According to USA Today, as posted in a March 2014 issue, stated, "The NCAA had total revenue of nearly $1 billion during its 2014 fiscal year, according to an audited financial statement the association released Wednesday. The total resulted in a nearly $80.5 million surplus for the year – almost $20 million more than the surplus the NCAA had in 2013 and the fourth consecutive year in which the annual surplus has exceeded $60 million". As documented on the NCAA's official page (www.ncaa.org/student-athletes) there are currently over 460,000 student-athletes (173,500 Division 1) involved in this multi-million, almost billion dollar industry, but they do not receive any additional revenue outside of their received scholarships for their services in this industry- so where does the money go?
As reported in a news article posted by the Huffington Post, "“As a non-profit organization, we put our money where our mission is: equipping student-athletes to succeed on the playing field, in the classroom and throughout life,” Stacey Osburn, the NCAA's director of public and media relations, said in a statement. “The NCAA and our member colleges and universities together award $2.7 billion in athletic scholarships every year to more than 150,000 student-athletes.”" .
More than 90% of the revenue made by the NCAA is returned to the student-athletes via scholarships, catastrophic injury insurance, emergency travel expenses, etc.. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/11/ncaa-revenue-2014_n_6851286.html
For starters, only 2% of all college student-athletes acutally turn professional (http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/the-stream/the-latest/2014/1/3/life-after-collegesports.html) The student-athletes also receive a full-scholarship to their chosen universities, but do they receive any compensation for their use in video games or jersey sales? As ordered in the Ed O'Bannon lawsuit- "In August, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken ruled that the NCAA cannot prevent athletes from selling the rights to their names, images and likenesses. NCAA rules prohibit any student-athletes from receiving money from the selling of their likenesses. Wilken ruled that the NCAA could cap payments to players at no less than $5,000 for every year of competition. The institutions could put the money in a trust until the athlete graduates or exhausts his or her playing eligibility. This benefit could be in place by the beginning of the 2016-17 academic year."
http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2015/07/14/ncaa-46-million-judgment-antitrust-lawsuit
As suggested in the video above, student-athletes have nowhere else to go as an alternative to playing college sports, as professional sports require at least a year hiatus for athletes between graduating high school and playing the professional leagues )college football is 3 years). This dilemma brings many issues to the forefront. Does the the required time-gap for players transitioning from high school level to professional jeopardize a gifted athletes chances of earning almost guaranteed big dollars at the professional level? Yup, you bet. Ask Georgia University's once promising professional running back and former- Heisman candidate, Nick Chubb.
So why shouldn't high school athletes be able to join a semi-pro league or some profitable alternative league? They do, the NBA allows for players to play in overseas leagues as guard Brandon Jennings did when he played overseas for a year before being drafted 10th overall in the 2009 NBA draft.
But the NFL does not possess developmental league outside of high school players going to the CFL (Canadian Football League) and potentially risking their possible future NFL-fortunes for lesser money at the risk of career ending injury; the player might as well go to College and at least have a chance to earn a degree for free.
Even if hypothetically student-athletes did get paid, who decides which sports' athletes receive how much compensation? Or who says that young flocks of players of young ages directly out of high school could handle the responsibilities that come with earning large sums of money to play a sport they love or are use to in high school? Jameis Winston had a long sheet of disciplinary violations against while at Florida State and he wasn't even being paid.
But does student-athletes not being paid lead to corruption? Johny Manziel was caught during his famous college career for willingly receiving money for his autographs -
Or Reggie Bush being exploited and bribed for his services at USC-
In addition to the above listed arguments, who or what decides how much each respected institute pays it's student-athletes, and would that effect a player's decision on which institution he/she may chose based on how much money they may earn while playing there?
A lot of the listed issues above show why student-athletes should remain students and be content with their opportunities to earn a free education in exchange for their athletic talents. Universities should be obligated to at least give their student-athletes money-stipends to provide them with a minimal allowance to live off of on campus while they dedicate their full time to being student-athletes that represent their respected institutions. Student-athletes whom sign letters of content should also be allowed a scholarship opportunity for life, as they are risking their long-term health and possible professional careers for their chosen institution/university. I feel these practices would further support the argument of student-athletes not being paid during their tenure at college, and would even sway many high school athletes to become college athletes rather than choosing an alternative semi-pro league.
Hey Neil, nice post. While I'm not a Sports buff or really even know the first thing about the industry, it's concerning that these student-athletes are put at the forefront of some scary issues beyond even the injuries they sustain in the game, which in themselves are hard to watch. Rather, the real stressful part comes behind the scenes and out of public eye, in the academic and financial struggles which may follow.
ReplyDeleteIt's great for these students that they are offered exclusive scholarship benefits and more or less get their free pick of some quality universities, but it is unfortunate that for putting their all into the game, a minuscule percent of them ever really continue on for a professional career. You have to wonder if they make the transition well or not, I suppose it depends on how prepared they were with a backup plan if athletics didn't work out.
Factoring in injuries that may cripple them from the game on a long-term basis, it seems too plausible to hit a brick wall in pursuing careers beyond their academic period. Signing contracts and making these commitments so early into their adult lives might set them up for bad times later on.
I like the idea of money-stipends for these student-athletes; any amount of support helps, because tuition alone as costly as it may be isn't necessarily enough to keep someone on their feet under some circumstances, especially if they wish to live off-campus.
That's pretty much all I've got, a suggestion though: The white highlight around your quotes is a little hard on the eyes, I'd recommend dropping the highlight and maybe using italics instead. Great article though!
- Chris
Hello Neil, you wrote such great article on a very controversial issue in the world of college sports. I’m a huge sports fan for both the college and pro level so I am very familiar with the dilemma of keeping the “student” in student athlete. I completely agree with you on this subject Neil, students are getting an opportunity to attend prestigious universities for practically nothing and may not even earn their degree! In my opinion, I believe that’s completely ridiculous! Student’s are getting the opportunity to be educated for almost nothing and earn a degree of high magnitude, all while doing what they love on the field. How could students not take on that opportunity?
ReplyDeleteThis is an issue that is honestly a toss up. I understand why people like myself say that students should earn a degree while they can because of the uncertainty of their future pro careers. No matter if it’s a lack of skill, potential, injury or so on, their is just no telling what can or will happen.
However, I do see the students side to the argument as well. I myself played many sports growing up and also while in college. The feeling that you get on the field is like no other. The motivation, dedication and passion that you feel while playing is incomparable to other activities. I know for a fact that if I was receiving scholarships to play my favorite sport, it would be very difficult making the decision of whether or not I want to turn pro as soon as I can. I’m not saying thats a smart decision, I’m just saying it’s easier said than done.
As a person who sees both sides of the story, I could easily relate to your article in many different ways. While reading this piece, I noticed that I was somewhat flip flopping between viewpoints because of some points and statistics that you had brought up. While reading this article, I felt like I was an active and intrigued viewer because of the many different analyses you had discussed. I wasn’t just reading an article from start to finish, I was tying in different points and statements which made the experience more professional.
Overall, you displayed fantastic material with quality sources for the viewer. The only issues I had was the highlight behind the quotes and some grammar errors but besides that this was a very interesting article.
-Trevor
Neil, I enjoy reading your speculation and the topic itself. I was once a student-athlete in a division 1 college, and I personally experienced behind-the-scenes. Most of the time, I was in awe because the system of college athletics is flawed. Viewership controls money which dictates skill, and these students honestly aren't always the brightest.
ReplyDeleteIn some ways, the school system grants a degree to their audience-building-and-money-making talent. Yes, I sat next to a student who attended three classes the entire semester (due to travel games) to earn an A simply because that student represented our college on a higher level as an athlete than any other role.
On the flip side, I recognized a freshman who "red-shirt" due to an early season injury so his scholarship contract was not renewed. Even though this player became a liability, he was given a fair chance to earn his degree. Was he able to compete in the academic field? I didn't stick around to find out.
Your formatting was interesting. Although unrelated to your topic, the background of a newsstand was very appropriate to compliment the repeating N's in Neil's Newsstand. Your introduction paragraphs were a bit difficult to read as each quote claimed its own font till the next. I'm curious if perhaps italicizing and increasing font size uniformly among these quotes will further grab the reader's attention.
- Kevin