Just Let Universities Pay The Players

[YaketySax]

Stoops made a comment yesterday that he wished he could send some of the money from his contract to pay his players but the NCAA won't allow it. I assume it's because the NCAA would then see the players as employees of the university. I think we've long since established that players are "amateurs" in nothing but name. They are adults putting in 40-50 hour work weeks in the fall, so compensate their labor as such. It also minimizes the importance of NIL collectives that are probably all shady to varying degrees.

How long until a coach sets up shell companies and pays his players indirectly? I assume the Supreme Court will change this in the next 5-10 years, or the P5 breaks away from the NCAA and sets up their own governance, so the current NIL atmosphere won't last long.

I say: universities pay all players a stipend (that increases with every year so seniors make more than other classes), and let athletes also be free to chase NIL money. Each university can decide for itself if the stipend is consistent across revenue and non-revenue programs or not.

 

[gamecockcat]

I've said for several years that student/athletes should be paid like work-study students. Max 20 hours/week at, what, $12/hour (I'm guessing). All athletes get the same pay. If a 'star' is marketable, then, by all means, let them pursue NIL opportunities. But, spending $1 million on a recruit or arranging huge NIL dollars for a very select few of the players will inevitably lead to dissension, having to re-recruit every star player every year, bidding wars in the transfer portal, etc. Not good for 'college' football, imo. The name brand teams already have huge advantages over the others. Turning college football into MLB where all the good players end up with the richest 5-6 teams will kill the sport.

 

[23jumpboy]

How much money is each full scholarship worth when it comes to football?

 

[FilsonCat]

My opinion may be unpopular here, but I have been thinking about the amateurism issue for some time and keep coming back to a singular question. The question is whether, at this point, should our universities and taxpayers be footing the bill for athletics at all? The primary mission for each higher learning institution in KY needs to be providing affordable higher education instruction to the people of the Commonwealth.

Higher education is already unaffordable as it is for most families due to myriad reasons. The costs of coaches, practice facilities, and bloated admin budgets will only increase as the NIL "arms race" progresses, and eventually these costs will be passed along to the students.

If we also admit that college players are no longer (and really never were) "amateurs," then college sports should naturally evolve into a semi-pro club team system that is unofficially affiliated with colleges and universities.

I believe that players should be paid, because it is the right thing to do. Media conglomerates, coaches, and school administrators should not be the only ones that see a piece of the huge TV and merchandising revenues shared by the conference cartels and the NCAA.

In addition, the current NIL rules seem like a bare fig leaf over the college athletics professionalism issue. NIL is being exploited by some teams and conferences to indirectly pay for play, while some athletics directors (like Barnhart) refuse to push the envelope to keep up. As a result, NIL is not really a solution in practice at all, because of unequal adoption and application of the rules.

The current NIL framework does not, in my opinion, go far enough in addressing the real issues in college athletics, which are the current setup of the conferences and the NCAA's amateurism bylaws.

At this point, just let the players sign contracts and get paid what the market will pay, and let the NCAA go into the dustbin of athletics history.

Lastly, officials should be full-time professionals and be well compensated. They should not be betting on games or running cash intensive construction businesses, etc. while being a referee. There is too much opportunity for influencing games at present, and the financial incentives for fixing games is self evident.

 

[sluggercatfan]

How much money is each full scholarship worth when it comes to football?

Depends on out/in state tuition.

 

[bthaunert]

My opinion may be unpopular here, but I have been thinking about the amateurism issue for some time and keep coming back to a singular question. The question is whether, at this point, should our universities and taxpayers be footing the bill for athletics at all? The primary mission for each higher learning institution in KY needs to be providing affordable higher education instruction to the people of the Commonwealth.

Higher education is already unaffordable as it is for most families due to myriad reasons. The costs of coaches, practice facilities, and bloated admin budgets will only increase as the NIL "arms race" progresses, and eventually these costs will be passed along to the students.

If we also admit that college players are no longer (and really never were) "amateurs," then college sports should naturally evolve into a semi-pro club team system that is unofficially affiliated with colleges and universities.

I believe that players should be paid, because it is the right thing to do. Media conglomerates, coaches, and school administrators should not be the only ones that see a piece of the huge TV and merchandising revenues shared by the conference cartels and the NCAA.

In addition, the current NIL rules seem like a bare fig leaf over the college athletics professionalism issue. NIL is being exploited by some teams and conferences to indirectly pay for play, while some athletics directors (like Barnhart) refuse to push the envelope to keep up. As a result, NIL is not really a solution in practice at all, because of unequal adoption and application of the rules.

The current NIL framework does not, in my opinion, go far enough in addressing the real issues in college athletics, which are the current setup of the conferences and the NCAA's amateurism bylaws.

At this point, just let the players sign contracts and get paid what the market will pay, and let the NCAA go into the dustbin of athletics history.

Lastly, officials should be full-time professionals and be well compensated. They should not be betting on games or running cash intensive construction businesses, etc. while being a referee. There is too much opportunity for influencing games at present, and the financial incentives for fixing games is self evident.

The good thing at Kentucky (and this isn't common) is that neither the university or tax payers foot the bill for athletics. UK Athletics is 100% self-sufficient. They actually give a significant amount of money to the university.

 

[bigblueinsanity]

It'll never happen. Would make them employees and that brings too much legal liability