Pro - big programs
Semi-pro - wage limits.
Amateur - only scholarships like now.
The current system is b.s. where colleges make hundreds of millions of dollars for sports programs while paying a pittance to atheletes and forbidding them to earn more.
Ok, since you seem to think you’re the expert and since colleges “make hundreds of millions of dollars” on sports, how many college sports programs are self-sufficient?
A free college education is not chump change anymore. How many kids 18-22 yrs old are making $50,000 a year or more?
Apart from the unions getting their greedy hands in the sport, and most of the ‘pay for play’ money going to the “big programs” you mention; the lesser sports from college lacrosse to wrestling would be severely impacted if not discontinued.
There already is such a system in place.
Division 1 - which consists of the big league schools like the big ten who recruit the top-notch players and offer full-ride scholarships.
Division 2 - which offers scholarships.
Division 3 - which does not offer scholarships.
A player needs to prove himself in college because professional football is a whole nuther animal. A college student should remain in amateur status until he makes it to the pros. An athlete in college is not a low-wage worker, not when he is getting a full-ride scholarship worth a $100,000 or more.