The NCAA is inept and corrupt…..no argument here….that doesn’t change the argument, although you are not the only one blinded by how you feel about the NCAA.
But the difference between college and pro is that any highly skilled highly paid industry needs those who would enter that industry to be trained. If a year of Harvard Law School is worth say 100 thousand dollars because of how much money it will train you to make, then what is a year playing basketball or footall worth in future earnings?
But there’s more. A university makes money because of the name of the university, period. A particular group of players is hardly relevant. If the players think they are the relevant item, then a minor league that makes a lot of money will spring up. Until then, the players have no argument in logic that “they produce the revenue.”
Johnny Manziel is awesome and compelling, but he walked out onto the field for his first snap ever with 95 thousand adoring fans simply because he had Texas A and M on his helmet. Period.
Just because you’re entering the industry to be trained doesn’t mean you can’t get paid. It’s not like the players are going to be paid millions, they’re going to get a stipend, and most importantly they will be allowed to sell their own image and signature for money as opposed to now when everybody but them gets to sell their image and signature.
Given that 98% of the players never transition to the pros a year of playing basketball or football is worth NOTHING in future earnings.
Attendance figures aren’t static for games. When the university is fielding a bad team revenues drop, people don’t JUST attend because of the name of the university, a particular group of players IS relevant. Minor leagues won’t spontaneously spring up, you need the major league to be vested in the idea of a minor league so that it becomes a valid destination for prospective players where they can still be noticed. Football and basketball don’t have that, the place to get noticed for them is college, and there simply won’t be enough 18 year olds with the talent and the will to fight the college system and risk their careers in doing it to spontaneously make a minor league.
Manziel’s first game had an audience because of the university, his next season had the audience because of him. And he was paid (against NCAA rules) for his signature because of him. And you can tell the NCAA knows their current system is ridiculous and won’t stand up in court by how they “punished” Manziel for selling his signature. They’re willing to push around kids from a poor background, but give them a kid whose parents can afford real lawyers and all of a sudden the punishment is laughable. His incident more than any other shows why players should be allowed to earn money while playing in college.