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Paying College Players and Unionization
Tequilla
Member Posts: 19,815
This continues to be a big story given last week's decision surrounding Northwestern and also with the NCAA Tournament going on and all the money that the NCAA gets through TV rights deals and whatnot.
I think we all agree that increasing the stipend for all players to reflect the realities of playing sports (unable to really get an external job, cost of living, etc).
However, a few things that most people haven't talked about are as follows:
1) How much are the players currently getting paid through their education (and I realize that a lot of kids poo poo on that but getting a college education paid for without any debt associated with it is a significant advantage in life)
2) What is the comparable wages paid in the market for that level of experience (for example, taking basketball players, guys in the D-League make $30-$40k and often have college plus professional experience that "in theory" makes the caliber of play better ... likewise for baseball, kids in the minor leagues make $1k per month or less at the lowest levels)
3) How "valuable" is the training that these kids are receiving on the open market place? If you're going to go one way on saying that the kids deserve more money, you also have to be willing to go other ways to "charge" for the costs that they are incurring.
I know that this is too fucking serious of a poast on April Fool's Day, but there's been a lot about this topic that hasn't sit right with me for a while. Wonder what the thoughts of are others other than "fuck you," TL, DR, and disagree.
I think we all agree that increasing the stipend for all players to reflect the realities of playing sports (unable to really get an external job, cost of living, etc).
However, a few things that most people haven't talked about are as follows:
1) How much are the players currently getting paid through their education (and I realize that a lot of kids poo poo on that but getting a college education paid for without any debt associated with it is a significant advantage in life)
2) What is the comparable wages paid in the market for that level of experience (for example, taking basketball players, guys in the D-League make $30-$40k and often have college plus professional experience that "in theory" makes the caliber of play better ... likewise for baseball, kids in the minor leagues make $1k per month or less at the lowest levels)
3) How "valuable" is the training that these kids are receiving on the open market place? If you're going to go one way on saying that the kids deserve more money, you also have to be willing to go other ways to "charge" for the costs that they are incurring.
I know that this is too fucking serious of a poast on April Fool's Day, but there's been a lot about this topic that hasn't sit right with me for a while. Wonder what the thoughts of are others other than "fuck you," TL, DR, and disagree.
Comments
Eliminate all restrictions on outside income for college employee-athletes.
Yep, that's the solution to all of this.
I'm all for players getting paid and allowed to live normal college lives because not all can at this point. But let's not make kids millionaires for being a great HS athlete ... that's super fucktarded.
There's an argument that the free market's not the best thing for the sport (and I would probably agree), but it's certainly the free market at work.
By the way, kids in basketball, baseball, hockey, and soccer can become millionaires while they are still teenagers. Why should football be different and why should the NCAA be allowed to restrain what sorts of outside income players can earn?
FYFMFE
I'm all for kids earning what they are worth.
If you are good enough to be a professional, you are good enough to make the money consistent with your skill and what the market demands. No problem with that. Few quality for this though.
Football is different than any of the other sports given that physical maturity is as important as skill set, etc.
We're fucked.
I know what's coming.
Case #1 is a 5-star WR/CB prospect out of the LA area that all schools up and down the West Coast want. The pro's for signing this kid is that he has elite speed (he's more fast than quick) and is a threat to score every time he touches the ball. The downside is that the kid is a bit on the small side and as such finding a true position for him is a problem. The kid has always wanted to go to USC, so much so that he already has a USC tattoo. However, the week before signing day, he takes a trip to Oregon where he receives the following offer from Nike: $1M per year for each year that he stays in college, a $1M endorsement contract for every year of his professional career, and a $150k per year job working at Nike in "Athlete Relations" after retiring as a player. In contrast, USC is offering just a $1M signing bonus and $250k per year while every other school in the conference is offering $500k-$1M with comparable per year commitments. This kid ends up committing to Oregon, has a nice career there, but really doesn't have much of a NFL future because he lacks size and a position to play.
Case #2 is a 5-star QB out of the Houston area that all schools in the State of Texas, Oklahoma, and the SEC are after. The battle ends up coming down to Texas, Oklahoma St., LSU, Alabama, and Florida. Alabama puts their offer out on the table of $2M signing bonus and $750k per year because while they know that they can't compete with the $$$ that the other schools will offer, they are banking on the fact that they have superior coaching to help them out. LSU offers a $2.5M signing bonus and $750k per year and while offering similar incentives as Alabama, offers a close to home option. LSU also happened to be this kid's favorite school growing up. Florida, with perhaps the deepest AD money pool in the country sees their alumni offer a $4M package at $1M per year to help solve what has been a very piss poor QB position for years. They are tired of losing to Alabama and LSU. Texas is in a position where they are taking a lot of internal heat for the possibility that this kid may leave the state. They decide to up the ante and offer $5M up front and $1.5M per year, offer the kids parents $150k per year jobs in Austin, buy a house for the family an hour outside of Austin located on a lake with a new boat, and the promise of a job within the Texas AD after his career ends as an "Alumni Liaison" at $200k per year and a membership in the most exclusive golf club in Austin. Boone Pickens is sick and tired of losing to those assholes in Oklahoma and Texas. He decides that this QB is the difference in his program. So he decides to offer $10M to the family up front, the kid $2M per year because living in Stillwater requires that, his parents jobs with his wind energy company at $200k per year and a small ownership stake in his company, and 100k options in the company for the QB that vest after 5 years. The kid ends up choosing Oklahoma St because regardless of what happens to him on the field, he's set up financially for life with this arrangement.
These kids haven't done shit before they get to college. But what you'll end up seeing is that college football just comes down to which school has alumni that have the most money, the best connections, and winning/losing is tied to how much you are willing to pay.
Thanks for making my point for me.
Case #1 is a 5-star WR/CB prospect out of the LA area that all schools up and down the West Coast want. The pro's for signing this kid is that he has elite speed (he's more fast than quick) and is a threat to score every time he touches the ball. The downside is that the kid is a bit on the small side and as such finding a true position for him is a problem. The kid has always wanted to go to USC, so much so that he already has a USC tattoo. However, the week before signing day, he takes a trip to Oregon where he receives the following offer from Nike: $1M per year for each year that he stays in college, a $1M endorsement contract for every year of his professional career, and a $150k per year job working at Nike in "Athlete Relations" after retiring as a player. In contrast, USC is offering just a $1M signing bonus and $250k per year while every other school in the conference is offering $500k-$1M with comparable per year commitments. This kid ends up committing to Oregon, has a nice career there, but really doesn't have much of a NFL future because he lacks size and a position to play.
Case #2 is a 5-star QB out of the Houston area that all schools in the State of Texas, Oklahoma, and the SEC are after. The battle ends up coming down to Texas, Oklahoma St., LSU, Alabama, and Florida. Alabama puts their offer out on the table of $2M signing bonus and $750k per year because while they know that they can't compete with the $$$ that the other schools will offer, they are banking on the fact that they have superior coaching to help them out. LSU offers a $2.5M signing bonus and $750k per year and while offering similar incentives as Alabama, offers a close to home option. LSU also happened to be this kid's favorite school growing up. Florida, with perhaps the deepest AD money pool in the country sees their alumni offer a $4M package at $1M per year to help solve what has been a very piss poor QB position for years. They are tired of losing to Alabama and LSU. Texas is in a position where they are taking a lot of internal heat for the possibility that this kid may leave the state. They decide to up the ante and offer $5M up front and $1.5M per year, offer the kids parents $150k per year jobs in Austin, buy a house for the family an hour outside of Austin located on a lake with a new boat, and the promise of a job within the Texas AD after his career ends as an "Alumni Liaison" at $200k per year and a membership in the most exclusive golf club in Austin. Boone Pickens is sick and tired of losing to those assholes in Oklahoma and Texas. He decides that this QB is the difference in his program. So he decides to offer $10M to the family up front, the kid $2M per year because living in Stillwater requires that, his parents jobs with his wind energy company at $200k per year and a small ownership stake in his company, and 100k options in the company for the QB that vest after 5 years. The kid ends up choosing Oklahoma St because regardless of what happens to him on the field, he's set up financially for life with this arrangement.
These kids haven't done shit before they get to college. But what you'll end up seeing is that college football just comes down to which school has alumni that have the most money, the best connections, and winning/losing is tied to how much you are willing to pay.