It is an exciting time in the sports world; you can’t get
on social media or turn on the TV or radio, without hearing updates about the
upcoming Super Bowl or Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. While that is all
interesting, and yes, I am looking forward to seeing all the ads on Super Bowl
Sunday there is a different sports story that interested me most in the past
few weeks. The story that jumped out at me is something that has sparked debates regarding the NCAA rules for student athletes, since
the NCAA slapped heavy sanctions on USC. This week, The National College
Players Association filed a petition to gain collective bargaining rights at the
National Labor Relations Board on behalf of a group of Northwestern football
players.
The National College Players Association was formed in
2013 with a mission stated on their website of providing, “the means for
college athletes to voice their concerns and change NCAA rules.” I have to admit, I’ve taken both sides on
this argument over the years, and my initial thoughts were that college
athletes get to go to school for free, that should be enough. The NCAA has
stated that the reason the players want to unionize is because they want to be
employees and be paid to play. The NCPA counters this statement with a list of
11 completely reasonable goals, including reducing the risk of brain trauma,
increasing graduation rates, and prohibiting a permanent injury as a reason to
eliminate a scholarship (http://www.ncpanow.org/more?id=0004).
The NCAA, the schools, and the athletic conferences are all tax-exempt organizations (One could question whether or not their status should be revoked since their decisions regarding “reinvestment” of revenue are more than questionable, but that’s a conversation for another day). Each year they make millions of dollars in licensing, video games deals, sponsorships, advertising deals, TV deals, and ticket sales.
The NCAA, the schools, and the athletic conferences are all tax-exempt organizations (One could question whether or not their status should be revoked since their decisions regarding “reinvestment” of revenue are more than questionable, but that’s a conversation for another day). Each year they make millions of dollars in licensing, video games deals, sponsorships, advertising deals, TV deals, and ticket sales.
They use “youth sports dream dirt” to promote March Madness highlighting the “Cinderella” stories and widening their viewership. They earn additional money by marketing the likenesses, player numbers and videos of their student athletes long after they have left school. One of my favorite T-Shirts is my “Danny Manning and The Miracles” shirt commemorating the 1988 KU basketball team. However, NCAA rule is that a student cannot use his or her own name, photograph, appearance or athletic reputation for gain.
If the NCAA is truly what it defines itself as an,
“organization dedicated to safeguarding the
well-being of student-athletes and equipping them with the skills to succeed on
the playing field, in the classroom and throughout life,” then it is imperative
that the students are represented at the table during negotiations. It’s easy
to assume that an organization focused on student athletes would operate in the
best interest of student athletes, but business is business, and money is
money. It is not unreasonable to give student athletes enough money to fully
cover their costs, or allow them the opportunity to gain employment to do so. If
the students do not stand up and make their voices heard and have their
concerns addressed, then they risk having more rules put upon them.
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