1.3% of Division 1 college football and men's basketball players play professionally. That means, every year out of 92,000 athletes, 90,500 athletes do not play beyond college (Estimated). Every athlete that does not make it to the next level must find another way to support himself and build his life. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is responsible for more than 460,000 student-athletes in about 1,000 institutions. "Student-athlete" sets a different standard for these young adults both on the court or field and in the classroom. Unfortunately, the NCAA does not take its responsibility seriously. Whether by creating artificial rules to increase revenue or undervaluing education at an institution of higher learning, the NCAA cares more about its own money than the wellbeing of its hardworking student-athletes. Although the NCAA's original mission was to create an environment that would foster both academic and athletic excellence, the generation of billions of dollars in revenue has corrupted this idealistic vision.
To maintain the status quo, the NCAA uses the idea of "amateurism" to preserve its control over both its athletes and its money. The NCAA defines an "amateur" as "someone who does not have a written or verbal agreement with an agent, has not profited above his/her actual and necessary expenses, or has gained a competitive advantage in his/her sport" (NCAA.org). Although the idea of amateurism seems reasonable, it ultimately leaves players without compensation, freedom of speech regarding health and safety, and liberties that other college students have (Crouch). Although the NCAA currently has complete control over its athletes, it was not able to enforce its ideals of amateurism for nearly 50 years (Branch). In an attempt to control its program, "the NCAA enacted a 'Sanity Code' which was supposed to prohibit all concealed and indirect benefits for college athletes; any money for athletes was to be limited to transparent scholarships awarded solely on financial need. Schools that violated this code would be expelled from NCAA membership and thus exiled from competitive sports" (Branch). After expelling numerous institutions, the NCAA revoked the Sanity Code to allow the colleges more flexibility in awarding athletic scholarships. Despite the NCAA's efforts, the concept of amateurism damages the integrity of collegiate sports and indirectly contributes to stagnant graduation rates and high profile academic scandals. It also focuses on the revenue which men's basketball and football generate for the NCAA and its schools (Crouch). These consequences have compromised the NCAA's initial mission.
The original intent of the NCAA was to help athletes gain an education while still participating in their sport at a high level; however, at many top athletic schools now, the value of sports overshadows the value of education. On campuses with high profile athletics, all administrators, teachers, and faculty fear the athletic department; "educators are in thrall to their athletic departments because of these television riches and because they respect the political furies that can burst from a locker room."(Branch). This fear results from the fact that "the money the athletic departments brings in funds the theatre department, new buildings, and predominantly everything on the campus" (Branch). Despite the insistence that academic success equals athletic success, and that the two are of equal importance, the NCAA only flaunts athletic achievements and minimally covers the academic accomplishments of its athletes. By solely covering athletic events, the NCAA not only pushes athletes to prioritize athletics but also to abandon their studies. The nature of athletes' demanding schedule further jeopardizes these athletes' academic success.
The overwhelmingly busy life of a student-athlete, including missed classes, away games, and significant hours a week devoted to his sport, puts him at an academic disadvantage. A Division I college football player typically devotes 43.3 hours per week to his sport (Edelman). The NCAA officially restricts student athletes' in-season practice time to twenty hours a week(four hours a day.) However, many loopholes in the system allow student-athletes to devote 40-plus hours a week to his or her sport (Jacobs). Not factored into the twenty hour limit are: meetings, weight-training, conditioning, film studies, and trainer visits (Jacobs). The NCAA requires its participants to miss class to participate in some games. Additionally, it does not modify its playoff schedules to assist its student-athletes in their academic needs; instead, game times are selected to be most fiscally advantageous. Student-athletes play both the National Football Championship and the National Basketball Championship on Monday nights, the first night of the academic week. The schedule during the college basketball playoffs, commonly known as March Madness, requires students to miss at least six days and up to a quarter of their Spring semester (Edelman). Missed class time means that students-athletes are deprived of in personal instruction and are required to do more work on their own. The extreme time commitment of these athletes is more than the typical American work week. Athletes must also fit their schedules around predetermined practice times. These restrictions may prohibit students from taking the classes they wish to take. So, not only are students required to miss class but also are prevented from taking their ideal course load:
The football and men's basketball players frequently don't have that opportunity, because the system isn't designed to provide them with [the education they want]. It's designed to profit off their labor in the creation of a spectacle. And when they can no longer work to the standard their coaches anticipate, they can lose their scholarships and become former athletes without degrees. (Littlefield)
The consequences of compromising academics puts these athletes at risk for failure.
Changes to the NCAA's academic standards and rules have created an environment which is prone to academic fraud. After receiving many complaints about the inadequate punishments for its athletes' low academic performance, the NCAA heightened the consequences for not meeting its standards in order to dispel this reputation. Although this change originally seemed like a positive development, the NCAA concurrently and covertly lowered the standards for enrollment to these same colleges. Hence, less qualified athletes became subject to more pressure to succeed, and their fear of punishment prompted a series of academic fraud scandals (Watkins 81). Academic fraud may occur to allow players to retain their eligibility when their grades do not meet the NCAA's standard. Most commonly, the university may inflate grades or give athletes an easier course load. Institutions such as Syracuse and University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (UNC) have committed academic fraud. UNC was discovered offering "paper classes," classes which only require students to complete a "lightly graded" final paper. Universities offer these types of courses to help athletes maintain GPA eligibility (Jacobs). The NCAA cheats players out of a rigorous education which is a defining part of attending a highly accredited college or university. The UNC scandal reflects the worst of the NCAA experience; "while their educations suffered, the athletes entertained Tar Heel fans, minted money for the school, and helped line the pockets of coaches and administrators." The more time a student-athlete devotes to his or her sport, the more money he or she can generate for the NCAA. The NCAA exploits athletes for their talent without even offering them an substantive education (Gregory).
The addition of the One and Done Rule in 2005 created a new standard for college athletes, transforming college basketball into a way station for the NBA and making a mockery of the collegiate education. In 2005, the NBA commissioner, perhaps in conjunction with the NCAA, imposed a new eligibility rule. The new age rule established a minimum age requirement for all prospects entering the NBA draft. Ergo, in order to play in the NBA, players must attend one year of college (Watkins, 68). Billy Donovan, coach of the University of Florida basketball team explains the problems with the rule, "[the rule] is set up now, it's not good for anybody… this one year thing we have, it's like a pitstop for nine months." In baseball, the minor leagues serve as training camps for players who will eventually go on to the major leagues. College basketball is evolving more and more into the equivalent of the minor leagues for the NBA. The One and Done Rule demeans the legitimacy of college athletics by offering a year's experience in a sport rather than a college education. Adding this rule "wastes scholarships on players who go the route of 'one and done' as opposed to a guy who, while not as talented, actually wants to benefit from receiving an education while also playing basketball" (Watkins 69). However, the draw of this rule is the talent that it attracts and the revenue that talent generates. Around 1% of the NCAA's athletes produce 90% of its revenue. These basketball and football players are household names, and, more often than not, players who have only attended college for a year or two before going pro (Branch). The players who bring in the most money only attend school to fulfill a petty requirement set forth by the NCAA to produce more money.
By exploiting its athletes and demeaning higher education, the NCAA generates billions of dollars a year in revenue and emerges as one of the most powerful and dangerous organizations in sports. The total annual revenue of the NCAA is $10.6 billion. Every large Division I Men's basketball team makes about $10.1 million dollars for its school, and every large conference football team makes around $15.8 million per year for its school. This revenue comes from a variety of sources such as ticket sales, television and apparel contracts, and other merchandise sales ("NCAA College"). Perhaps the most profitable part of the NCAA is the television contracts. In 1961, Byers, the then commissioner of the NCAA, hired chief lobbyist Chuck Neinas to help the NCAA win an invaluable concession under the Sports Broadcasting Act. The Sports Broadcasting Act called for a blackout of all professional football games on Saturdays, entitling the NCAA to individual broadcasting days separate from the NFL's. This Act allowed the NCAA to grow without competition from professional football. Under this Act, college football gained more viewers, and the NCAA was able to negotiate a better television package that made them approximately $3.1 million per season, a figure higher than the NFL's package at the time (Branch). Now, the viewership of college sports continues to rise and to bring in increasing amounts of revenue. There are so many viewers that "ESPN has spawned ESPNU, a channel dedicated to college sports, and Fox Sports and other cable outlets are developing channels exclusively to cover [college] sports from specific regions or divisions" (Branch). As the revenue from college athletics has increased over the years, so has the NCAA's power, and they have used this power to win powerful concessions.
The NCAA's tax-free status as a non-profit organization allows the NCAA to enjoy a monopoly on college athletes without any accountability for their actions. The NCAA is a non-profit organization (501c3), exempt from federal income tax and funded by the federal government (Mueller). The problem is, most of the NCAA's problems spur from their greed. Not only is the NCAA exempt from paying taxes on its extreme amount of revenue, but it also must obey the 501c3 rules, which they do not always follow; "Legally, the NCAA is required to abide by the reasonable parameters dictated by their tax-exempt, non-profit status. However, they have figured out the world's most impossible riddle; how to take copious amounts of government funding, without ever paying taxes" (Mueller). Although the boundaries of the 501c3 status forbid organizations to speak out on political matters, the NCAA has spoken out on political issues, such as the HB2 law in North Carolina, and used its individual beliefs to sway major decisions of the program. Although many commend the NCAA for its bold choice, the NCAA consistently attempts to forbid its players from voicing their opinions. The NCAA's hypocrisy is due to the great power that the NCAA has gained from their billions of dollars of revenue generated, tax free.
An employee is defined as, "a person who performs services for another under a contract of hire, subject to the other's control or right of control, and in return for payment", although college athletes fit most of that definition, they are not "returned with payment" (Crouch). Many people argue that college athletes are compensated by scholarships. However, often times athletes have expenses other then just living and education (Branch). Once again, the NCAA uses the term, student-athlete to deprive them of their right to due process from the Constitution. The NCAA uses its false claims of caring about the student-athletes to justify their complete control of the athletes' lives (Branch). Arguably, these players are employees. They listen to the rules set forth by the NCAA, no matter how drastic they are, in fear of punishment. Colleges and the NCAA tend to control most areas of student-athletes' lives, such as: "(1) living arrangements; (2) outside employment; (3) personal vehicles; (4) travel off campus; (5) items on the Internet; (6) media; (7) alcohol and drugs; [or] (8) gambling" (Piasecki). They participate in strength and conditioning, countless hours of practice, injuries and surgeries, and always compete to the best of their ability in order to give their school national recognition, and increased revenue. All of these trivial tasks are why student athletes earned their spots, just as an employee earns their job (Watkins, 91). However, there is still some question as to whether these athletes qualify as employees, and if scholarships provide fair compensation for their labor.
The National Labor Relations Board made a controversial ruling for Northwestern Football players, that student-athletes are employees. This claim started a chain reaction in the college sports realm. In 2014, a representative for the College Athletes Players Association (CAPA), in collusion with Northwestern Football, filed a petition to unionize Northwestern Football players. New explains that unionization would help the athletes reach their goal of: "increasing scholarships and coverage for sports-related medical expenses, minimizing the risk of traumatic brain injury through measures like reduced contact in practice, improving graduation rates with help from an "educational trust fund," and securing due process rights." (New). Later in 2014, the Regional Director of the NLRB made a revolutionary decision, which stated that Northwestern players were in fact employees of the university. However, he also stated that these "employees" were compensated through their scholarships (Branch). Even so, the Northwestern ruling set a new precedent for all private universities and brought to question the authenticity of collegiate athletics. (New).
Although the NCAA puts forth rules regulating the pay of college athletes, many coaches and players have violated these rules in both small and large ways. On occasion, a scandal arises which is so large and immoral that it brings into question the entire foundation and integrity of the NCAA. However, more often than not, colleges, athletes, and fans are willing to look beyond the cracks in the already broken system. They ignore the problems mainly for two reasons. First, the system benefits the best performing colleges. The reward, as it always is, is money. The money benefits the entire school, from the athletic fields and complexes, to the dorms and classrooms. Secondly, colleges that are under the radar, and do not receive abundant amounts of money from their athletic departments, hope to one day reach the same success as the big name colleges. Although attainable, gaining the status of a large name sports school is often not a likely goal, and these smaller colleges only end up aiding in the corruption. The few athletes or schools who speak out against the injustice are seldom heard, and their voices get lost (Littlefield). However, the NCAA is well aware of those who stand against them. The NCAA is sly in covering up their scandals. When significant scandals arise, "NCAA officials have tried to assert their dominion—and distract attention from the larger issues—by chasing frantically after petty violations" (Branch). On occasion, the players and coaches violate the rules before the student begins attending the university.
Recruiting throughout college sports has become increasingly risky and immoral throughout the years. Initially recruiting athletes for college athletics was about coaches and athletic staff selling the university, education, and athletics program as best as they could, but ultimately leaving the decision up to the player. Now, the culture of college recruiting has become cut-throat and toxic. Elite programs often clash when trying to recruit the same high school athletes. Competition between recruiting teams not only creates tension between the programs but also creates tension amongst the fan bases. Even more serious and toxic are the methods of recruitment. Coaches travel all over the country and sometimes the world to secure the athletes that they want. Although home visits are normal for high profile athletes, the use of sex, alcohol, and drugs are not. However, the use of these tactics during school visits is not uncommon. Mostly it is players who use this scandalous recruiting approach, however it is still punishable and immoral. Lastly, coaches make empty promises to "fix" or take care of phenomenal athletes who are either notorious for their bad decision or underperforming in school. However, when scandal erupts from that player, he is not only at risk of losing his athletic scholarship, and education, but also at risk of losing his entire future (Thompson).
Since the founding of the NCAA, its ever-increasing revenue has tarnished its original mission of cultivating an environment that promotes both academic and athletic success. The NCAA is a "classic cartel" which experiences little reform. Although the efforts to improve the NCAA thus far have been futile, change is likely in the near future. The NCAA should be most threatened by congress, angry athletic conferences, and irate students (Branch). As a governing body, the NCAA needs to not only make changes within its organization, but also push conferences and schools to make a positive difference through moral decision making and ethical recruitment and treatment of players. From small infractions to high-profile scandals, every transgression in the NCAA stems from a desire to make money.
