PAYING STUDENTS TO PLAY, BIZSMART,
Rules for amateur sports out the window
After years of “exploiting” student-athletes, the NCAA eventually could cease to exist, at least in its current form, according to one economist, in the wake of last week’s unanimous Supreme Court ruling that the association cannot limit education-related benefits that colleges can offer their sports stars.
“What’s super-important about this ruling is the concurrence by Justice (Brett) Kavanaugh, saying the NCAA is basically running a cartel that would be illegal in any other industry,” said Victor Matheson, a professor of economics at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, one of eight Division I schools in Massachusetts. “Kavanaugh invites athletes to take on the NCAA and sue to be fully paid beyond just compensation for educational expenses.”
In the meantime, the association is working on interim rules that would permit college athletes to earn money off their name, image and likeness — known collectively as NIL — as soon as next month.
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas already have laws set to go into effect then that would override NCAA rules by allowing student-athletes to be paid by third parties for sponsorship deals, online endorsements and personal appearances, among other things. Similar laws in several other states also could go into effect next month as college sports faces this radical departure from the way the NCAA operated for decades.
“The most exploited workers in the U.S. economy are Division I athletes at major institutions,” said Allen Sanderson, a University of Chicago sports economist. “They’re the ones generating huge amounts of revenue for the colleges and the NCAA. And the ones who are exploited the most are Black.”
One eventual outcome, Sanderson said, could be that the NCAA “ceases to exist or ceases to exist in the form it’s in now.”
“What the NCAA wants to do is stay out of court because every time they go to court, they’re going to lose,” he said. “They just brought it on themselves because of their blatant greed … Everything was designed to keep the players as indentured servants.”
Lawyers for the NCAA had argued before the Supreme Court that the association feared a ruling that would permit schools to pay enormous amounts to attract the best athletes. Attorney Seth Waxman told the court that would end the NCAA’s 116-year tradition of competition among amateur athletes.
Sanderson said he can see the major conferences deciding on rules for their member schools — which could involve paying their players’ room and board, tuition and fees, and perhaps $5,000 or $10,000.
“That would pass antitrust muster,” he said, “and I think you’d still have high-quality college athletics.”
“Right now, there’s so much money in broadcast revenue driving the explosion of money in college and professional athletics,” Sanderson said. “But the only people not benefiting from it are the people generating the revenue — the athletes. And I think it’s about time they at least share in some of the spoils.”
“I like to watch sports,” he added, “but I have qualms when I watch because I know those players — largely African-American men — are having the hell exploited out of them for my entertainment.”
Fewer than 2% of studentathletes make the pros, Sanderson said, and yet many are experiencing concussions and other injuries that can have life-altering repercussions.