field but did little for his dream of becoming a veterinarian
 "The athletics academic advisers said, 'This is what everybody is doing. It's the easiest major,' " recalls
Cline. This is how clustering is formed, a large percentage of student-athletes all in the same few
majors
o Former Boise State safety Marty Tadman took the easiest classes when he was in school. "You're going to
school so you can stay in sports," Tadman said. "You're not going for a degree. ... It's a joke.” (USA Today)
The fact is that the majority of student-athletes of the sports that
provide the most revenue for the NCAA take the easiest classes,
extensive help from tutors, getting graded easier, and overall don’t take
that much away from their education.
In some cases, there are even been schools who have made up fake
classes (looking at you UNC), in order to keep their athletes eligible.
oThe UNC academic fraudulence investigation that is still ongoing highlights what is wrong with the NCAA.
o“Attorneys representing two former University of North Carolina athletes on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the university and the NCAA in
connection with the academic scandal involving Tar Heels athletes.” (Steve Berkowitz, USA Today)
o"Although the NCAA's rules prohibit academic fraud, the NCAA knew of dozens of instances of academic fraud in its member schools'
athletic programs over the last century, and it nevertheless refused to implement adequate monitoring systems to detect and prevent these
occurrences at its member institutions.”
oThe complaint then alleges that the NCAA "acted carelessly and negligently in its position as the regulatory body supervising the academic
integrity of college athletics programs and governing its student-athletes. … The NCAA knew or should have known from its history and
otherwise that the college-athletics environment at UNC and other member institutions was ripe for academic fraud."
The NCAA’s response?
o “In its response, the NCAA says it has no legal responsibility "to ensure the academic
integrity of the courses offered to student-athletes at its member institutions.”(Sara
Ganim, CNN)
o Wait…what? That doesn’t sound right.
o Especially when you look at the NCAA’s website that says “We embrace our role in
providing student-athletes the skills for what comes next in life. It’s our commitment –
and our responsibility – to give young people opportunities to learn, play and succeed.”
o Adding, “We do so in part by setting standards to make sure incoming student-athletes are
prepared for college coursework, and by tracking their progress toward a degree once
they’re on campus.”
o How can you track their progress towards a degree if you do not ensure the academic
integrity of the courses offered? Which one is it?
The NCAA profits off of players, and doesn’t
ensure they get a proper education
Why aren’t players paid?
Because they’re amateurs is what the NCAA says as they make millions
every year off of them, actually almost a billion according to the
Huffington Post
“The NCAA pulled in $989 million in its 2014 fiscal year, according to an
audited financial statement cited by USA Today on Wednesday.”
So Let’s Pretend that NCAA Student-Athletes
Were
Professionals
o “The March survey, from the National College Players Association and Drexel University, said that the projected fair
market value of the average college football player is $178,000 per year from 2011 to 2015, while the projected market
value for the average college basketball player for the same time is $375,000” (Mark Koba, CNBC)
o “The report states that the fair market value was calculated using the revenue sharing percentages defined in the NFL
and NBA collective bargaining agreements and team revenues as reported by each school to the federal government.”
o Now a response to this might be that not all colleges can afford to pay the many athletes that they have on their
programs and this is therefore a weak argument.
 As we know, “The NCAA has vowed to fight any effort to change the status of college athletes to employees, and
allow any kind of direct salary”
o "People are missing the point on all this," said David Hollander, professor of hospitality, tourism and sports management
at New York University. "It's not whether we should pay college athletes but that if you are an employee and your job is
to play sports, than you should get paid.”
o Excellent point David. There’s no reason that players who could make an insane amount of money, like “Texas A&M
quarterback Johnny Manziel, might be worth as much as $547,000, during the year 2011 to 2012.” (Koba) should have to
make the NCAA money in exchange for a sub-par education
Do Scholarships Really Equal the Amount
College Student-Athletes should be paid?
o That is essentially what this debate comes down to-some say it is up to the
individual to make the best use of their (almost) entirely free education;
some say that these student-athletes make millions for their respective
universities and should be rewarded more.
o Even though these student-athletes get a discount on an education, it
doesn’t mean that they get anything else besides that.
o Shabazz Napier, a basketball player for Uconn, had interesting first-hand thoughts on
the matter- “I just feel like a student-athlete, and sometimes, like I said, there’s
hungry nights and I’m not able to eat and I still got to play up to my capabilities. …
When you see your jersey getting sold — it may not have your last name on it — but
when you see your jersey getting sold and things like that, you feel like you want
something in return.” (Scott Phillips, NBC Sports)
As a counterpoint, schools do spend more on
athletes than non-athletes
Source deadspin.com
Other Observations
• “The obvious takeaway: the SEC is insane. SEC schools spend more than 12 times as much on each
athlete as they do on their regular, non-revenue-generating students. They spend 40 percent more than
Big Ten schools, and 60 percent more than Pac-10 (now PAC-12) schools.” (Petchesky, deadspin.com)
• “The average D-1 football school is spending 6.7 times more money on each athlete than on each
regular student.”
• “At FBS programs, funding largely comes from the Big Three: ticket sales, TV/bowl revenue, and
donations combine to make up two-thirds of the average program's revenue.”
• “Athletic success, especially in football, produces a yearlong bump in the number of applications,
though the quality of the students admitted doesn't necessarily go up.”
• “The study notes that athletic spending grew twice as fast as academic spending over a five-year
period, even in a nationwide economic downturn, and as conferences grasp the value of realignment
and TV deals, there's no reason the trend shouldn't continue.”
• What does this all mean?
 Lack of effort is not the reason for athletes not getting the full value of their education
 But, schools also seem to spend more on athletes just to increase their profits
 This could signal that the main focus, once again, is just keeping athletes eligible
Solutions
o There’s not one solution to this issue, as there are very many factors that come into play: some schools have more
money than others, not all schools generate the same amount of revenue, some players are worth more to their school
than others…so how can this all be decided?
o Jeffrey Kessler, a sports attorney who helped bring free agency to the NFL believes that we should let the market
decide: “The market would allow the best solution,” Kessler said. “If the best solution is to put money in trust funds for
the athletes and give it to them when they leave or even increase amounts if they stay and graduate, then that will be
the solution. The idea is to let the schools do what they want. We want to free schools to make their own decisions.”
(Jon Solomon, CBS Sports)
o Jay Bilas again makes his stance on the issue clear and sees the solution as very simple: “Allow institutions to do what
they want just as we do in every other area as far as compensation,” Bilas said.
o Bilas believes a perception of college athletes is that since only a small number of them play professionally they
shouldn't ask more beyond a scholarship. (Solomon)
o “If it's such a small percentage, why are we pouring all of this time and money into it?” he said. “Well, they'll say it's an
integral part of the educational process. OK, then why don't athletes get any credit for what they're doing? It's looked
upon by school and academicians as a contagion that's drifting away from the universities. All I've been saying is let's call
this what it is: professional sports. If some people don't want to pay, then don't.”
And while a solution may take a while to reach, it’s
clear that the NCAA model is corrupt and wrong
o Michael Rosenberg of Sports Illustrated puts it best:
“So when Cam Newton allegedly earns $180,000 playing college football to help repair his
father's church, he is a villain. When Terrelle Pryor and A.J. Green sell memorabilia, they get
suspended, even though their schools openly sell memorabilia.”
“Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck, who probably would have been the No. 1 pick in last
April's NFL Draft, turned down millions to return for his senior season. Given his worth,
shouldn't he be able to make money while in college?”
The 2010-2011 NCAA manual says the "Principle of Amateurism" is important because
college athletics are an "avocation" and ... hang on, here comes the punchline: "studentathletes should be protected from exploitation by professional and commercial enterprise.
"Really? When an athlete sells his jersey so he can pay rent, and the NCAA suspends him, is
the NCAA really protecting him? Who is the NCAA kidding?”
 The answer to his question is…themselves
Conclusion
The NCAA makes millions, almost billions, of dollars from ticket sales, jersey sales, advertising, and
TV contracts.
Despite this, players are not entitled to a single cent of any of this money, despite the fact that they
are the reason that all this money is being made.
Not only are players not given a share of this money, they are also penalized and shamed for trying
to make money off of things like: their own personal awards, pictures, autographs, and other
memorabilia that belongs to them.
The reward for the student-athletes is the opportunity to get a “free” 4 year education at great
universities; the only problem is that that they are pressured into choosing easier majors to stay
eligible and get so much help from tutors and professors that they don’t really learn anything.
And although universities spend more money on athletes than non-athletes, the quality of
education does not increase.
In a scenario where players where in a free market, they could possibly make millions of dollars. So
why aren’t they allowed to get any of the revenue the NCAA generates? And why are they punished
for making money off their own personal items?
This is why players should get paid, or significant changes need to be made to the NCAA
and its rules.
Sources
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