In pt.3 of the Green Elephant I will be continuing to
examine some of the obstacles that are preventing a deal to be reached that
allows for the compensation of collegiate athletes. One of the major issues is
developing a plan that is inclusive of all sports, and doesn’t only favor high
revenue sports. The reality of college sports is that select sports have been
streamlined into major businesses; the NCAA bowl season, and now college
playoff, along with the March Madness tournament are two of the biggest sports
attractions every year.
"We
recognize that the income producers are both the football and basketball
programs, period," LSU coach Les Miles said. "So there's a want to
say with this extra income we would like to provide cost of education and cost
of expense stipends to those players. We recognize that it's going to be
difficult for every team on every campus -- volleyball, gymnastics, baseball,
etc. -- to come up with the same number.1” At this moment equality is the primary road block in
getting to a point where college athletes receive some of the revenue that they
generate. The NCAA is comprised of over 100 schools at the division 1 level
alone; unfortunately not every sport or team has the fan base and mass media
appeal to generate millions in revenue. One plausible avenue for paying players
is sharing funds, LSU coach Les Miles was quoted saying "What we're saying
is the revenue-income sports, certainly football, would need in a possibility
of sharing the income that's being produced, paying it back to those guys.1”
Furthermore even focusing solely on division
1 football programs, there is a great discrepancy in value among the 120+
universities that comprise the league; not every team brings in the large
amounts of money seen by the top schools in the power 5 conferences. Because of
this unevenly generated revenue the likelihood of schools getting a green light
from the NCAA to pay players individually is slim to none. “The thought of subsidized universities tacking on a
few hundred more dollars to the student body's already-high yearly tuition
rates is a hard sell, said Alabama-based attorney Gene Marsh.2”
“Why would you vote in favor of a proposal that would further hemorrhage
your athletic budget and try to compete with the revenue surplus that Alabama
has?2” Marsh said.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/jeremy-fowler/21483211/ncaa-president-mark-emmert-hopes-to-unveil-new-stipend-plan-in-april
Nate, I can see that giving every school and every team is a huge road block for compensating collegiate athletes. I hope they are able to come up with a solution that is beneficial to everyone! Great read!
ReplyDeleteThis is a very hot topic right now and rightly so. I do hope you continue with this series to make more people understand how all this works. I've always been opposed to paying athletes -- sorry, compensating athletes while they are earning their degree. Keep going. This has Sports Illustrated smell all over it!
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