Ed O'Bannon's plight

[Carl Spackler]

Interesting turn of events today regarding the primary driver to all of this mess.

Television money, and the student athletes getting their cut from live broadcasting fees, video games, etc......

Looks like the Ed O'Bannon lawsuit is moving forward, and the NCAA has one more battle to fight as it's twisting and turning.

That frigging Ed O'Bannon. Still remember that length of the court pass against in the West finals in 1996. That one when against us.

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_...ncaa-athletes-legally-pursue-television-money

 

[upstater]

There is no way they are getting a cut. What would such a ruling do to internships in this country? To student employees, etc.?

 

[CTMike]

I just want to see the NCAA collapse in to a burning heap.

 

[upstater]

I just want to see the NCAA collapse in to a burning heap.

In this respect, if the NCAA goes, college sports goes.

 

[Jericho]

I freely admit I'm stating this base on a 30 second review of that article, but I have my doubts about the ability to certify a class on something like this. That may revert it back to being O'Bannon vs. the NCAA instead of all of the athletes vs. the NCAA.

 

[CTMike]

In this respect, if the NCAA goes, college sports goes.

I suppose I should clarify that I'd like to see an organization overseeing college sports that isn't as morally bankrupt and hypocritical as the NCAA.

 

[WestHartHusk]

There is no way they are getting a cut. What would such a ruling do to internships in this country? To student employees, etc.?

Students would get paid and I don't think this is a bad thing. Internships are (generally) a complete scam whereby already wealthy companies exploit the indebted student to avoid having to pay wages. Other industrial countries manage to pay their those learning on the job, the US can afford to as well.

If your point is that such an institution will be protected by the courts, well then I agree with your sentiment.

 

[uconndogs]

In this respect, if the NCAA goes, college sports goes.

I think that is correct. College athletics could end up looking like NFL and NBA light. No real differentiation, just an inferior product to their higher paid counterparts. I really think that's what is being missed in all this - what makes college sports special, what drives the passion....

4 super conferences and watching Ohio State beat the crap out of Indiana every year and the same four or five teams compete for the national champsionship doesn't sound like something with a lot of sustainability for national appeal.

 

[freescooter]

I think that is correct. College athletics could end up looking like NFL and NBA light. No real differentiation, just an inferior product to their higher paid counterparts. I really think that's what is being missed in all this - what makes college sports special, what drives the passion....

4 super conferences and watching Ohio State beat the crap out of Indiana every year and the same four or five teams compete for the national champsionship doesn't sound like something with a lot of sustainability for national appeal.

I think ultimately you would see colleges get out of the athletics business and those programs would become minor leagues with the same level of fan support you get in the NBA-DL and such.

 

[WestHartHusk]

I think that is correct. College athletics could end up looking like NFL and NBA light. No real differentiation, just an inferior product to their higher paid counterparts. I really think that's what is being missed in all this - what makes college sports special, what drives the passion....

4 super conferences and watching Ohio State beat the crap out of Indiana every year and the same four or five teams compete for the national champsionship doesn't sound like something with a lot of sustainability for national appeal.

I am sorry, but the argument that college sports is special because the student athlete doesn't get paid is a joke. The fact that athletes get an education is great, and I am happy that they have the opportunity to get it, but you cannot tell me that it is fair that someone's labor that is worth millions is harvested for $35,000 in education while the coaches, AD's, and countless others get rich off it. College sports is, sadly, a house of cards built on free labor and civic extortion (see Louisville's arena where they fleece the state into funding the arena, sign a sweetheart deal that guarantees its bankruptcy, then swoop in and take ownership; or TN sports who will be bailed out by the academic side).

 

[upstater]

Students would get paid and I don't think this is a bad thing. Internships are (generally) a complete scam whereby already wealthy companies exploit the indebted student to avoid having to pay wages. Other industrial countries manage to pay their those learning on the job, the US can afford to as well.

If your point is that such an institution will be protected by the courts, well then I agree with your sentiment.

Students get paid a scholarship and room & board already for work training in their chosen field. Studets do not receive a cut of research, endowment or patent revenues, nor a cut of the classes they teach. If they did, they could charge each student they teach, say, $50 and withhold it from tuition to the school.

 

[upstater]

I suppose I should clarify that I'd like to see an organization overseeing college sports that isn't as morally bankrupt and hypocritical as the NCAA.

Me too, but it would surely require a new paradigm of higher standards.

 

[upstater]

I think ultimately you would see colleges get out of the athletics business and those programs would become minor leagues with the same level of fan support you get in the NBA-DL and such.

I have my doubts about fan support dropping. I think especially down south, you can maintain the illusion. I've made the case all along that what's being sold in many cases is the school's name, and not the individual talents on the field. Given that, I bet Alabama still gets a lot of fans with no one caring whether the players take classes.

 

[upstater]

I am sorry, but the argument that college sports is special because the student athlete doesn't get paid is a joke. The fact that athletes get an education is great, and I am happy that they have the opportunity to get it, but you cannot tell me that it is fair that someone's labor that is worth millions is harvested for $35,000 in education while the coaches, AD's, and countless others get rich off it. College sports is, sadly, a house of cards built on free labor and civic extortion (see Louisville's arena where they fleece the state into funding the arena, sign a sweetheart deal that guarantees its bankruptcy, then swoop in and take ownership; or TN sports who will be bailed out by the academic side).

Good point about the coaches, can't agree about the rest. I think your estimates of $35k for millions brought in are wildly wildly off the mark. When you count the trainers and all the others that maximize the building of skills for the players, and the stadiums and the facilities they play in, the school is in the hole. Tell me, what do the Tennessee players deserve? Their school is $200 million+ in the hole? What cut do they take?

And these non-profit institutions exist by exploiting labor in the first place. That's why tuition is so "low." 70% of the university labor force is exploited. If the new trend is to pay people then get ready for a price explosion.

 

[sportsart]

Hasn't the discussion been for the big 4/5 to get big enough contracts and then dismiss the NCAA as irrelevant? I remember something along those lines.

 

[RS9999X]

How many sports are revenue sports
How many programs turn a profit
Turn the top 48 programs into a for profit business school

Sent from my Lumia 920 via Windows 8. Now bite me Apple Droids.

 

[TheRogers]

The way I look at it, it is ultimately the athletes' choice to enroll at a university. If a scholarship and a chance to play in their desired conference is good enough for them, then enroll and accept the terms. If it's all about getting paid, then the NBA or NFL should be opportunistic and create a pretty marketable farm league. The NBA has one already and it could make it more appealing. Same thing for the NFL. The athletes who would play in college will get to play anyway but now they are getting paid.

What are the chances of these minor leagues taking off. Not very good. But hey, they want a system where they get paid. There you go. Universities shouldn't have to shoulder the cost of a salaried athlete. They should only be responsible for the education and, if the students decides to represent the university in athletics, any medical care or treatments as a result of the athletes participation. While nothing is set-up currently, go to europe if getting paid is a priority for them.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

In my humble opinion, it's not that the universities are profiting on student labor. That doesn't just happen in athletic departments, it's everywhere on college campuses.

It's the scale of the profits that offends me.

It's gone so haywire out of balance. The university doesn't just benefit more from the relationship than the student, they benefit tens of thousand$ of times more from the relationship than the student. I have to just laugh when people bring up the "yeah but they get free room and board" thing. As if that pathetic benefit somehow measures up.

When the scales become weighed so one-sided, something needs to right them again.

 

[Jerry27]

In my humble opinion, it's not that the universities are profiting on student labor. That doesn't just happen in athletic departments, it's everywhere on college campuses.

It's the scale of the profits that offends me.

It's gone so haywire out of balance. The university doesn't just benefit more from the relationship than the student, they benefit tens of thousand$ of times more from the relationship than the student. I have to just laugh when people bring up the "yeah but they get free room and board" thing. As if that pathetic benefit somehow measures up.

When the scales become weighed so one-sided, something needs to right them again.

So in your mind the tuition, room & board is all they get? How about the marketing, and promotion they recieve, medical coverage, training etc. They are not being forced to play, they have the opportunity to use their abilities and the access the schools/conferences set up to put their product on display to millions every week. What $ value do you think they would pay in the open market for that type of advertising? And even if they don't reach their goal they can, if they used the brain god gave them, have a degree in which they can make a career for themselves. Tuition is the obvious number but hardly all they recieve.
I left Parris Island and was surprised by the fact that things I thought were free I actually paid for, right down to the haircuts. They want their cut then they pay as they go, no more free rides for anything, meals, books, uniforms, equipment, training, medical coverage, promotion, room & board, tuition etc. Millions of people would switch with them in a heartbeat for half of what they get.

 

[upstater]

In my humble opinion, it's not that the universities are profiting on student labor. That doesn't just happen in athletic departments, it's everywhere on college campuses.

It's the scale of the profits that offends me.

It's gone so haywire out of balance. The university doesn't just benefit more from the relationship than the student, they benefit tens of thousand$ of times more from the relationship than the student. I have to just laugh when people bring up the "yeah but they get free room and board" thing. As if that pathetic benefit somehow measures up.

When the scales become weighed so one-sided, something needs to right them again.

How do they benefit? They LOSE money.

 

[Bootsthemonkey]

I'd say the ones getting the most out of it are not the universities but rather the NFL and NBA. They get great developmental leagues without any concern over liability or responsibility for them. And I don't think it's economically feasible to pay the athletes. It's funny, on this board there's a thread about how insane college tuition has gotten and yet when people start talking about the value of a scholarship for athletes it seems that cost gets minimized in the discussion. As it is, outside of football and hoops, most college sports lose money and they rely heavily on revenue from those two to help support them. If you pay the football players guess what - you're going to have to pay all of your athletes, in every sport. Maybe I'm way off on this but I seriously doubt a lot of schools could handle this. You'd see tuition go way up again and/or a bunch of sports getting the axe - neither of which is a desirable outcome IMO.

 

[Jarhead_1775]

Most programs would cut their sports in that scenario. Then you'd only have 4-5 teams vying for everything every year... Wait...

 

[The Funster]

Any lawsuit against the NCAA would have to include the NFL and the NBA I would think. The NCAA has worked in conjunction with those two leagues with respect to when a player is eligible to be drafted. MLB would not be a party to that suit because HS players are free to choose between going pro and going to school.

 

[UCername]

I am sorry, but the argument that college sports is special because the student athlete doesn't get paid is a joke. The fact that athletes get an education is great, and I am happy that they have the opportunity to get it, but you cannot tell me that it is fair that someone's labor that is worth millions is harvested for $35,000 in education while the coaches, AD's, and countless others get rich off it. College sports is, sadly, a house of cards built on free labor and civic extortion (see Louisville's arena where they fleece the state into funding the arena, sign a sweetheart deal that guarantees its bankruptcy, then swoop in and take ownership; or TN sports who will be bailed out by the academic side).

Considering scholarships are tax free (for now Barry) that real value is quite a bit higher and I would surmise better than most minor league salaries on average. These guys/girls are 100% fairly paid for their services.

 

[upstater]

Considering scholarships are tax free (for now Barry) that real value is quite a bit higher and I would surmise better than most minor league salaries on average. These guys/girls are 100% fairly paid for their services.

If anything, the Prez is about making it more affordable for students, not less, given student loan interest rates, IBR, tuition deductions, etc.