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Here's a podcast about how big time college sports. They generate $billions, but none of the money goes to the laborers, namely the athletes. The players are not forced at gunpoint, so we can't say flatly that it is slavery, which is why I include the weasel-word 'tantamount.'
The NFL and NBA have eligibility requirements that effectively prohibit players from going straight from high school to pros. I compare it to the old Hollywood casting-couch system. A young aspiring actresses were not forced to have sex with the director, but if they wished to work professionally as an actress, it was a requirement.
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N.C.A.A. College sports — especially basketball and football — have also grown massively over the past few decades; they generate about $13 billion a year — nearly as much as the N.F.L But the labor is essentially free. Aside from room and board and some academic scholarships, college athletes receive no compensation.
They do get scholarships, but the piece notes a study regarding graduation rates. The rate for the general student population was 72%. Among football players, the rate was 56%, and for basketball, 42%. Also ex-NFL player (and Harvard MBA) Domonique Foxworth, points out that athletic scholarships come with strings. He wanted to major in computer science. His advisor nixed that, because it would have interfered with football.
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Originally Posted by Foxworth
your scholarship is year-to-year, and you don’t have any power to negotiate with your coach and say things like, “I want to take this so I’m not going to able to go there.” That’s just not a thing that is available. So the education that they’re receiving is not the education that people think it is.
Where does the revenue go? It goes everywhere except to the players:
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Just how much is going to the coaches? The Duke economist Charles Clotfelter looked at compensation data for various personnel from 44 public universities that have big football programs. Over the past 30 years, he found that full professors got a salary increase of 43 percent... College presidents got an 89 percent increase...football coaches’ compensation increased more than 1,100 percent...Their athletes, meanwhile, are still playing for free.
Is this a modern, legal version of slavery? It's labor without compensation, so I say 'yes.'
Volunteer work is also labor without compensation...unpaid internships are too. You choose to join the team for the experience, not for money. The fact that money is made from that is irrelevant.
Pro players are closer to slaves than NCAA players. They work to earn a paycheck and the state says "Nope, we decide how much you're allowed to keep."
-You voluntarily agree to play knowing what you are signing up for.
-You can voluntarily leave at any time.
-You get a free college education, with free meals, free healthcare, free tutor, some free clothes, free books, free stipends, and great experiences. Saying that there is zero compensation is a lie.
-You have an improved social status on campus.
With that said, the NCAA is hypocritical and players should be able to use their likeness for profit. If a local car dealer near campus wants to pay a player to use his/her likeness - why should the NCAA be able to block it?
Let's put this in perspective. No NFL team is going to draft someone out of high school. The only league that exists before the NFL -- for NFL to scout talent -- is the NCAA Football. The players get an opportunity to showcase their talent for the real career of working in the NFL.
So now players are saying -- pay us to train while we show our stuff for the NFL.
-You voluntarily agree to play knowing what you are signing up for.
-You can voluntarily leave at any time.
-You get a free college education, with free meals, free healthcare, free tutor, some free clothes, free books, free stipends, and great experiences. Saying that there is zero compensation is a lie.
-You have an improved social status on campus.
With that said, the NCAA is hypocritical and players should be able to use their likeness for profit. If a local car dealer near campus wants to pay a player to use his/her likeness - why should the NCAA be able to block it?
What do you think about the 'casting couch' comparison. The actress is free to leave at any time. She is very well compensated once on the job. But if she wants to work professionally as an actress, she has to get on the couch first. If these players want to play in the NFL or NBA, they have to play college ball first.
BTW, the NBA is expected to drop their eligibility requirement, probably starting in 2021. So after that, at least basketballers will have less of a gripe.
Let's put this in perspective. No NFL team is going to draft someone out of high school. The only league that exists before the NFL -- for NFL to scout talent -- is the NCAA Football. The players get an opportunity to showcase their talent for the real career of working in the NFL.
So now players are saying -- pay us to train while we show our stuff for the NFL.
Who is being greedy.
If they're generating billions in revenue, why should they not want a share? I have a hard time calling that 'greed.'
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