Top Paid Husky?

[huskyd]

It's not unusual for someone somewhere to be arguing that college athletes should be financially compensated. We've booted that ball around on the BY before and come up with conflicting opinions. My purpose here is not to rehash the old arguments.

In this morning's WashPost, another column appeared on the topic, strongly urging the “robber barons” of college sports to supply “full financial relief for athletes in top-tier college” programs. He specified major division football and basketball. Among these, he wrote, were the “richest schools,” which profited to the tune of “upward of a 100 million dollars (a year?).” Further, he cited a 2011 Drexel University study that estimated that players in the biggest programs had a “fair market value” of $120,000 to $265,ooo (more in today's market).

NOW: let's assume that a decision is made to pay college players for their services. I wonder who exactly would be paid and who would not, and how much each player would be paid and on what basis? In most professional sports, athletes are paid according to their market value. That suggests that players who draw the crowds account for the most revenue. Who would you pay to watch? (Geno said that when Breanna was here he used to play her for extended minutes because the fans came out especially to see her.)

Assuming that the most crowd-pleasing players would collect the most in a pay-for-play system, how would you rank the members of the current UConn team? Which draw the most customers?

Feel free to disagree with my premise (I know you will). Could you design a payment scheme that would be best? (I have purposely omitted any dollar figures because I'm not sure how I would determine these; some of you stat geeks might want to try.)

IMO the top drawers on the Huskies in order: Lou (the 3 is basketball's home run), Gabby (a highlight maker), Kia (has entered the HR derby), Crystal, Z, Napheesa, Meg.

 

[BroadwayVa]

It's not unusual for someone somewhere to be arguing that college athletes should be financially compensated. We've booted that ball around on the BY before and come up with conflicting opinions. My purpose here is not to rehash the old arguments.

In this morning's WashPost, another column appeared on the topic, strongly urging the “robber barons” of college sports to supply “full financial relief for athletes in top-tier college” programs. He specified major division football and basketball. Among these, he wrote, were the “richest schools,” which profited to the tune of “upward of a 100 million dollars (a year?).” Further, he cited a 2011 Drexel University study that estimated that players in the biggest programs had a “fair market value” of $120,000 to $265,ooo (more in today's market).

NOW: let's assume that a decision is made to pay college players for their services. I wonder who exactly would be paid and who would not, and how much each player would be paid and on what basis? In most professional sports, athletes are paid according to their market value. That suggests that players who draw the crowds account for the most revenue. Who would you pay to watch? (Geno said that when Breanna was here he used to play her for extended minutes because the fans came out especially to see her.)

Assuming that the most crowd-pleasing players would collect the most in a pay-for-play system, how would you rank the members of the current UConn team? Which draw the most customers?

Feel free to disagree with my premise (I know you will). Could you design a payment scheme that would be best? (I have purposely omitted any dollar figures because I'm not sure how I would determine these; some of you stat geeks might want to try.)

IMO the top drawers on the Huskies in order: Lou (the 3 is basketball's home run), Gabby (a highlight maker), Kia (has entered the HR derby), Crystal, Z, Napheesa, Meg.

\
Using your TItle---GENO has to be the highest paid, and will be via your hypothesis of pay for services. All those except Meg Walker (not yet), are worthy of Pay for Play talent and ability--but more for performances..

 

[Bigboote]

In this morning's WashPost, another column appeared on the topic, strongly urging the “robber barons” of college sports to supply “full financial relief for athletes in top-tier college” programs. He specified major division football and basketball. Among these, he wrote, were the “richest schools,” which profited to the tune of “upward of a 100 million dollars (a year?).” Further, he cited a 2011 Drexel University study that estimated that players in the biggest programs had a “fair market value” of $120,000 to $265,ooo (more in today's market).

I had no idea Harvard's players generated so much income. I know that's not what the author (who was it; I didn't see it) meant, but Harvard is the richest school in terms of endowment AFAIK. $34.5 billion, which works out to $54.5 million for every undergraduate (I'm assuming that most graduate students are supported by grants). Assuming one can draw 4% from the endowment and have it keep growing, they can draw out $2 million per student, or roughly 40 times what they charge for full-freight tuition. Should they charge anyone but the uber-wealthy tuition? (This is a real question, I hope it doesn't come across as combative, and I also know this is a sports board, not an economics board, but this is something I've thought about quite a bit.) I don't think Harvard is unique among the ivies in having an endowment that could offer full scholarships to all undergrads forever.

Cooper Union in New York used to provide full scholarships for every student; I think there is some nominal tuition now. There's a private college in California whose name I can't remember -- it's supported by a Japanese foundation or something -- that also has a huge endowment per student. I can't remember whether they offer full scholarships for all or not.

Of course, the other thing is, the athletes who generate income for the schools may provide scholarships for underprivileged students. Should a football player at Alabama be paid at the expense of ten needs-based scholarships?

Of course there aren't any hard-and-fast answers.