Posted on 01/02/2016 1:31:43 AM PST by MinorityRepublican
With the money made from college sports increasing every year, the way colleges treat their athletes has become controversial.
That’s because college sports is a tremendously lucrative business for everyone but the athletes. The National College Athletic Association (NCAA) will receive $7.3 billion from ESPN for the right to broadcast the seven games of the College Football Playoffs (CFP) between 2014 and 2026, and $11 billion from CBS and Turner Sports to broadcast “March Madness†over the next 14 years.
Individual colleges also make out well: The University of Kentucky’s men’s basketball team’s trip to the Final Four this year, for example, brought more than $8 million in revenue to the universities of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Each of the “Big 5†conferences will make an estimated $50 million from the college football playoffs this year.
And none of this counts the money made from concessions, merchandise and licensing fees.
Meanwhile, most college athletes are “paid†with scholarships that cover only tuition, room, board, books and fees — although in 2015, the NCAA allowed Division I universities the option of increasing this to pay the full cost of attendance. After adding up the time spent on practice, training and games, college athletes often “work†the equivalent of full-time hours for the universities they play for.
Many pundits call that exploitation
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I really wonder if it would be a good thing if big-time sports were banished from campuses, and colleges could then get back into the business of educating young people instead?
"only"....
the NCAA is out of control and is in cohoots with the media to bring in big money....that is not my fault...its the greed of the academia/media cabal....
the athletes need not play in college....they can go directly to some pro sports team...and suffer the consequences of no education, no training, no coaching up....
and if TPTB decide that they must pay athletes, they better be paying for the lacrosse team and the fencing team....
its not the fault of lacrosse nor fencing that they don't bring in big money..
“scholarships that cover only tuition, room, board, books and fees”
ONLY????? That’s big money right there. Most kids have to work a job, work through summers and take out loans to cover what is given in those “paltry” athletic scholarships.
What is the value of a degree from Stanford or Harvard???
If an athlete plays their cards right, they can get a free doctorate. Not a bad deal, really.
But like everything it is RACIST to give college educations to a segment of youth least likely to get one otherwise.
AAAAAAND - they are groomed and publicized for multi-million dollar careers. WAAAAH! They are soooo mistreated!!
Tuition, fees, books, room and board, and somehow seemed to drive much nicer cars than the rest of us could afford, even if some of them couldn't construct a sentence with a crew of laborers.
Yeah, right.
Moses Malone did.
I think you are right....I look at college sports fitting in with university curriculum sort of like having a bowl of ice cream and then eating asparagus.
Meanwhile, football, basketball, etc. are subsidized several million dollars/year. That is criminal.
Article does not mention that only 2 college sports make a profit, football and men’s basketball. Should we pay those college athletes and not the others?
Very Very Few Athletes Can Be Considered Students!!!!! “*-Ology” and “*-Studies” or (???-Science) are NOT Majors, and any University that has a Remedial Department in anything is just a glorified middle school. With few exceptions, anybody who’s college career is defined by how well they run, kick, throw, or catch, is incredibly unlikely to contribute anything of any measurable value to the knowledge of mankind.
LeBron James also...about 40 or so have done it..
Of course he looked like he was 40 not 18 when he made the move.
How about paying them and putting it in an account they cant touch without ‘supervision’ and NOT be allowed to sign if they take this ‘option’.
Now if the colleges don’t put this money to ‘work’ rather than the general fund (sounds familiar) etc etc
Upon graduation give lump sum (which will be chump change for the 1 or so percent who actually sign a pro contract - with big money involved) which will give the athlete a step up.
NO DIPLOMA - NO MONEY of course with asides for injuries etc.
Does a couple of things, pays them, MAYBE teach them how to responsibly manage money (Of course have to limit access of groupies/agents/etal) and get an education.
I guess in ‘their’ minds it makes sense to take a person that is academically weak and have him spend a good portion of the ‘season’ traveling.....
Guess those tournament bucks come ahead of the (so called) Student Athlete.
Is the goal to make money or educate students? Take the high dollar sports elsewhere and reward the students who are doing well at what college is supposed to be about.
“exploitation”.
Right. They are being voluntarily exploited.
How much will this increase college tuition?!?
Here are several options to deal with the issue:
Eliminate all scholarships and payments to athletes. Return to all sports being student athletes. All scholarships awarded on academic merit.
If #1 doesn’t work for them, here is the ultimate in fairness:
a) Require all athletic teams have a racial mix equal to the student population. Federal government racial definitions will be used to determine the student population mix and the mix on the teams.
b) If the university provides athletic scholarships, expense waivers, or other compensation to athletes, the awards will be the same for all athletes in all athletic programs.
c) Any compensation to athletes above direct education expenses (tuition, fees, books, room and board) will be taxable.
d) Athletes are required to carry a full academic load and be on track with earned credit hours required for graduation at the end of each semester or term. If athlete fails to meet any academic standard, he/she will be suspended from participation in athletics until she/he is on track academically. During the time of suspension all scholarship and other reimbursements cease.
e) Under no circumstance will a player maintain eligibility for a period of more than 5 academic years after he/she enrolls at in a college level athletic program.
What has changed in the last 15 or 20 years is that an increasing number of universities have dropped any pretense that their football and basketball players are there for an education. This is not limited to the black players, but certainly the influx of ghetto players who clearly have no business or interest in college has been the cutting edge of the change. They used to have to at least fake it, but many don't even bother with that anymore. But just because many of these players are purely mercenary is no reason to cry racism. The white boys never got paid. Why should the black guys be any different?
One solution would be to turn college football and basketball programs into straightforward professional prep leagues, pay the players what they earn at the gate, and shut down all the non-revenue sports. I would sooner get big time athletics off campus and convert all college sports back to club programs, which is how they began. The USA might not win many Olympic medals in gymnastics, track and field, and swimming without the college subsidy system, but if that's the way the cookie crumbles, so be it.
Why make these precious athletes go to classes? They're far more valuable to the universities and the networks playing the sports that they've been 'hired' to play. It's not fair that they have to take college level courses and play a demanding sport at the same time. After all, kids that go to college on academic scholarships aren't forced to play sports are they? (this post is dripping with sarcasm)
Well seeing how most of the colleges are teaching socialism, maybe we can show that what real socialism is.
All sport proceeds are pooled nationally. I mean *All*, from concessions boosters and Alumni, ticket sales and all the sports channel deals. The better the team does, the less money they get from the pool, the worse teams get more money.
Take from the rich, give to the poor. That’s the socialist way right?
But they are being paid. After the free education and free room and board and, for many, endorsements, we would be talking about at least a hundred thousand dollars a year for each athlete.
We can always just pay them that hundred grand, if that’s what they want and they can pay the taxes on it as well as provide for their own education.
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