1

The Sports Economic Disparity

“Should NCAA adjust Division1A college football regulation

for Student -Athletes?”

By

Esteban Cervantes

Submitted to the Board of Study in Economics

School of Social Sciences

in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of Bachelor of Arts

Purchase College

State University of New York

May 2012

Accepted:

Sponsor: S. Ikeda

Second Reader: S. O’Cleireacain

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Table of Contents

Introduction: Disparity in Division1A Football p5

Ch.1 Reasons why Division 1A college football has Disparity: p8

A. Financial Perspective:

1. Student-Athletes generate top revenues for amateur college football.

2. Scholarships don’t compensate students-athletes for their marginal

productivity equal

B. NCAA’S Amateur Code:

1. Restricts Student-Athletes from entering the Professional league

2. The amateur code limits Student -Athletes to maximize their potential

revenue in college football.

C. Coaches’ Salaries:

1. Coaches benefit full compensation for running an amateur program with

overwhelming compensation packages.

D. Student –Athlete Dilemma:

1. Student athletes don’t have the same performance as traditional

students do because of the amount of practice and class work.

2. The graduation rate of Student Athletes shows that student athletes

don’t graduate at the same rate as regular student.

3. Student athletes don’t receive the proper benefits for serious football

injuries

E. The Professional recruitments

1. Universities don’t fully disclose student- athletes the information when

recruiting

F. Black market for Student –Athletes:

1. Student –athletes since student athletes have a restriction of what

revenue they can possess, black markets emerge to create incentives for

performance and eligibility.

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Ch. 2 What changes can be done to reduce the disparity in Division 1A football? p22

A. Amendments to the Athletic scholarship

1. Make it possible for student Athletes to receive financial aid for several

years

2. Stipends to cover full cost of attendance

B. Amendments to the NCAA

1. Provide better health compensation packages for student athletes injuries

2. Allow student athletes to receive endorsements while in college to a

moderate amount.

3. Reform accounting practice for accurate revenues and expenses for

athletic programs.

4. Allow Student athletes to be eligible for the professional leagues after a

single season.

C. Creation of Minor leagues for Football

1. Minor leagues would help facilitate the players who want to focus on

football and not have to juggle school and regulations

Ch3. The Consequences intended and unintended incentives p29

A. Multiple year scholarships

1. Student -athletes would have a higher ability to graduate

2. Higher academic standard for multiple year scholarships

3. Stipends would cover the cost to attend college and diminish black market

4. Small Division1A School’s would struggle to offer stipends

B. Amendments to Amateur Status

1. health care compensation to cover football injuries

2. distribution of wealth to other programs would be cut with added expense

3. .Olympic model amateurism would diminish black markets

4. NCAA would be useless because of amateurism and would imply

professional ism in college sports

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C. Minor League

1. Student-athletes won’t have a black market at risk to jeopardizing

university programs since they can be paid in a minor league.

2. Quality of talent would be restricted in college football and the NCAA

would be obsolete

D. Mobility into the Professional league

1. By removing barriers from prospective players into the professional

leagues allows them to maximize their profits without having to enter the

amateur status of college football

2. The NCAA will not have to police schools for violations since players have

the ability to become pro without having to stay in college. Therefore

schools can police their own programs.

Conclusion: College Football needs to adjust for changing time p37

Should NCAA adjust Division 1A college football compensation for Student –Athletes?

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Introduction:

Football is one of the most popular sports in America. The high level of

competitiveness has blurred college and professional football. In college the game is a

pastime in which education is the priority. Football in both cases is highly competitive

where winning is the ultimate goal. The Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) or Division 1A

continues to grow every year along with the demand for winning. Student-athletes in

Division 1A have a tougher schedule than the average student in order to have success

on the field and in the classroom. The work load is more difficult than a professional

athlete since they have to tie in academic work not their regime.

Football has benefited college in a tremendous way. Success on the football

field has a direct impact on the number of enrollments. In the early stages of college

football, schools used their athletic football programs to attract student enrollment.

The University of Chicago used a winning football program to attract students (Sack,

Staurowsky, p20, 1998). Universities do a great job of advertising their schools through

the exposure of athletic programs especially college football.

The National College Athletic Association (NCAA) oversees the integrity of

universities and student-athletes. Athletic Scholarships provide aid to recruit students

and help fund a college education. The NCAA purpose is to “maintain intercollegiate

athletics as an integral part of the educational program. The NCAA is part of the

student body and, retains a clear line of demarcation between intercollegiate athletics

and professional sports” (NCAA bylaws 1.3.1). However, critics argue that NCAA gains

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from players’ talents and its control on student-athletes is compared to a “Cartel” (Kahn,

p211, 2007).

The thesis will look into Division 1A football and identify disparities that should be

addressed for student-athletes. By identifying disparities we can examine some

proposal methods to adjust. Yet, Intended or unintended consequence can arise from

methods used to adjust disparity for student athletes. First, should Division 1A college

football adjust athletic scholarships in college football? Studies show athletic

scholarship for high-ranking football schools fall about $2000 below the nation’s poverty

line (Huma, Stauwarksy, p4, 2011). For the most part athletic scholarships are given to

families of low income. Student-Athletes in college football for Division 1A are unique

because they bring top revenue for colleges. The scholarships granted for athletics fall

short of their value.

Second, The NCAA and the NFL minimize the mobility for student athletes to

explore their athletic options. The players have to be out of high school for at least 3

years before being able to play at the professional football level. In other sports like

baseball all athletes can opt into the professional league after attending college for a

single year. The NCAA also establishes an Amateur code. This code limits athletes from

any personal gains during their college careers. In sports like Baseball and Hockey

players have the option of going into minor leagues after high school without limits.

Should football players have similar options that basketball or baseball players

do coming out of high school? Universities place a great deal of importance on

acquiring the right football coach. Coaches in high-ranking Football schools like

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Alabama, Louisiana State and Ohio State have a great compensation package. This is

interesting because it reflects on the importance of a colleges’ football program. Is it fair

that college coaches have such a high value and can move freely compared to a

student athlete even though the student body makes most of the production?

Fourth, Student-athletes are expected to perform academically. Yet their

schedules consist of practices, traveling, and games that consume a large part of their

time. Baseball and hockey players in minor leagues don’t have to worry about attending

classes because their focus is on harnessing their craft. . Should the NCCA make it

possible for student athletes to balance out their studies and athletic responsibilities

without having to overwhelm a student with their education and football program?

Fifth, illicit payments and gifts have surge over the past recent years creating

what most people refer to as black markets. Scandals have been publicly exposed

where students take payments for performance or a result of performance on the field.

It’s interesting that players take money or gifts even though they have an athletic

scholarship that covers for their tuition. Why are amateur athletes taking payments that

are illegal in College football especially in high-ranking football programs?

College football in Division 1A can be adjusted to help benefit the culture and

state of what college football is now. Since student athletes are going to be in college

for at least 3 years they should have the chance to graduate and receive an education.

A multiple year athletic scholarships could allow student athletes to finish college. Also a

college football student athlete shouldn’t have to worry about money. They should worry

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about school work and playing football. The NCAA recently passed a bylaw to give

schools the options of stipends in addition to their full athletic scholarship.

Certain conferences have petitioned against it (Infinite, p1, 2012). By having an

allowance student athletes wouldn’t have to take in illicit payments. Having multiple

years athletic scholarships would also secure a student to graduation if an injury

jeopardized his athletic status. The landscape in Division 1A football has several

dilemmas that need to be addressed. An athlete should have the choice of becoming a

professional athlete if he has the talent or choosing to go to college at his own

discretion. The NCAA and the NFL have orchestrated a minor league farm through the

colleges in order for an athlete to become a professional. No other sport has such

loopholes to become a professional. Especially since such a small percentage of

players can become a professional strictly out of high school in any sport

Ch1. The Financial Perspective

College football players need to have a better compensation than the current

model offers. The NCAA and large school universities have made revenue through

Television contracts, corporate advertising in stadiums, apparel sponsored equipment,

booster clubs, and video game revenue royalties. There is a large source of revenue

that penetrates through college football in Division 1A. For example, The PAC 12

Conference has a TV contract that would bring $150 million dollars in revenue just to

that conference alone (Huma, Staurowsky, p5, 2011). College football brings Division

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1A large revenue that can pay for lucrative coaching contracts and lavish stadiums. Yet

the players themselves who have a rigorous practice and class regimen have nothing

but an undervalued athletic scholarship as compensation that doesn’t reflect the actual

cost to attend.

The average tuition for a college education is $12,000 and 31,000 depending on

private or public schools (Sack, p177, 2008). Currently college football programs can

have a roster of 85 players on the team. An average scholarship of $21,500 between

public and private school total money would be $1.8 million dollars, Television deals

excessed 1 billion dollars in revenue for the 2009-2010 football season (Huma &

Staurkowsky, p1, 2011), and the fact of the matter is that student-athletes bring in large

revenues to schools. The compensation to match those revenues is clearly undervalued

and creates a favorable workforce for college schools and the NCAA.

There is a $4.2million dollar difference on average between the value placed on

student athlete scholarships and profits in Division 1A college football. This financial gap

shows the lack of compensation student-athletes has even with scholarships in placed

to cover room and board. The marginal college player salary would be $121,048 using

the data provided by the NCPA research (Huma, Staurowsky, p4, 2011).

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NCAA AND Conferences’ TV Revenue 2009

Entity Total Revenue Per Year New Revenue Per Year

Date of Negotiation Contract Length

Networks

ACC $155,000,000.00 $88,000,000.00 2011 12 years ESPN

Big East $0.00 $0.00 TBA TBA TBA

Big Ten $252,000,000.00 $146,000,000.00 2007 10-25 YEARS ESPN,BTN

Big 12 $150,000,000.00 $97,000,000.00 2008/2012 8-13 years ESPN,FOX

Pac-12 $250,000,000.00 $190,000,000.00 2012 12 years ESPN,FOX

SEC $205,000,000.00 $145,000,000.00 2009 15 years ESPN,CBS

NCAA $770,000,000.00 $136,000,000.00 2011 14 years CBS,TURNER

Total $1,800,000,000.00 $784,000,000.00

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NCAA’s Amateur Code

In 1905, the NCAA was created as an attempt to police the amateur athletic

programs across the nation and to reduce the injuries at that time (Sack, Staurowsky,

p11, 1998). Since then, violence still plagues the college football but fatalities are less

prevalent. Improvements on helmets and other equipment along with better tackling

techniques have reduced violence but the athletic monitoring is still prevalent. As the

game of football grew, the NCAA power has become discriminating. The establishment

of the NCAA was built on the premise to maintain the amateur integrity in college

football. According to the NCAA, playing college football was meant for recreational

purpose and to stay fit. The NCAA primarily compensates Student-athletes through an

athletic scholarship that covers their basic tuition for college. In theory the trade off to

play football at a university for an athletic scholarship is fair.

The way in which the NCAA governs the athletic lives of student is unequal and

only benefits the schools and not the individual athletes. The only way to have a chance

at a lucrative deal in the professional league is to follow the rules and regulations placed

by the NCAA. Talented young athletes don’t have the freedom of leaving college to

enter the pros unless they have been out of high school for at least 3 years. The NCAA

clearly uses its power to “lease” players’ abilities and force them into its college athletic

system if they wish to pursue a professional career. This makes it impossible for

talented individuals who want to enter the professional league. By forcing talented

individuals to enter college sports, it reduces stipends athletes can earn. The NCAA

should allow the student- athletes that didn’t actually want to attend college a chance to

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try out for the professional leagues. This opportunity will allow athletes the preference to

attend school or try to enter the professional workforce without the NCAA choosing for

them.

Once a student enters college to play football, the NCAA controls students’ lives

and unequal compensation becomes prevalent. The NCAA’S amateur status prevents

the player from maximizing his potential revenue in college. The NCAA uses the

players’ talents to fill its stadiums and bring high television exposure. Hence, the NCAA

is able to reap the benefits from football for three years while student athletes conform

to the standards and laws placed on them in college. The NCAA still tries to preserve

its long-standing views on amateur football. The NCAA yields the production of young

adults through its amateur status by preventing athletes from being compensated.

As the game evolved the NCAA’s tremendous power and authority became

overwhelming for its members. Today the NCAA uses the amateur status to bring in

revenue and prestige to schools that is unequally compensated to the student athletes.

It’s Important to understand that the NCAA is operated as a professional entity that tries

to justify an amateur sport like football. The game of football is a big attraction and

NCAA makes a profit on this through several sources. Yet by trying to preserve students

from getting compensated to play, black markets are created for the student athletes

playing the game.

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Coaches’ compensations

The economic disparity in college football can be shown clearly by high profile

coaches in an amateur sport like college football. Is it right for a professional coach to

teach amateur football players? It’s clear that when a school hires a coach from the NFL

to run the football program in college the emphasis is clearly on sports. Coaches bring

in a professional agenda in order to develop the best chance of competing at a high

level much similar to the pros.

The average salary for head coaches in the NFL is about 2 million dollars a year

(NFLsalaries.org). One can easily mistake a college coach for a professional NFL coach

if you were to quickly look at their paycheck. Essentially what this shows is that a

university is willing to treat the coaching position like that of a professional while he still

doesn’t compensate the players for their true value in the production. Coaches are

heavily rewarded with several incentives to win. Yet students have to practice, stay

academically eligible, and not take illegal payments while the coaches enjoy the

benefits.

Several high profile coaches benefit from running a college football program.

Nick Saban left his position as the head football coach of the Miami Dolphins. Saban

currently runs the football program at the University of Alabama. Alabama University

pays him $4million a year for 8 years. He also receives bonuses for bowl game victories

(Thornton, p7, 2011). Football coaches make a remarkable amount of revenue in

college football sometimes more than what they can make in the Pros.

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Division 1A coaches can have higher salaries than tenured professors. Coaches

in college football receive a base salary plus incentives from apparel endorsements. It’s

not surprising that a university president can earn less than a football coach of the same

campus. Football coaches in D1 football make figures similar to the NFL, nearly a

million dollars in salary. The figure makes a coaches salary 9 times greater than a full

time average professor (Thornton, p8, 2011). The value is clearly placed on coaches

instead of our professors especially when the coaches make figures that are ridiculously

comparable to the Pros.

Today the coaches in a division 1A football programs have extra revenue extras.

Memberships at country clubs, free expense accounts, use of vehicle, and radio and TV

exposure payments are all just some of the underlying perks that come with the job

(Zimbalist, p81, 1999). In high ranking athletic programs coaches and schools are

targeted by sponsors advertise logos worn by on student-athletes uniforms (Zimbalist,

p137, 1999). Of course coaches have a suitable compensation deal for this and student

at- athletes have nothing to gain from wearing logos.

Thus a player walks a rigid path to balance out team practice and class work.

The payoff for most student athletes is that they can survive three years of college

thanks to the help of their coach and perform in games and practice that can catapult

them into the pros. So in essence a professor might have a potential big time salary

player in class all without finishing college. Consequently, college football is a stepping-

stone for players of high caliber who have little intention of pursuing a degree and

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graduating on time. What the school does is solicit the classrooms for the student

athlete.

$0 $2 $3 $5 $6

Jim Grobe

Gary Pinkel

Bob Stoops

Mack Brown

Jim Tressel

Kirk Ferentz

Les Miles

Nick Saban

Bobby Petrino

Urban Meyer

Mark Richt

Millions

Top Division 1A Caoching Salaries

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$0.00 $2.00 $4.00 $6.00 $8.00

Mike McCarthy

Mike Shanahan

Lovie Smith

Ken Whisenhunt

Mike Tomlin

Andy Reid

Bill Belichick

Tom Coughlin

Jack Del Rio

Pete Carroll

Millions

Top NFL Coaching Salaries

The Student -Athlete Dilemma

In college, student-athletes have to juggle several different aspects of their

college career. Several tasks like practice, games, travel, conditioning and academic

work are all some of the few obstacles a student athlete endures. This task becomes

difficult when you have to keep a high level GPA if a scholarship finances a college

career. Students also have the burden of dealing with homework and hard practice

sessions in order to be ready for game day. There’s no question that the stakes in

Division 1A college football are much higher. A school’s reputation is basically

represented on the field and televised throughout the nation. An average student-

Athlete bears a heavier workload than the traditional student. The responsibility to

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manage time to practice, games, and conform to a grade average can be strenuous.

Football coach is able to grant athletic scholarship based on athletic ability and is the

key player in allowing athletes to renew their scholarship. Simultaneously they have to

stay eligible by performing in the classroom as well

Student athletes are expected to perform above par to keep their place in the

classroom and in the field. Athletic scholarship demands a high quality of athletic

ability. Most players have a hard time juggling the demands of coaches’ expectations on

the field and what professors want in the classrooms. Ultimately it translates into

countless hours of studying and practicing which can deprive an athlete mentally and

physically. Yet they have to follow and obey the coaches’ demands and classroom

requests for student athletes. Failure to comply can lead to a student losing his

scholarship.

The athlete can also be ineligible by not studying enough for the classrooms. A

study done by Dr. Southall of the University of North Carolina found that Football

players in Division 1A don’t graduate at the same rates as the regular full time students

(Southall, p1, 2011).One of the more unreasonable disparities that exist in College sport

is that a player can lose his athletic scholarship and fail to finish his studies by an injury.

“It is not permissible for an institution to continue a grant-in-aid past the one-year period

if the recipient sustains an injury that prevents him or her from competing in

intercollegiate athletics”(NCAA Bylaws 15.3.3.1.3).

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There is no doubt that college football has numerous injuries. Students- athletes

suffer serious injuries that the NCAA and the Universities fail to be responsible. Kent

Waltrep and Fred Rensing are two student-athletes who suffered devastating injuries

leaving them paralyzed (Sack, p147, 2008). Here’s a situation where NCAA doesn’t

want to be held fully responsible a leaves much of the heavy burden on the student-

athletes and their families. Since both players were on athletic scholarships they can

receive compensation for their work on the field. Both players had to earn their athletic

scholarships by keeping academic standards and athletic ability. In court, both players

had the support by the judges. Court initially acknowledged that the NCAA is

responsible to provide benefits for such injuries. As the NCAA appealed student-

athletes were stripped of benefits for their benefits. The NCAA claims that student-

athletes’ scholarships are “educational gifts rather than payment for athletic services”

(Sack, p147, 2008). Student-athletes are given all the best equipment, training facilities,

and training camps, to perform at their best. Yet, when a devastating injury comes as a

result like that of Waltrep & Rensing, students aren’t given the best help.

Division 1A needs to be aware of how much the game has evolved since it first

was inducted in 1905. In this high division of football the role of a student –athlete has

been amplified to the point where students become a celebrity on campus. The

exposure that comes from highly televised college football games puts a student’s

college education at risk. Students recognize the significance of winning but to win

student-athletes have to put in the time and hard work to perfect their craft and keep an

athletic scholarship.

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The Professional Recruitment.

Today if you’re a highly recruited high school football athlete, the likes of a Tim

Tebow or Reggie Busch, the only way to make it through the pros is by attending

college. Recruiters often will try to lure athletes with the promise of athletic

scholarships. Yet they fail to disclose specific information on injury coverage and

scholarship renewals before athletes sign away their rights to a school which will exploit

the unlike basketball where players used to be able to go straight from high school to

the pros. LeBron James was the last athlete to do so. Recruitment is based upon the

athlete’s talent and disclosure on there future schooling like medical information and

grade point average, study regimen, practice, regimen might not clearly be stated, in

essence coaches and recruiters are pitching a sale for the athlete to attend

In football, the NFL wants players to have at least 3 years of college under their

belt in order to be eligible to enter the NFL draft (sack, p174, 2008). Players who know

they are NFL bound will look at college as a minor league pit stop. Since their junior

year they have the option of going straight to the pros. Once again the colleges and big

time universities cash in on the star players landing on their fields for those 3 years

instead of going straight to the pros and landing big time contracts and endorsement

deals that would go straight to the player itself and not the schools. One can see that

the chance of snatching the right athlete for a universities football program is a serious

business.

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These college coaching staffs have tremendous amounts of resources with the

communication tolls and technology available today. Allen Sack makes a great point by

stating that coaches can look up high school kids who have potential to become a big

time attraction all by a click of a mouse. The process of scouting a college to play an

amateur sport in which the school profits on the players talents on the field is a big

business. The inequality with college recruiting is that the coaching staff of top ranking

football universities can pay scouters to provide the best athletes for their schools. Yet

the players themselves are only being exploited through their talents and never

rewarded with the fact that they spend more than half their time on football and trying to

accommodate the requirements to stay eligible as a student-athlete.

Black Market

The rise of illicit and gifts payments in college football has exposed the black

market in division 1A is a direct result of players not being compensated correctly for

their value. According to the NCPA, average football players in Division 1A are worth

$120,000 a year (Huma, Staurowsky, p4, 2011). Athletic scholarships only cover tuition

which is about $21,000 a year on average. So Illicit payments and gifts provided for

student-athletes adjust to close the gap on what players are worth.

Black markets wouldn’t have a place in college football if athletes were rightfully

compensated. Players who are valued to be worth over $ 100,000 have to practice,

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play, and study hard to earn a scholarship that is below what the student-athlete

provides to the university or college.

Reggie Bush, a star football player at the University of Southern California had a

successful college career. Bush had to overcome living in a low income and a single

parent home. After his college career, he was found to have taken illicit payments and

gifts while he was playing football in college. Why do College football players like Bush,

take payment/gifts even though they are offered an athletic scholarship to pay for their

entire tuition? Well as we know now college players in Division1A football have the

ability to attract large markets and cause a tremendous inflow of revenues. Reggie Bush

gets offered payments because there is a value in his talents. Math students don’t get

offered money to solve a math question because they don’t do it in front of a stadium

with corporate sponsors or on television. Americans love to watch Division 1A football

and winning is solving the problem so when players get offered money it’s because of

what value student athletes have.

This is no different than when the prohibition outlawed alcohol yet the demand

was there and mobster provided the alcohol. In this situation alcohol is comes in form of

cash payments or gifts like cars or jewelry. The mobsters take the role as boosters,

fellow alumni or assistant coaches. Prohibition failed and not being able to compensate

football players is failing. The need for reform is needed to stop black markets from

taking control of the needed adjustments

The actual students who produce the main attraction are under compensated

even with a full athletic scholarship. The NCAA and the Universities takes revenue in

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from commercial sponsors and advertisement. While Student-athletes scholarships

match closely to federal poverty levels (Huma, Staurowsky, p4, 2011). Factors like

television revenue, large stadiums, practice facilities, and high profiled coaches has

made college football a billion dollar industry that compensated the NCAA, College

Football, coaches, and athletic directors. NCAA can adjust to the rules in place to make

it fair for student-athletes’ talents not be undervalued and exploited.

Ch.2 Changes to Reduce Disparity

College football in Division 1A can be adjusted to help benefit the culture and

state of what college football is now. The landscape in Division 1A football has several

dilemmas that can be addressed in several different ways. Student-athletes are the

main source of production and it’s evident that their compensation needs to go farther

than a renewable one year athletic scholarship. Multi-year scholarships are a quick way

to help benefit the student-athlete and insure a college education. Stipends to grant the

actual cost of college needs to be looked at since mist college scholarships fall under

federal poverty line (Huma, Staurowsky, p4, 2011). Restrictions on student- athletes

should be lifted. The NFL should make it possible for students to enter the professional

market before their junior year in college. Student-athlete should be able to market their

talents and profit from them accordingly. The recruitment practices must be adjusted to

provide future students with all disclosed information about individual schools and their

academic policies before choosing their future college.

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The NCAA and the NFL have orchestrated a artificial minor league farm through

the colleges in order for an athlete to become a potential NFL candidate. The NFL

restricts the opportunity of athletes to apply for the NFL after and athlete has been out

of high school for 3 years (Sack, p174, 2008). No other sport has such loopholes to

become a professional. Especially since such a small percentage of players can

become a professional strictly out of high school in any sport. The recruiting practices

need to be changed as well. Our universities should make it clear to future prospects of

what an athletic scholarship consist of by having a full disclosure provided. Minor

leagues farm systems separate from schools in football should be assembled. The

theory he is that by instituting a paid minor league system for football, Universities can

truly attract true students who see a priority in education. There is no place for

commercialism in an amateur setting like a university.

Amendments to the Athletic scholarship

It’s important that we restructure the way we compensate our student athletes in

division 1A football. The NCAA has benefited from the revenue streams it brings in.

Television deals, Corporate Advertising, Sponsorship, Memorabilia, and video game

royalties are just a few means. Student-athletes can get a share of that revenue. Let’s

make it possible for Student–athletes to be financially stable in D1 Football. Athletes

should have an athletic scholarship for several years that will allow students-athletes to

graduate without having to worry about getting injured and losing their chance to get an

education. Multiple year scholarship can levy out the amount of physical demanding

hours needed in the field and in the classrooms. This also eliminates the discretion of a

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coach who renews the grants of student-athletes’ scholarship. Academics should decide

whether an athletic scholarship is granted not a coaches discretion (p.6 2002, Getz).

Stipends

Several schools in Division 1A fail to cover the incidental cost with a full athletic

scholarship. The research done by the National Collegic Players Association (NCPA)

was able to come up with the revenue produced by college football programs in top

ranking schools. The NCPA used the NFL and the players association’s bargaining

agreement to divide the revenue and value of each team in college football. As a result

the NCPA was able to show that an athletic scholarship was valued less than federal

poverty line in high ranking schools. The incidental cost of traveling home or doing

laundry can be reimbursed by the NCAA or the individual schools themselves. Currently

most kids fall under the Federal poverty lines that receive financial aid through an

athletic scholarship. Athletic scholarship can be adjusted to cover incident costs.

(Huma, Stauwarksy, p16, 2011)

Scholarship Shortfall

Nationally Ranked

Division 1A Schools

Team Market Value NFL/NFLPA Mock)

Ind. Federal poverty

Ind. scholarship shortfall

Team Scholarship Shortfall

1 Texas $513,922.00 -$778.00 -$3,624.00 -$308,040.00

2 Alabama $393,251.00 -$684.00 -$2,475.00 -$210,375.00

3 Georgia $387,528.00 -$2,430.00 -$1,510.00 -$128,350.00

4 Penn State $384,082.00 -$1,836.00 -$3,924.00 -$333,540.00

5 LSU $376,485.00 -$2,680.00 -$2,870.00 -$243,950.00

6 Florida $375,916.00 -$2,250.00 -$3,190.00 -$271,150.00

7 Auburn $361,949.00 -$1,260.00 -$2,510.00 -$213,350.00

8 Notre Dame $351,010.00 -$20.00 -$1,500.00 -$127,500.00

9 Ohio State $348,750.00 -$726.00 -$4,716.00 -$400,860.00

10 Michigan $345,683.00 -$1,698.00 -$2,090.00 -$177,650.00

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Amendments to the NCAA

The age long myth of being an amateur in college football only benefits the

NCAA and the universities. Student-athletes should have the right to profit on their own

self-image. These young men also deserve to have health compensation readily

available in every school even for serious injuries like death or becoming paralyzed.

Kent Waldrep is the primary example of such tragedy. Waldrep was a star player for

TCU when he suffered a life altering injury during a college football game. As a result he

became paralyzed. The NCAA failed to compensate Waldrep on the grounds that he is

an amateur player and he couldn’t receive any benefits because it would go against the

amateur code (Sack, p149, 2008). The players in college should be able to profit on

their own commercial opportunity. The Olympic committee did so in the 1970’s and it

didn’t harm the Olympics or its overall view. As a matter a fact it only grew with the

exposure. Students can cash in on the benefits of college sports and its commercial

advertising If graduation is met. It would only be fair to both parties. If a player wishes to

sell himself he should also responsible for being a good role model and graduating as

part of the clause for accepting sponsorships. After all the purpose of school is to learn

an hopefully have the opportunity to graduate in a certain field of study.

26

NFL eligibility

Student-athletes need to a better health coverage plan. The NCAA has no

obligation to help student-athletes with devastating injuries from college football.

Several players in the past have become paralyzed or even losing a life. In both cases

the NCAA is partially liable and covering death expenses up to 25,000 and medical bills

for injuries only for a certain time. It’s time that athletes have full coverage for serious

injuries. There shouldn’t be anything to stop a player from being aided for their injuries

caused in a school program. The NCAA and schools make excessive revenue through

television and apparel contracts. It’s time that student-athletes have the full benefit of all

their injuries covered.

Accounting adjustments

An accurate way of showing expenses and revenue has to be set up for

accounting practices in universities (Zimbalist, p149, 1999). We have to have a uniform

way for accounting measures in schools. Universities are free willed to come up with a

net income. For instance a coaches’ salary can be place as an athletic or academic

expense. The right for a player to enter the NFL out of high school should be accepted.

This clause is basically unused since the level of maturity and athleticism is far too great

for a player of such young age to accomplish. By allowing a player to test the market

would at least give him the option of going professional and not waste time in college.

Professional football shouldn’t restrict who can enter the league just because of age.

Young adults can enter the Army out of high school and be at a higher risk than being

eligible to enter the Professional football league. The combines are the true test to

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prove a players conditioning mentally and physically amongst peers to qualify as a

professional athlete worthy of the NFL. Why should the NCAA restrict the limits of

student-athletes in “free” country? This three-year window needs to be closed; players

who think they have the skills should be able to prove themselves and not have to

waste their time in college if they don’t wish to.

The proposal of closing the gap on what college players are worth and receive in

their athletic scholarship is clearly in need of change. With the great television revenue

that floods the NCAA we can help student receive extra money for normal everyday

needs like laundry and food. Basically an expense account would allow the players to

use for any needs. They are some alternatives for change varies from adjustments to

eradications. The athletic scholarship has to be adjusted to accommodate accordingly

for athletes. Closing the gap on what athletes are missing out, as a part of an athletic

scholarship is necessary. Adjustment to the injury clause should make it possible for

players on scholarships to finish their education.

Recruiting

The need to disclose all medical information and athletic scholarships renewals

needs to be fully disclosed and be understood by future college athletes. Recruited

athletes sometimes aren’t fully disclosed of what they are entitled when choosing a

prospective college. Usually recruiters try to sell them a name or publicity but lack to

inform the young adults on policies concerning health and scholarship renewals.

28

Minor Leagues instead of NCAA

A great way to resolve the ambiguity of college and professional football in

America is by creating a minor league system. In sports like hockey and baseball young

athletes can chose to go this route after high school if college isn’t an option they want

to pursue (p.5, 2002, Getz). The NFL has to start taking in their own minor league farms

and stop using the academic system as a way to breed their future players. College

football shouldn’t hide behind schools. The money that college football brings with

commercialism only benefits the NCAA and uses the athlete’s talents to fund large

untaxed revenues (p6, 2002, Getz). The NFL needs to improve by taking the burden off

college football and be held accountable by creating a minor league system. Football

should have the right to have farm systems created for those who have a clear path on

what they wish to d .Universities shouldn’t be held accountable for breeding football

players at the expense of other potential students. There is no place for

commercialism in college football when the priority is on academics

Ch3. The Consequences intended and unintended incentives

It’s evident that Division 1A football needs to reform regulations to adjust the

compensation for Student-athletes. These reforms can have several intended and

unintended consequences. The concern to reduce corruption and have college sports

operate with academic value can be a hard task. Schools in Division 1A football

programs who offer compensation to student-athletes beyond the athletic scholarship

have to expect several outcomes.

29

Multi-Year Scholarships

Closing the gap in disparity for student-athletes in Division 1A with multiple year

athletic scholarships can benefit them. Multiple-year scholarships can improve the

graduation rate of student-athletes in Division 1A. By allowing students-athletes to

increase graduation rates schools and the NCAA send a clear message that graduation

is important and that academics do come first. Our current model of one year renewable

scholarships doesn’t emphasize academics. Instead student-athletes have to perform to

renew their athletic scholarships to validate their education. By having a multiple year

scholarship schools can also reap the fruitful benefits of having a talented player in

school their entire college career. This improves the image and successfulness of a

school. This new multi-year scholarship can reduce the power of a head football coach.

Several times a new coach takes over and the existing football class and might not

renew an athletic scholarship to an existing student in order to make way for new

recruits. With a multiple year scholarship, student- athletes are able to stay in school

without the coaches’ discretion.

Multi-year scholarships can have some unintended results. With a guaranteed

multi-year scholarship schools would have to give higher academic standards to those

students in order to ensure that their academics are being honored. Students might

have to have a higher grade point average. This would cause the students to cut back

on the time spent on football and more on academics. Large schools in Division 1A

football wouldn’t have a hard time offering students multi-year scholarships. Yet, the

smaller Division 1A football programs would struggle trying to keep up with the larger

30

schools since they don’t have such a large revenue pool for multi-year scholarships.

This would give larger schools an advantage to recruit. Ultimately a new division within

1A might emerge to distinguish the upper class within Division 1A football. A multi-year

scholarship has several positive intensions, but some schools may not benefit from

such proposals

Stipends

The incidental cost of traveling home or doing laundry can be reimbursed by the

NCAA or the individual schools themselves. The intended result for stipends makes

sense. Student-athletes are reimbursed expenses not covered by an athletic

scholarship. By offering a stipend that provides a source for incidental expense,

students-athletes can lower their risk of hazards being corrupted by like illicit gifts and

cash payments. Division 1A would benefit from stipends because it would reduce risks

that can jeopardize their football programs and avoid strong sanctions. This change

would create a better image for Division 1A football.

Conversely, stipends could also have a dreadful effect on college football.

Prosperous universities like Ohio State and Alabama won’t have a hard time providing a

stipend since they generate a revenue surplus. Yet, schools who don’t possess great

financial means might find this added expense to be a burden. . Larger FBS

(Division1A) schools would also have a comparative advantage on future recruits.

Yes, stipends can help close the gap between student athletes’ real value and

what they have been granted. However schools that don’t have a successful football

31

team are at a disadvantage in relation to large profitable football programs. Recruiting

would also be unbalanced since wealthier programs are able to provide stipends while

much smaller revenue-producing schools would struggle to meet such requirements.

Since the access to a stipend might be hard for some unprofitable division 1A schools, a

greater division might derive to separate the division 1A Schools who can afford the

stipend for student-athletes.

The NCAA recently passed a bylaw to give schools the options of stipends in

addition to their full athletic scholarship. Certain conferences have petition against this

(Infinite, p1, 2012). This stipend like the Multi-year scholarships does give a positive

incentive for the student-athlete to remain in school and graduate. The stipend also

closes the gap between an athletic scholarship and the real cost to attend college. Yet,

this new stipend possesses and added expense for Division 1A college football.

Generally the smaller programs would have a hard time offering such incentive for

athletes. Again, only the larger schools could handle this added expense. Smaller

division 1A school’s would not offer such package or would have to cut back in other

programs to accommodate this added expense.

32

Health Plan consequences

The full health compensation program in place for any type of injury is going to

have strong consequences. Clearly student-athletes can feel much better about playing

College football when schools have securely established a compensation program that

will cover any range of injury during college. Consequently schools will create a better

image for their athletic programs if they can cover the cost of life-changing injuries like

those of Kent Waldrep. Families of those student-athletes who suffer serious injuries

would feel better knowing they don’t have to absorb the full burden of such a tragic

event.

This extensive health coverage would come at a serious cost which is

unintended consequence. Providing full health-care compensation would entail schools

having allocated an expense devoted to such injuries. An insurance company needs to

be established to cover such injury. This added service would mean having an advocate

to represent the players. A players’ union would be created for the benefits of the

student-athletes. Substituting employers involved which in this case might come in a

shape of a school or university.

Olympic Amateur model

Student-athletes can benefit from the Olympic amateur model. This model allows

athletes access to commercial free markets. Currently student-athletes are being bribed

by illicit payments and gifts for their performance and market value illegally. By

legalizing the marketability of a college athlete, black markets would be abolished.

33

Players can now make honest wage without having to bear the burden of ruining the

school image or imposing harm to football programs through sanctions. In order for

players to cash in on profits made through college it would only be fair to graduate from

that institution. Students still have to honor the fact that universities are a place of

education. It would only make sense for players to graduate to profit from any benefits

made during college. As a way to show good examples for future players who also wish

to retain and education and profit form their talents in a free market.

The unintended result of legalizing the commercial opportunities for players in

division 1A can be drastic. Schools would have to find a way to pay students out upon

graduation. And a set GPA would have to be met. Guidelines would have to be met for

conduct in order to receive full payment. The scholarship granting for student-athletes

would drastically be altered for students. Who are able to make money and are no

longer in need of financial aid. The NCAA would probably take on a new role or be

abolished all together since players can now market themselves legally. Finally would

players who belong to schools who have more exposure to television have an

advantage of landing large commercial deals? Smaller schools with less exposure

would be at a disadvantage to lure in high profile players since larger school already

have a marketability. Should players who were exposed in video games and had

memorabilia sold under their college be reimbursed even though they haven’t been a

part of college sports when a new law has been in place?

34

Minor League

Black markets wouldn’t have a place in college football if athletes were rightfully

compensated. Players who are valued to be worth over $ 100,000 have to practice,

play, and study hard to earn a scholarship that is below what the student-athlete

provides to the university or college.

Having a minor league farm system would result in developing the young players

in football just as they do in baseball or Hockey. A system can help reduce the

exploitation that some student-athletes and critics believe college sport posse. B y

having a farm system Players can devote their entire energy towards Football. Baseball,

Hockey and Golf are all able to operate these minor league systems without disrupting

classrooms since multiple year scholarships would be readily available. Since smaller

schools might be at a disadvantage, a cap on the number of multiple year scholarships

might have to be set. Multiple year scholarship could definitely have a positive impact

on the academic value that a university has to offer buy providing the means to

graduate. Yet, it can pose some difficult obstacle since players might cause injuries that

can jeopardize their athletic scholarship and hire standards of academic performance

might also be a requirement

Yet, Colleges would have a devastating loss to the control since they wouldn’t

benefit from players talents since they would have a place in the minor leagues instead

of the college stadium. This would hurt Ticket sales and other revenue producing

entities that watch college football since it has such a large pool of attraction.

35

Mobility into the professional league allows players to avoid college and enter the

NFL draft without going to college. If players were free to move try out into the NFL it

would make it possible for athletes who have the talent to be rightfully chosen. Players

who don’t go to the pros would obviously not enter the league. This mobility would make

it possible for talented player s to be actually compensated for their talents without

having to be in college for 3 years. This would also lower their risk not being

compensated for injuries that occur during college football. Since players have benefits

in the professional league.

By having player’s mobility into the NFL it would cause an unintentional result of

several players trying to enter the NFL draft. This would remove a large portion of the

quality of players from entering college and basically playing for free under the NCAA

rules, this would have a devastating effect on the publicity of college sports since the

level of productivity on the field would be reduced since the majority of talented players

would enter the draft. It would also open the question to see if players are allowed to

enter college after they tried out for the professional league and rejected. Would that be

allowed?

36

Conclusion: College Football needs to adjust for changing time

The state of college football is in dire need to adjust the compensation of student

athletes. As we have see3n the athletic scholarship is deeply undervalued of what a

player can produce for its school. There is a large outcry by several past and present

student-athletes, coaches and athletic directors who admit that the system in place is

flawed for the time s we live. It’s especially true given that the large amount of revenue

the schools and the NCAA are able to produce through several sources. It’s only fair for

players who are assembling the actual productivity to have some adjustment with their

current compensations. Surely the matter for change holds several risks. Yet most of

the adjustment is sought in good intentions to have positive results. Thomas Jefferson

advocated that every twenty years laws should be challenged and replaced to adjust to

changing times. It’s evident that our current state of college football need some change

to help benefit education and the well-being of sports.

37

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