NCAA head warns that 95% of student athletes face extinction if colleges actually have to pay them

[Continential]

https://fortune.com/2024/02/24/ncaa-college-sports-employees-student-athletes-charlie-baker-interview/

NCAA President Charlie Baker said Friday that action by Congress was needed to protect what he described as the “95 percent” of athletes whose ability to play college sports would be endangered by a court ruling or regulatory decision declaring them as employees of their schools.

Speaking to a small group of reporters near the NCAA’s Washington office, Baker was realistic but still hopeful about the prospect of Congress doing what it didn’t do despite persistent requests from his predecessor, Mark Emmert: granting the NCAA a limited antitrust exemption that would allow it to make rules safeguarding college sports without the constant threat of litigation.

His comments took on more urgency when a Tennessee judge ruled Friday that the NCAA could not block schools from using name, image and likeness (NIL) money to recruit athletes. Baker was informed of the ruling during his meeting with reporters and declined to comment. The NCAA said later in a statement that the ruling “will aggravate an already chaotic collegiate environment.”

Baker in December proposed creating a new tier of Division I that would allow the schools that make the most money from sports to pay their athletes. But he doesn’t want internal NCAA reforms or a court ruling to endanger sports at the vast majority of member schools. The NCAA is facing several lawsuits and a unionization effort at Dartmouth that could result in athletes getting classified as employees

The employment model would not work at historically Black colleges and universities, he said, or at Division II or III schools.

This will kill most college sports and nearly all of women’s sports and hurt our Olympic dominance. Also a large amount of smaller schools will close without athletes paying tuition.

[brucejoel99]

The next decade is gonna be a sight to see if the NCAA is already admitting they know they're absolutely f**ked by courts clearly getting ready to tell them "sorry, your business-model so deeply relies on these people &, in America, that reliance makes these people employees &, in America, employees get compensated with cash, check or direct-deposit, not school."

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Yeah, where do folks get off acting like colleges are meant to be academic institutions and not corrupt athletic feeder programs that make bank off the unpaid labor of talented young people?  Next you’ll be telling me colleges shouldn’t cover for sex predators and domestic abusers just because the criminals in question are talented athletes or coaches!  When will the war on college athletics end

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

NCAA generates nearly $1.3 billion in revenue for 2022-23

The NCAA generated nearly $1.3 billion in revenue for the 2022-23 fiscal year, more than half of which was distributed back to Division I members, according to financial statements released Thursday by the association.

NCAA revenues rose from about $1.14 billion in the previous fiscal year to $1.28 billion. As usual, the bulk of the NCAA's revenue -- $945 million -- came from media rights and marketing deals tied to championship events.

The NCAA's deal with CBS and Warner Bros. Discovery for rights to the men's Division I basketball tournament accounts for about $900 million annually. That means the men's tournament brought in about 69% of the NCAA's revenue.

The NCAA's expenses reached $1.17 billion, which includes $669 million distributed to the 363 Division I member schools and another $192 million to stage Division I championship events, the men's basketball National Invitational Tournament and other related programs.

[GM Team Member and Deputy PPT WB]

if your business model relies entirely on not paying the people who actually are out there as the face of it and are risking bodily injury while putting in the work, then your business shouldn't exist.

[Continential]

In my opinion, scholarships (whether they be full or partial) and the various amenities students athletes suffice as payment enough. Student athletes get compensated more in value than Minor League players in Baseball and Junior Hockey players in Hockey. The vast majority of student athletes won't benefit from this.

[brucejoel99]

In my opinion, scholarships (whether they be full or partial) and the various amenities students athletes suffice as payment enough. Student athletes get compensated more in value than Minor League players in Baseball and Junior Hockey players in Hockey. The vast majority of student athletes won't benefit from this.

Justice Kavanaugh's opinion disagrees. He's 1 of at least 4 & likely more votes against the current NCAA business-model of not paying the laborers of its member-schools' money-making ventures a wage for their labor. Rebutting points made about the legal implications of prohibiting wages with "but non-salary benefits!" is a non-sequitur. If the NCAA doesn't like this happening, they should've thought about it before entering into billion-dollar agreements to produce ancillary revenue for its schools through TV-advertising deals. In your opinion, how is the NCAA's business-model of prohibiting wages for its athletes legal when, absent congressionally-acquiesced carve-outs like MLB's, it'd be illegal for all other American business? (Charlie Baker would like to know, too, since his best solution right now is... asking Congress for that antitrust exemption it doesn't even need if its business-model is already entirely legal!)

[dead0man]

NCAA generates nearly $1.3 billion in revenue for 2022-23

The NCAA generated nearly $1.3 billion in revenue for the 2022-23 fiscal year, more than half of which was distributed back to Division I members, according to financial statements released Thursday by the association.

NCAA revenues rose from about $1.14 billion in the previous fiscal year to $1.28 billion. As usual, the bulk of the NCAA's revenue -- $945 million -- came from media rights and marketing deals tied to championship events.

The NCAA's deal with CBS and Warner Bros. Discovery for rights to the men's Division I basketball tournament accounts for about $900 million annually. That means the men's tournament brought in about 69% of the NCAA's revenue.

The NCAA's expenses reached $1.17 billion, which includes $669 million distributed to the 363 Division I member schools and another $192 million to stage Division I championship events, the men's basketball National Invitational Tournament and other related programs.

if your business model relies entirely on not paying the people who actually are out there as the face of it and are risking bodily injury while putting in the work, then your business shouldn't exist.

you guys are making good arguments for only paying the football and basketball players

[John Dule]

Eliminating student athletes sounds awesome to me. Don't know why this is seen as a downside.

[Crumpets]

Obviously tons of variation by school/sport, but even if star athletes get scholarships, it's hard to argue they always get the full value of their school experience. Like, has anyone here who went to a Div I school ever had a starting football/basketball player as a classmate? I think I had a soccer player in one of my classes once, and the only time I saw her was the first day of class telling the teacher she had a lot of commitments from her sport and asked if she could just watch recordings of lectures. In extreme cases, you get 2012 UNC, which basically just had on-paper classes with tutors doing all the homework to make it look legit.

[jojoju1998]

Eliminating student athletes sounds awesome to me. Don't know why this is seen as a downside.

A rare moment where I agree with you.

[Continential]

In my opinion, scholarships (whether they be full or partial) and the various amenities students athletes suffice as payment enough. Student athletes get compensated more in value than Minor League players in Baseball and Junior Hockey players in Hockey. The vast majority of student athletes won't benefit from this.

In your opinion, how is the NCAA's business-model of prohibiting wages for its athletes legal when, absent congressionally-acquiesced carve-outs like MLB's, it'd be illegal for all other American business? (Charlie Baker would like to know, too, since his best solution right now is... asking Congress for that antitrust exemption it doesn't even need if its business-model is already entirely legal!)

There should be a carve out for college sports. Look man, I’m no lawyer I’m just a high school sophomore who really likes watching college sports and wants them to remain in existence.

[Continential]

Obviously tons of variation by school/sport, but even if star athletes get scholarships, it's hard to argue they always get the full value of their school experience.

Are commuters getting the “full value” by commuting and not dorming? Are non-traditional students not getting their “full value” because they aren’t traditional students and are older and often have to work on top of going to school along with other obligations.  As long as they do their homework and tests, then they should be considered a regular student.

[Mercenary]

If you work, you should be paid. Colleges shouldnt be able to profit off students without providing compensation. Ill extend this to say unpaid internships should also be illegal, same idea as college sports are basically an internship for professional sports.

[Hollywood]

Eliminating student athletes sounds awesome to me. Don't know why this is seen as a downside.

I'm with you.  Any kid that came to me for a college loan would be immediately rejected if they picked the school for its sports program as opposed to its educational programs and opportunities. 

[MillennialModerate]

Just as long as Big Ten Football survives so this great depression era of TTUN actually being respectable comes to an end

[OSR stands with Israel]

Eliminating student athletes sounds awesome to me. Don't know why this is seen as a downside.

It’s far better use of taxpayer money and the money universities have to subsidize college sports than to fund degree programs such as gender studies and other similar programs .

It’s not even remotely close actually as the former prepares people for careers far far more

[emailking]

Obviously tons of variation by school/sport, but even if star athletes get scholarships, it's hard to argue they always get the full value of their school experience. Like, has anyone here who went to a Div I school ever had a starting football/basketball player as a classmate? I think I had a soccer player in one of my classes once, and the only time I saw her was the first day of class telling the teacher she had a lot of commitments from her sport and asked if she could just watch recordings of lectures. In extreme cases, you get 2012 UNC, which basically just had on-paper classes with tutors doing all the homework to make it look legit.

Hmm, I taught a physics lab to a quarterback at a Div I school and he was in every class but 1 I think. I guess this varies.

[Fight for Trump]

This will kill most college sports and nearly all of women’s sports and hurt our Olympic dominance. Also a large amount of smaller schools will close without athletes paying tuition.

The US succeeds at the Olympics because it is a huge, rich country. If you add up merely the top 5 EU countries from Rio, they would be ahead of the US in the medal table, with a fraction of the population. Many of the biggest NCAA sports (e.g., tennis, XC, golf, baseball) are basically irrelevant at the Olympics from a medals perspective.

The idea that you need to pretend to study to do sports is stupid.

[jojoju1998]

Eliminating student athletes sounds awesome to me. Don't know why this is seen as a downside.

It’s far better use of taxpayer money and the money universities have to subsidize college sports than to fund degree programs such as gender studies and other similar programs .

It’s not even remotely close actually as the former prepares people for careers far far more

 Most college students don't major in Gender studies.

It's usually business, nursing, or other vocational majors, and it's usually at your regional public school. Where on earth, is this beilief that students are studying gender studies come from ? Most college students are not going to the rich private schools. Your normal college student is going to places like Sacramento State.

[jojoju1998]

This will kill most college sports and nearly all of women’s sports and hurt our Olympic dominance. Also a large amount of smaller schools will close without athletes paying tuition.

The US succeeds at the Olympics because it is a huge, rich country. If you add up merely the top 5 EU countries from Rio, they would be ahead of the US in the medal table, with a fraction of the population. Many of the biggest NCAA sports (e.g., tennis, XC, golf, baseball) are basically irrelevant at the Olympics from a medals perspective.

The idea that you need to pretend to study to do sports is stupid.

Well in other countries, talented atheletes attend from a early age, a specialized track, schooling that is dedicated to developing athletes ( and these schools are often funded centrally by the Government.).

We don't have that kind of system in the US.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Like, has anyone here who went to a Div I school ever had a starting football/basketball player as a classmate?

I sat next to the starting Point Guard of the national champions for two semesters.
I also had the starting quarterback and winner of the Walter Payton Award in my advanced courses.
(Amongst many other highly deserving national basketball, football and lacrosse starters)

The only problem student was my freshman year when a transfer grad student from (perhaps?) an even more prestigious private school (and his Slavic buddy) sat next to me. One of those situations where it was hard to keep a straight face while he presented on his sections of The Iliad - then again, it was hard to keep a straight face when he had tried to shoot too.

[Fight for Trump]

Well in other countries, talented atheletes attend from a early age, a specialized track, schooling that is dedicated to developing athletes ( and these schools are often funded centrally by the Government.).

We don't have that kind of system in the US.

Sure, they sometimes go to a sports school (which do exist in the US, e.g., Burke Mountain Academy, IMG Academy) but usually they just do some sort of normal hybrid/remote learning to accommodate their sports commitments.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

If not for sports, I would never pay to send my kids to college. That's the whole point of the American university system. Let it collapse like every other good institution in this country.

[jojoju1998]

If not for sports, I would never pay to send my kids to college. That's the whole point of the American university system. Let it collapse like every other good institution in this country.

We will probably shift to a more European style higher education system.