Should NCAA pay student athletes?

[TheLongHaul]

In addition to this, I know that student athletes get a stipend on a monthly basis. Some of them use this to live off campus. Some use it for food or dates or other things. At Ohio State, the last I heard was that players were getting about $1400 per month for a stipend. If you can't live off of $1400 per month in college, there is something messed up.

Huh? If this is the case you might as well turn them in because this isn't legal.

 

[TheLongHaul]

Olympic model would work just fine. Paying every single athlete is just dumb, but if Johnny's Car Dealership wants SK to do an ad for a few grand, then let them. If the #1 recruit coming out of college gets a deal with Nike,UA,Adidas or whoever for a couple mill, I think the world wont end.

Its also beyond silly that a kid can't make any money off his image/likeness wrt to jersey sales, endorsements, video games etc bc he WONT BE AN AMATEUR, but he can sign for millions with a MLB team, get paid, but still play college basketball, is an AMATEUR, AND remain their precious little STUDENT-athlete.

This entire notion of student-athlete is just dumb anyways.

Then you might as well cut college football to 5 teams because that is how it will be if you let car dealers start paying players.

Do you really not understand the difference between signing a contract with a MLB team and playing college basketball?

 

[JasonS]

Huh? If this is the case you might as well turn them in because this isn't legal.

This is what was reported on the radio in Columbus when the whole tattoo gate stuff came out. I believe student athletes do get a monthly stipend as part of their scholarship benefits because they are not able to hold a job during the season while other typical students would. I think you will find out that this is accepted practice everywhere.

 

[TheLongHaul]

This is what was reported on the radio in Columbus when the whole tattoo gate stuff came out. I believe student athletes do get a monthly stipend as part of their scholarship benefits because they are not able to hold a job during the season while other typical students would. I think you will find out that this is accepted practice everywhere.

First i've ever heard of this and I was a college athlete on scholarship. Scholarships will pay for room and board but nothing in addition to that. Won't pay for food unless it is the dorm cafeteria. Then again, it's O$U so it wouldn't shock me.

 

[JasonS]

That’s it. I have had it with the inane and redundant talk about NCAA football student-athletes, specifically football players, not being able pay for a tank of gas or afford a combo meal at Subway. Stop it! Enough is enough. These kids are given ample resources to “survive” during their years on a college campus, and I will prove it to you. I will show you not only the value of a scholarship, but the cash and benefits student-athletes can get all within NCAA rules.

If this is your first time to Holy Turf, welcome. Let me give you some quick background information. I spent nine years working inside athletic departments at Arkansas and Baylor as an academic advisor for student-athletes. I have seen the inner workings of two athletic departments in two major conferences. Let’s get back to the task at hand. I live in Fayetteville, Arkansas, the home of the Razorbacks. In this article, I am going to use Arkansas as my example.

Before we get to the value of a scholarship, let’s start off with the amount of money available to football student-athletes within NCAA rules.

Pell Grant
Many football student-athletes qualify for a Pell Grant based on several factors, but most earn a Pell Grant based on a lack of wealth from their parents. According to collegeboard.com, “The U.S. Department of Education uses a standard formula to evaluate the information you supply when applying for a Pell Grant. This formula produces a number called the Expected Family Contribution (EFC), which determines if you are eligible. The grant requires that you: 1. Are an undergraduate student who has not earned a bachelor’s degree. 2. Are a U.S. citizen or an eligible noncitizen. 3. Have a high school diploma or a GED, or demonstrate the ability to benefit from the program”

A full Pell Grant is worth $5,500 a year and never has to be repaid because it is a grant, not a loan. Football players get $5,500 each year to do with what they want.

Clothing Money
If a football player qualifies for a Pell Grant, they also get $500 of clothing allowance each year. My memory fails me, but I am almost certain this money is from the conference. Football players can buy whatever clothes they want as long as they bring back $500 worth of receipts to their Compliance department showing the clothes they bought. Now, many football players will spend this money on new Nike’s, hats, jeans or t–shirts. This money could be spent on buying a nice suit, or a few pairs of khaki pants and some button down shirts, but rarely is that the case.


Student-Athlete Opportunity Fund
According to Bylaw 15.01.6.2 in the NCAA Manual, each athletic department can use the student-athlete opportunity fund money for anything but financing salaries, scholarships (though paying for summer school is allowed, but a football player’s scholarship covers summer school), capital improvements, stipends, and outside athletic development. The NCAA gives each school a chunk of money each year…roughly $200,000 to help student-athletes out with whatever needs they may have deemed fit by the senior staff member in the athletic department in charge of the money. This money is not just for football, but the entire athletic department. Regardless, if a football player needs money to pay for gas, more new clothes, or a plane ride home, they can legally get money for that.

Special Assistance Fund
Football players also have access to a special assistance fund too. According to NCAA bylaw 16.12.2, money from the special assistance fund may be requested as additional financial aid (with no obligation to repay such aid) for special financial needs for student-athletes. I know one school used this fund to fly their basketball players home for the Christmas break. Completely within NCAA rules.

Room and Board
Football players typically live on campus with a meal plan at the dining hall during their freshman years. In this case, their scholarship covers all of the cost for their dorm room and meal plan. Most players will live off campus after their freshman year as long as the coach allows it, which is usually determined by how the student-athlete is doing in school. Football players living off campus get a room and board check equal to the amount their university lists in the costs to attend. For Arkansas, it is $4,021 for each fall and spring semester based off of this figure. A total of $8,024 for both semesters. Almost all scholarship football players stay in town for summer school to take care of their academics and workout. Arkansas has 16-week fall and spring semesters. The two summer sessions are a total of 12 weeks. Using that logic, Arkansas football players get 75% (12 weeks instead of 16) of $4,021, which is $3,016.

Here is one non-monetary benefit that may interest readers.

Occasional Meal
NCAA Bylaw 16.11.1.5 allows for a student-athlete or an entire team in a sport to have an occasional meal paid for by a representative of athletics interest, also known as a booster, on infrequent and special occasions. The booster can even provide local transportation as long as the meal is at the booster’s house and not a restaurant. The meal cannot be at a house, but can be catered. The meal can be as lavish as the booster wants to provide. Most schools have a form for boosters to fill out before hosting a student-athlete or team. This is another way to feed student-athletes.

The typical non-freshman Arkansas football player received the cash listed below in 2010-11:
$5,500- Pell Grant
$500- Clothing Fund
$8,024- Fall and Spring Room and Board
$3,016- Summer Room and Board

$17,040- Grand Total

Remember, this excludes any money from the Student-Athlete Opportunity Fund, the Special Assistance Fund, and any occasional meals provided by boosters. Monthly, football players are looking at $1,420 cash in their pocket without having to buy books or pay tuition and fees. Did you have $1,420 of cash every month in college? If football players were to work a job paying a respectable $10 an hour, they would need to work 36 hours a week for 50 weeks to make $1,420 before taxes to make what they get from their football scholarship and other available money sources.


SEC Commissioner Mike Slive recently said, ""I have long thought that we should revisit the limitations on the current scholarship model and perhaps expand it to cover the full cost of attendance. I look forward to that discussion."

How much does it cost to live in an apartment in Fayetteville? One of, if not, the nicest apartments on the edge of campus costs $480 per person for a two bedroom apartment. Another nice apartment about a mile from campus costs $350 per person for a two bedroom apartment. If we split the difference at $415 per person, our football players have over $1,000 remaining from their monthly income after paying for rent and remember, they have no bills for tuition, books, or fees. Still think these guys cannot afford a tank of gas, a date, or any other reasonable expenditure for a college student?

Football is a ‘head count’ sport according to the NCAA. This means that football student-athletes are either on a full scholarship or not on any athletic scholarship. There is no middle ground. A full scholarship covers tuition, fees, books, room, and board. We covered the money a football player actually receives. Now, we will look at the added value of a scholarship. At Arkansas a student taking 30 credit hours would pay just under $8,000 as an in-state student for tuition, fees, and books. A non-resident would pay $17,162 for the same. Many football players will also take summer school during both summer sessions. The average expense for an in-state student taking nine summer hours is roughly $2,000. For an out of state student, the cost is closer to $4,500.

Scholarships are renewable each year for up to five years while student-athletes can only compete four seasons. Coaches can choose to not award a scholarship to a returning student-athlete at the end of each year for any reason. For our sake, we will assume our football players will be at school for five years because many redshirt or lose a year to a medical redshirt. In-state Arkansas students get $50,000 in value over five years from their scholarship covering tuition, books, and fees to go along with the roughly $17,000 a year we calculated above. In total, a football scholarship is worth $135,000 to football player at Arkansas from the state of Arkansas. Football players from out of state get roughly $108,000 in value over five years from their scholarship covering tuition, books, and fees in addition to the $17,000 a year listed above for a five year value of roughly $193,000.

I am not sure if I changed your mind on whether or not athletes should get paid, but next time you hear a talking head whining about football players not being able to afford money for a tank of gas or to take a lady out on a date you will know the facts. Most football players at BCS schools have a surplus of cash each month to spend however they choose.

http://www.holyturf.com/2011/05/foo...17000-annually-in-cash-all-within-ncaa-rules/

 

[JasonS]

First i've ever heard of this and I was a college athlete on scholarship. Scholarships will pay for room and board but nothing in addition to that. Won't pay for food unless it is the dorm cafeteria. Then again, it's O$U so it wouldn't shock me.

read the article I just posted. This is common practice and accepted practice. Not all scholarships are equal and if you played anything but D-1A, this is not available to you.

 

[ervins84]

Then you might as well cut college football to 5 teams because that is how it will be if you let car dealers start paying players.

Do you really not understand the difference between signing a contract with a MLB team and playing college basketball?

Do you really understand how a student athlete is an amateur and being paid like professional at the same time?

More importantly, what others have alluded to the entire notion of "they already get X, so be happy bc I'd love to have X" is flawed reasoning. Bilas said it best earlier this year in his article. I encourage everyone to read it.

http://insider.espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/blog?name=bilas_jay&id=6672831

Jay Paterno made an interesting case that a scholarship of room, board, tuition and books is a great deal for any college athlete and more than enough when compared to most of America. Paterno tacitly admits that compensating athletes is acceptable. He does not quarrel over the appropriateness of a scholarship; he simply quibbles over the amount.

Reasonable minds can differ, and I respectfully disagree with Paterno's stance.

Essentially, Paterno was telling college athletes, "Eat your vegetables without complaint because some kids are starving somewhere." That argument is one step up from my all-time favorite (as used by my pediatric dentist in the late 1960s), "Quit your crying, or I'll give you something to cry about."

Paterno believes the current scholarship is enough because "most of America" would gladly accept it. He is undoubtedly correct on that point.

But is our standard simply what "most of America" would accept? Taking such flawed logic to the extreme, Paterno makes a compelling case for limiting the compensation of college coaches.

Paterno makes hundreds of thousands of dollars in salary and benefits; has access to the best medical care for himself and his family (and moves to the front of the line to get it); has a car deal and a parking space; has access to free game tickets; receives athletic gear he can sell; can receive compensation to write books and speak at clinics; can receive worker's compensation; and, if fired, can apply for unemployment benefits.

Meanwhile, the median income in the State of Pennsylvania is just over $26,000 per year, and over 12 percent of the population lives below the poverty line. Using the logic Paterno applies to athletes, he should have his salary cut by a multiple of 10 because others would gladly accept his job for much less.

Many would gladly "switch places" with a college athlete, but that is not a legitimate argument for denying athletes the opportunity to profit in the marketplace. There is no valid argument or data to support the notion that allowing compensation to athletes would compromise the educational mission of the NCAA.

Taking Paterno's argument further to the extreme (and at the risk of sounding like Otter from "Animal House" arguing before the Greek Council), why not apply it to NCAA President Mark Emmert? Serving as the NCAA president is a privilege, and most Americans would accept far less than Emmert's almost $2 million annual salary.

But it would be easier and more fun to apply the ultimatum Emmert gives to college athletes that dare request fair compensation. Emmert has repeatedly and flippantly said that if college athletes want to make money they should go to the NBA. Well, if Emmert wishes to make almost $2 million per year, why doesn't he simply serve as NBA commissioner?

The arguments and ultimatums of Paterno and Emmert fail. Both deserve fair market value, and the only reason to question their salaries is because they are part of a cartel that restricts athletes from realizing their fair market value while others profit. Many would gladly "switch places" with a college athlete, but that is not a legitimate argument for denying athletes the opportunity to profit in the marketplace. There is no valid argument or data to support the notion that allowing compensation to athletes would compromise the educational mission of the NCAA.

The idea that a college athlete should play only for the love of the game is nonsense. If it were true, why give a scholarship at all? A scholarship athlete at UCLA does not love the game any less than an athlete in the Ivy League, and his education is not compromised by cost of attendance. And, it is not compromised by more than that.

Former Clemson quarterback Kyle Parker is Exhibit A to prove that point. Parker, by all accounts, was a model student-athlete at Clemson. But, he was also a professional baseball player with a $1.4 million contract while he was an "amateur" in football. No one had a problem with that. Why? Because it is legal under NCAA rules and the marketplace determined Parker's value. Parker's millionaire status did not compromise his education, separate him from his teammates or cause the Earth to spin off of its axis as frothy-mouthed proponents of the NCAA's principle of amateurism would have us all believe.

I don't believe college athletes should be paid as employees. Rather, I believe barriers should be removed that limit an athlete from receiving fair compensation for his or her image and likeness. There is no legitimate reason why a college athlete should be denied the opportunity to enter into legitimate, legally binding contracts to, among other things, hire an agent, do paid appearances, appear in advertisements, endorse shoes and apparel or otherwise profit from their names and likenesses. It would not sink college sports, substantially limit the NCAA's massive television profits or negatively affect the education of the athletes or any other student. It would simply be fair.

The Olympics took amateurism out of its charter in the 1970s, yet the NCAA hangs onto amateurism as a bedrock principle. I believe the NCAA's stance on amateurism and the barriers between its athletes and profit are profoundly unfair. There is no legitimate reason to limit athletes such as Michael Phelps, Mia Hamm, Jeremy Bloom or Terrelle Pryor from realizing their value while in college. The Olympic model would be fair and market driven, and it would not cost the institutions a dime.

It is not wrong for NCAA institutions to reap huge profits. But it is wrong for the NCAA to profit to the tune of billions while at the same time limiting the athlete from benefiting in any way. The NCAA doesn't have to share its billions with the athletes. Just allow the athletes to realize their value outside of the institution.

If the Olympic model was implemented, the NCAA and its member institutions would lose complete and total control of every single move made by a college athlete. Then the college athlete would become just as wild and uncontrollable as the coaches, administrators and the NCAA president. Perish the thought.

 

[Eternal E]

I agree fully with Jay Bilas.

 

[ready2go]

First i've ever heard of this and I was a college athlete on scholarship. Scholarships will pay for room and board but nothing in addition to that. Won't pay for food unless it is the dorm cafeteria. Then again, it's O$U so it wouldn't shock me.

For who and what sport?

It does exist, but not in NAIA or D3, unfortunately

 

[TheLongHaul]

Do you really understand how a student athlete is an amateur and being paid like professional at the same time?

The reason someone is allowed to be a professional baseball player and a college basketball at the same time is there isn't the conflict of interest. You can't be a amatuer basketball player and a professional at the same time. Pretty obvious isn't it? Maybe I'll get some time later to read your article. I like Bilas but what you mention below isn't my reasoning for why amateurs should not get paid.

 

[ervins84]

The reason someone is allowed to be a professional baseball player and a college basketball at the same time is there isn't the conflict of interest. You can't be a amatuer basketball player and a professional at the same time. Pretty obvious isn't it?

Actually no its not obvious at all bc its the same "student-athlete" at a university that is a professional and an amateur at the exact same time.

And I know the reasoning I put in the post isnt what you said, which is why I put it in an different paragraph and said "what others have alluded to." I should have broken the two parts of my response into two more clearly with their quotes, but so many people used the "well they all get this awesome stuff and arent poor so they should like it and be grateful" that it was useless to go back and quote every single one.