Collegiate sports considers paying athletes for play
Recent efforts made by the players on the Northwestern University football team to unionize continue to cast confusion on the future of college football.
Unionization of college football would allow athletes to potentially receive extra reimbursement in some form or another and legally be able to demand all the same rights as if they were employees of the school, including wages and benefits.
According to Nina Mandell, a For The Win reporter, “Their ability to do this was granted by a regional director of the National Labor Relations Board (though Northwestern University filed an appeal). Through this union … they have said they plan to ask for things like guaranteed scholarships, long-term medical care and maybe, in the future, payment beyond scholarships and stipends.”
The decision to unionize has been deemed legal and the Northwestern football players have voted. The public eagerly awaits the release of the vote results.
Top ranking NCAA officials are skeptical of the movement to unionize, as NCAA president Mark Emmert told reporters that unionization “would throw away the entire collegiate model for athletics.”
For schools like Texas, Oregon, Ohio State and other major conference schools that rake in the dollars from boosters, merchandise and ticket sales it might not be too much of a stretch to increase player benefits.
However, Utah State falls into the category of schools in which the athletic department doesn’t bring in enough money to be entirely self-sufficient, already drawing money from different sources.
Any money used to pay players in order to be compliant with what would by then be the law would have to be found in other areas. The athletic department would almost certainly have to increase ticket prices, potentially putting a stop to free entry for students to games or somehow increase its donations from alumni.
If that didn’t work it would be a raise of tuition, student fees, increased taxes or even possibly decreased wages of school officials, specifically from the athletic department. It could also potentially influence the recruiting, as money could suddenly become a factor in a high school player’s decision.
With the increases of demand on time, energy, and focus in college football, some believe players in today’s game are not being reimbursed as they should. Some players, including former Northwestern quarterback and activist for players’ rights Kain Colter, have been reported to put in as many as 40-50 hours of work per week towards football all while trying to maintain a full-time class schedule as a student.
Although some athletes receive a full-ride scholarship, the busy schedules they have leave them with limited funds and no time for a part-time job to supplement their income for things like food and entertainment.
Shabazz Napier, current point guard for the Miami Heat and former NCAA champion with the UCONN Huskies once stated, “There are hungry nights that I go to bed and I’m starving,” because his scholarship didn’t cover food costs. Although Napier doesn’t have that problem now as an NBA player, it is something that potentially thousands of other student athletes are currently facing.
Even though there is growing support in favor of paying collegiate athletes, there certainly are oppositions. Entrepreneur Nick Desai shared his concern.
“Scholarship athletes get up to five years of tuition, fees, books, room and board, just for being good enough in high school to be offered a full ride,” Desai said.
Desai added that further complications from such a movement would likely arise.
“The basis of the demand for even more money is that the university will use the player’s likeness in their marketing to generate revenue,” Desai said. “First of all, the only players whose likeness is valuable is a very small percentage of scholarship athletes who actually become stars while in college. Secondly, isn’t it conversely true that the university is providing the athlete the forum — including coaching, facilities and national exposure — to become a star in the first place? If the player doesn’t become a star, then does the university get to ask for the scholarship money back? If the star player goes on to make millions in the NFL or NBA, does the university get a piece of those earnings?”
One positive result would be that to a certain degree athletes would receive more aid from the financial department when it pertains to food, but a recent study of public school athletic department budgets showed that, not including subsidies (extra money received from the university to stay afloat), only 20 athletic departments out of all 230 colleges and universities generate enough revenue to be considered self-sustaining.
Though paying players appears to be the answer to some student athletes’ financial struggles, it remains an unclear solution to the ever-widening divide between student and athlete.
— taylor.c.orton@gmail.com
Twitter: @T_Orton1