There never will be an equal distribution of money, never…
I don’t pretend to know the answer. However, it appears the way things are developing, an athlete can sell his/her likeness to sponsors. That means stars will probably get more than non-stars. It also probably means schools will arrange sponsors for important players who are not necessarily stars. In short, it seems like it’s going to be a free market economy. I don’t really like this idea, but I also think that’s where we’re going. If it were up to me, athletes would be paid a certain defined amount above their scholarships. Each school allowed to give that amount, but no more. I’d probably allow players in revenue sports to get more than those in non-revenue sports, but that would probably create Title IX issues. So I guess I’d let all full-time scholarship athletes to make, say, $1500 or so per month, above their scholarships. That way they’re getting a decent salary plus their scholarship. Schools would probably have to cut back on coaches’ salaries & maybe some on facilities, but that’d be okay with me.
I would agree that things shouldn’t ever change just because that’s the way they’ve always been. But it’s going to be hard to get the NCAA or schools to agree to large payouts for student-athletes when there is no other option.
If I don’t agree with what I’m earning in my profession, I can look for employment elsewhere. If a student-athlete doesn’t believe the cost of a scholarship and small stipend is their value, they should be able to look elsewhere, aka the professional ranks.
However, neither the NFL nor the NBA wants that because they have a built-in minor league system that they don’t have to pay for. And, a big reason for that is the players’ unions in those sports. So, I do think it is somewhat disingenuous for players (particularly in the NBA is where you’ve seen it lately) to call for paying college athletes after voting to not let them in their league. And the more they get paid in college, the less likely they’ll be to challenge those unions for early entry.
The NBPA is working to end one and done
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