THE HOAX OF AMATEURISM: COLLEGE SPORTS By: Mason Hui

Overview  The NCAA generates about $6 billion annually through their major revenue generating sports: Basketball & Football.  CBS & Broadcasting stations make roughly $1 billion annually.  NCAA president’s Salary: $1.7 million  Coaches salaries: multimillion  Student-Athletes themselves make nothing.

Amateurism & “Student Athlete”  Dictionary Definition – A person who engages in a study, sport, or other activity for pleasure rather than for financial benefit or professional reasons.  Walter Byers, first executive director of NCAA crafted the term “student athlete” and made it ambiguous.  Most common reasoning NCAA gives is restriction by scholarship

Scholarships  On average, scholarship money provided is $3200 short of what the student actually needs.  Can only be applied towards tuition, room & board, required books.  If injured and cannot contribute to team, Athletic scholarships may be taken away.  NCAA’s catastrophic injury relief insurance program only applies if medical expenses exceed $90,000.

Injury statistics  75.2% of all injuries occur during contact with another player. Basketball & Football (major revenue generating) both are top contact sports.  Higher injury incidence on artificial surfaces that are not natural grass.  24.6% of all ankle sprains in collegiate sports come from football alone.  Smaller injuries are very common.

 College athletes viewed as employees of a corporation.  In addition to injury risks, student athletes dedicate a considerable amount of time to their sport.  The typical college football player requires hours of work per week. (Weight training, practice, etc).  Full time positions?

Northwestern Football Union  National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found that Northwestern football players are technically considered employees of the university and have the right to be represented by a union.  First in college sports to seek union representation.  Fought for a wide range of benefits. (Health care, larger scholarship funds, etc.)

Ed O’Bannon  UCLA basketball player saw an avatar of himself in an EA sports video game which sparked controversy over licensing rights.  Filed lawsuit against NCAA for using his name, image, and likeness in the video game without his consent.  NCAA argued that he signed away his rights when he agreed to participate in collegiate sports  Final verdict reached on August 8, 2014  Universities have to provide athletes with some form of money that they bring in from licensing their image.  Points towards future with weaker NCAA.  Empowers student athletes

Conclusions  “Amateurism” is a hoax put forth by the NCAA in order to reap the monetary benefits generated by its student athletes.  They work the same hours as there are in the traditional work week but do not receive significant compensation.  The risks they must endure on a game-to-game basis can be detrimental in terms of physical injuries. Student Athletes should be paid in either 1 of 2 ways…

Cont..  1.) Viewed as employees and be paid straight up for their work. (would eliminate factors such as licensing)  2.) Provide student-athletes with real scholarships that are sufficient enough to help the student through all financial funds, even in the case of severe/career ending injuries.

Before & After  In the beginning, the reasoning that college athletes are paid already in the form of their free education through scholarships seemed somewhat justifiable for me.  Now, factoring in all the evidence and facts, the role of the college athlete has many more risks than rewards.  Only small % end up going professional.  No significant immediate value.

A New System  A new system of paying student-athletes would impact the culture of college sports as we know it.  The branding of intercollegiate athletics would change.