{"id":77,"date":"2013-05-07T22:49:31","date_gmt":"2013-05-08T02:49:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/?p=77"},"modified":"2013-09-04T22:42:34","modified_gmt":"2013-09-05T02:42:34","slug":"the-hopeful-collapse-of-the-ncaa-empire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/2013\/05\/07\/the-hopeful-collapse-of-the-ncaa-empire\/","title":{"rendered":"The (Hopeful) Collapse of the NCAA Empire"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"01football_span-articleLarge-v2\"<\/a>
Photo courtesy of nytimes.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

by Brandon Uram, Op-Ed Contest Participant<\/p>\n

It may all unravel soon for the NCAA, the billion-dollar collegiate sports enterprise, as a class-action lawsuit barrels down the road.\u00a0 O\u2019Bannon v. NCAA<\/i> could finally force payments for the \u201cstudent-athletes,\u201d the ones that generate all derived revenues, which are solely enjoyed by the universities and administrators.<\/p>\n

Public support for the NCAA\u2019s \u201cstudent-athlete\u201d model has been waning for years, but the camel\u2019s back looks like it\u2019s about to break.<\/p>\n

How is it justifiable that college kids, many of whom come from impoverished backgrounds, are prevented from making a single dime from their athletic endeavors? Worse yet, how are these colossal universities able to sell their players\u2019 likeness and talents through jersey sales, memorabilia, and other licensed products?<\/p>\n

All of this is cloaked under the oxymoronic, PR-department created phrase \u201cstudent-athlete.\u201d\u00a0 This anachronistic model may have been feasible back when profits weren\u2019t in the hundreds of millions of dollars, but now, everyone wants to wet their beak, and the only ones prevented from going to the well are the kids who are actually making all of this money. Take a look at what the average Division-1 athletic director makes.\u00a0 After you pick your jaw from the floor, go ahead and glance at typical head coach salaries.\u00a0 So while NCAA president Mark Emmert rakes in a cool $1.6 million this year, the athletes are given a $250 stipend.\u00a0 Thanks so much, NCAA bureaucrats!<\/p>\n

Now, I\u2019m not saying that coaches and ADs shouldn\u2019t make six or seven figures.\u00a0 After all, we\u2019re not communists\u2014I\u2019m a believer in the free-market, and I think that they should rake in whatever the market will bear; but, the coaches and administrators, aren\u2019t operating in a truly free market.\u00a0 Hell, it isn\u2019t even a competitive market\u2014it\u2019s an artificial monopoly.\u00a0 These salaries are held up at the expense of the players.\u00a0 If, after players are compensated for their talents, schools still want to pony up and pay Nick Saban $5 million-plus per year, be my guest.\u00a0 If Alabama believes that that\u2019s the fair market value and that they can still see a hefty return, then I\u2019m all for it.\u00a0 Just pay the players what they are entitled to.<\/p>\n

Then, there\u2019s this ever-reliable straw man argument: \u201cBut the players are paid with their scholarships, and dammit, they should be grateful!\u201d\u00a0 Sure, the scholarship is definitely a benefit and obviously has some ascertainable value\u2014not going to argue with that\u2014but why are athletes the only ones on campus who are prevented from using their talents and making a buck? If, for example, School X gives a music scholarship to Y, Y can book performances if there\u2019s a demand and make a profit. No need to stop this, says the NCAA; the concerns only arise when it\u2019s trying to protect the games in the name of amateurism<\/i>, administrator short-hand for \u201cwe\u2019re not sharing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back to the O\u2019Bannon case. \u00a0A former UCLA star is suing to collect profits made by the NCAA and its licensed video game maker (EA Sports) for using his name and likeness, after he had graduated.\u00a0 The NCAA argues that, when players sign the 20-plus pages of mandatory red-tape, releases, and waivers, it essentially owns an athlete-employee\u2019s<\/i> likeness for eternity.\u00a0 If you refuse to sign all of the forms, you are barred from ever competing collegiately.\u00a0 Not a whole lot of room for the players to negotiate.\u00a0 I\u2019m no Dr. John Murray, but that sounds like a contract of adhesion to me\u2026unconscionable about sums up the NCAA\u2019s stance on compensating its athlete-employees.<\/p>\n

If the players could somehow organize and boycott a major championship or tournament\u2014perhaps this March\u2014they could grind the NCAA to a halt.\u00a0 They could force them to pony up something, anything.\u00a0 But, this is extraordinarily unlikely, so, for those of us expecting justice, we\u2019ll have to wait until it\u2019s forced upon the NCAA.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s to holding out hope that U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken finds in favor of the ever-uncompensated \u201cstudent-athletes.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t believe that the athletes<\/i>\u2014the ones who make the NCAA a billion-dollar conglomerate\u2014are entitled to any revenues, you\u2019re either (1) jealous, (2) ignorant, or (3) both. There\u2019s no wiggle-room here. Wise up.\u00a0 The kids have already earned it, now let them enjoy it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Brandon Uram, Op-Ed Contest Participant It may all unravel soon for the NCAA, the billion-dollar collegiate sports enterprise, as a class-action lawsuit barrels down the road.\u00a0 O\u2019Bannon v. NCAA could finally force payments for the \u201cstudent-athletes,\u201d the ones that generate all derived revenues, which are solely enjoyed by the [\u2026] <\/p>\n

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