Pay For Play?

One of the biggest travesties in the world of athletics is that collegiate athletes do not receive payment for playing their sport. I'm not talking about Division 2 or Division 3 athletes, but the Division 1 student-athletes that sacrifice their body each and every day for the common goal of a championship and making their universities millions of dollars. The NCAA tries to make it seem like big time college sports is just a bunch of kids playing a game they love; big time college sports is about big business The two sports that bring in the most annual revenue are college basketball and college football. According to the NY Times these two sports produce an astounding $6 Billion of annual revenue. Some of the most prestigious athletic conferences like the SEC and Pac-12 have signed very rich TV deals. Over 50 division 1 college football coaches are being paid over $1 million per season. Over 20 division 1 college basketball coaches are being paid over $1 million per season. We have TBS and CBS signed to a 14 year $10.8 Billion deal to keep the rights of “March Madness” the Division 1 college basketball playoff tournament. If a student athlete receives $5 from the wrong person, the NCAA has the right to either suspend you or take away your eligibility. It is a different landscape compared to 50 years ago.

The growth of these sports have made it possible to receive a full athletic scholarship that will NOT cover all the educational expenses. The NCAA's main argument against a pay for play scheme is some schools do not profit off these sports enough to pay them. It would create an uneven playing field because the schools with the larger athletic departments would be able to pay their players the most. I don't believe it would create this uneven playing field because the most money doesn't necessarily mean it is the best team. The NCAA needs to modernize their stance on an athletes amateurism. They need to look at the Olympic model of amateurism and strongly consider changing their outdated system to that one. The Olympic model allows players to hire an agent and seek opportunities to market themselves. In this system a collegiate athlete would be able to maintain their amateurism, while being able to generate an income by having sponsors with companies like Nike, Adidas, Under Armour, or Reebok. The NCAA strict rules on amateurism leads to a black market that has players receiving illegal benefits. According to a report by the NCPA the fair market value of an FBS football player is $121,048 and for a basketball player it's $265,027. According to another report by former sports agent turn NCAA reformer John Luchs 53 of 120 FBS schools have violated NCAA rules between 2001-2010. I find it outrageous that you can sell a Tim Tebow Florida Gators jersey, but because it doesn't say Tebow on the back of the jersey the player will not get compensated. My personal feeling is the NCAA needs to reword their rules on amateurism to help compensate players that make these prestigious universities profitable through their athletic programs.