The first I heard about paying college players for football was a couple of years ago during a 60 minutes report about likeness rights.
Modern video games are so detailed that the faces of actual players can be digitized and used in the games. Of course someone’s face is an asset and can be bought and sold. The NCAA is apparently cognizant of this and negotiated these rights to video game makers for a price, and in order to make things legal, they require all prospective players to sign away their college career rights for life.
This particular report featured a former player suing to recoup any profits made from his likeness. The inequity of the system is pointed out in that the NCAA makes huge profits from the players but it is argued that they receive little in return.
One solution proposed was paying players as if they were employees of the university. The argument is that this would be an equitable solution for all the players that participate in college sports (particularly football) and don’t make it to the professional level.
My position is that this is a terrible idea for several reasons.
Firstly on the issue of compensation, this overlooks the fact that the compensation originally offered in the understood contract between the schools and the players is the fact that the players are receiving a full college education for their efforts on the field.
Not only are their classes paid for but they receive room and board as well as free tutoring in some programs. These last 3 are things that the regular students have to pay for or make do without. Nowhere in the implied contract or actual contracts with these students is it promised that they will make it to the professional level and be able to make a living in professional sports.
Secondly, injecting money into the equation and expecting teenagers just out of high school to make wise decisions about money when in some cases they or their family members have never had substantial amounts of money to manage is a disaster waiting to happen.
Professional athletes already face some of the highest rates of bankruptcy (about 78% among football players). They are prey for crooked money managers, agents, and even family members. I have no reason to suppose things would be different for high school players suddenly exposed to large amounts of money.
Thirdly, putting money into the equation will inevitably favor larger schools with larger booster clubs and deeper pockets. Most school athletic programs already run at a loss. The additional burden of bidding wars for talent will exacerbate the inequities between large and small schools. It will also mean that the NCAA will have to devote more resources to police illegal recruitment techniques.
Lastly, it’s an insult to the normal school body. The majority of the students will not benefit from this. Rather this is going to benefit a small percentage of individuals with no loyalty or ties to the institution and who would change sides if a better contract came their way.
I do not for one minute excuse the NCAA for their actions. Forcing kids to sign away likeness rights is inexcusable and just plain greedy on their parts. But trying to make things more equitable by adding more money into the equation and turning our schools into glorified farm leagues for the sports monopolies is no solution.
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