The Commercialization of College Athletics Management 120 Application 7

The Truth “Nine out of 10 teams in college basketball are cheating and the 10th one is in last place.” -Jerry Tarkanian University of Nevada Basketball Coach The graduation for NCAA men’s basketball and football for the class entering in 2004 was only 68.5%, while the average student body rate was 80%. (NCAA.com)

Area’s In Question Exploitation of student-athletes Athlete corruption Using athletes as marketing pieces Pay-for-play scandals False jobs from boosters Broken dreams

Who’s at risk? While college coaches make millions to lead athletic teams, the players of the team are the ones making the coach and the university millions of dollars per year at their own risk. Athletes education rely on a year to year scholarship, nothing is guaranteed. If injured they run the risk of losing a scholarship. ATHLETES LOSE!

Obvious Situations BCS Bowl Games Bowl games are often chosen based on who can bring the biggest fan base or raise the most money from ticket and memorabilia sales College athletic departments selling uniform rights to specific sporting goods companies such as Nike or Under Armor for millions of dollars

Uniform Examples Oregon and many other schools have been criticized in recent years for an abundance of different uniform combinations

Other Exploitation Examples In 2011 Ohio State Players were penalized and forced to sit out for trading personal property in exchange for tattoos It is okay for schools to sell this memorabilia for profit, but they outlaw and prohibit players from doing so Recently corporations have offered players advertising fees for tattooing the companies name or logo onto their bodies

Turning the Tide In order to take all of the scandals and news headlines our of college sports drastic changes must be made to the way college athletes are handled and treated While some feel it is wrong to pay college athletes to play, looking at the amount of revenue they generate the NCAA and universities could more then afford to reimburse the students for the physical toll they put on their bodies

Proposed Changes Give players a yearly salary on top of their current scholarship Put a salary cap on teams per sport, for example a $3 million dollar cap on a football team with a minimum salary of $25,000 per player This is just a small portion of the revenue that college sports brings in for the school and it can help to motivate college athletes to stay in longer for a degree

Changes Contd. On top of annual salaries offer athletes extended scholarships and not just a year by year contract Not only guarantees the students education for themselves, but it also makes them promise to stay in college for the entire four years and not just use college as a stepping stone into professional sports

Impact of Change Proposed changes would take away the underworld of secret payments and fake jobs from boosters while encouraging athletes to stay in school and finish their educations It would also level the playing field for recruiting for coaches and universities by giving each university the same amount for player salaries

Works Cited Nocera, Joe. "Lets Start Paying College Athletes." Nytimes.com. New York Times, 30 Dec. 2011. Web. 12 Feb. 2012. "Commercialism In Sports." Leagueoffans.org. Ralph Nadar. Web. 12 Feb. 2012. "NCAA Grad Rates Hit All-time High - NCAA.com." NCAA.com – The Official Website of NCAA Championships. 25 Oct. 2011. Web. 12 Feb. 2012. Ross, Sherwood. "College Athletes Suffer Most From Today’s Commercialism." Veterans Today | Military Veterans and Foreign Affairs Journal – VA – Veterans Administration. Veterans Today, 6 Feb. 2011. Web. 12 Feb. 2012.