What kind of sports fan doesn't love March Madness? I think it's safe to say that everyone with a little athletic spirit has enjoyed filling out a bracket or the buzz surrounding the opening weekend of the NCAA basketball tournament. Having just moved to Raleigh, NC, and really getting into the Tobacco Road rivalry, I'm seeing just how intense some fans can get. But you don't need to come down here to understand the stakes that are riding on these games. You may think millions of dollars being shelled out by CBS and the Turner Sports for the rights to the tournaments is a lot, but you'd be wrong. Try almost 11 billion dollars. Why pay so much to have complete coverage of 18-22 year old kids playing basketball? Well, people like watching these 'amateurs' play ball. By having total coverage, they get to charge huge fees for all of the TV commercials during the tournament.
This whole thing is nothing new, it's been going on for years during March Madness, and we're all too familiar with the ridiculousness now surrounding the Superbowl's 'TV Timeouts' (I won't go off on a tangent about that one, but I think many people will agree that this year's commercials were especially over the top.) There is a ton of money involved in the NCAA college basketball season, and no one is going to deny that. However, what the leaders of the NCAA will say is that these players are amateurs - students before athletes - and that the money goes to the fund the thousands of other NCAA sports teams that do not generate revenue.
Perhaps this is true, without the networks generating revenue from March Madness and paying it to the NCAA, who in turn dish it out to the schools, a Division II track & field team from Florida may not otherwise be able to afford to fly to Iowa for the National Championships. This is what amateur athletics are all about. One of the first lines of the NCAA rulebook states that “Student-athletes shall be amateurs in an intercollegiate sport, and their participation should be motivated primarily by education and by the physical, mental and social benefits to be derived. Student participation in intercollegiate athletics is an avocation, and student-athletes should be protected from exploitation by professional and commercial enterprises.” I'm nearly positive that the conference champion 800m distance runner at the small Division II school in Florida is not banking on a professional running career as a result, putting his studies on the back burner. He is motivated by the desire to be a champion and for the pride associated with being the best.
Can we say the same for Jared Sullinger on Ohio State? Probably. Who doesn't want to be a champion? But is he driven to succeed "primarily by education"? Are you kidding me?! How can the same people who write the NCAA rulebook accept a check from CBS and Turner Sports for $11 billion? Money talks, and that is not changing, at least not anytime soon. So what do we do? Do we even need a change? Can't things continue going the way they are?
Well, to be honest, things can continue like they are for a while, just like the US's current account deficit can (I promise I won't get political here). However, there is going to be a change, and I think it's going to have to come sooner than later. Can the amount of money just keep growing and growing? To use the same example from before, how much money does the D-II track & field team from Florida need? Sure, some programs may still be underfunded, but adding more money doesn't mean that it will be more evenly distributed, just that those at the top will get richer. Coaches salaries will soar into the millions, while professor's wages and small school's athletic budgets stay the same.
Scott Soshnick has just written a great article here about the UConn men's head basketball coach, Jim Calhoun, and the suspension he is facing for failing to monitor recruiting violations. A former player received over $6,000 and Calhoun was suspended for three games as a punishment. Fortunately (or rather unfortunately) though, Calhoun will not serve his suspension until next season. Why? Money. The networks, and therefore those in charge at the NCAA, want Calhoun and his Huskies around for the tournament. Not to be 'that guy', but what does this say about cheating or breaking the rules? Well if you're really good, you can get away with it, at least for now.
Here's what I say, pay 'em, the players that is. The players are currently compensated in the form of a scholarship, which includes tuition, room, board, and books. In addition to that, athletes receive plenty of perks, including large food stipends when they are on the road. They are handed cash to 'buy food' and then minutes later are given more free food than they can possibly eat. So what the NCAA needs to do is grow up and admit that these kids are not amateurs, they are professionals. A few weeks ago I made it up to the Dean Smith Center to watch UNC take on Florida State. Do you know how many Psycho-T jerseys and t-shirts I saw? Well enough that if I were the only one selling them, I wouldn't be so worried about finding a job. For the next decade. UNC makes tons of money selling #50 jerseys. Or how about those #23 jerseys? I bet they've made a couple of dollars off of those. Now of course, Tyler Hansborough and Michael Jordan aren't exactly strapped for cash, but who deserves that money? I don't know, but I think it's fair to say that those two former players deserve some percentage of that income.
And what about when EA Sports releases NCAA Football 2012 with #2 QB for Auburn University who bears a striking resemblance to Cam Newton? Cam Newton must receive some compensation for using his likeness right? No. But EA Sports does pay the NCAA an undisclosed amount of money for the right to use school names. More injustice. (Sorry for the quick switch to football, but as any true gamer knows, it better demonstrates the same point here). Former NCAA athlete Sam Keller is now filing a lawsuit against the NCAA and EA Sports regarding the use of his likeness in a videogame and perhaps the result will finally shed a national light on the exploitation of college athletes. You can read more about that here.
Well, college isn't mandatory, why don't the best players skip the whole college experience if they are worried about exploitation? Yes, players can forgo college to play in an overseas league until they turn 19 to play in the NBA, but the truth is that the NCAA is essentially the minor league developmental league for the professional leagues. There really isn't a viable option other than college for high school graduate athletes. It's a monopoly. Why? Because they have all of the money.
Do I think you should pay Jared Sullinger $500,000 for this season? Absolutely not. But D-I college sports are full-time jobs, so pay them for full time work. Make it minimum wage, make it equivalent to $12/hour, I don't care, but give the kids a few bucks to take a girl out on a date or go out with their buddies. Just stop pretending that the young men taking the court this March are amateurs.
No comments:
Post a Comment