College football and basketball players will get paid $50,000 during the upcoming 2010-2011 seasons!

Now that I have your attention, I am going to dispel this rumor. No, college football and basketball players will not be paid this season, or any other season for that matter, as long as the NCAA has anything to do with it.  Quite frankly, the NCAA, a tax-exempt, non-profit organization, has been given a license by Congress to exploit the labor of college athletes with licensing deals in place worth an estimated $3 billion next year1 (Watkins, 2010).

Yes, Congress grants the NCAA anti-trust exemptions to get away with what many deem a criminal act by permitting them to maintain unconstitutional restrictions on the labor rights of college athletes based on the auspices of providing an education. The last time I checked, I did not see NCAA stamped anywhere on my college diploma from the University of Texas.

Taking a gander at the Sherman Antitrust Law, it states that it is illegal to restrain free trade and commerce, and if an entity monopolizes a sport or restrains people in that sport, that entity (the NCAA) is guilty of a misdemeanor”2 (Department).

Now, being an ex-college athlete, I do not want to appear to be too biased against the NCAA, because in its own words, “They are only trying to protect the amateurism of college athletes and prevent the excess commercialism of college sports.”3 (NCAA)

What an admirable gesture from an entity netting an estimated $3 billion from commercialism and much of that coming from the use of the images of former athletes for television ads, video games, etc. – all with neither the athletes’ consent nor compensation to them.

Now I know what you are saying: “College athletes are receiving a four-year scholarship in exchange.” Well, let me dispel another rumor. No, college athletes do not receive a four-year scholarship. They sign what are a series of four one-year contracts with an emphasis on contracts, because in small print, like most of the professional sport contracts I have signed, there is a clause that clearly states the agreement can be revoked at any time and for any reason the said institution deems warranted.

Included in that small print, athletes are also signing away all the rights to their name and likeness, thus giving those exclusive rights solely to the institution and the NCAA. The NCAA is counting on the fact that on signing day, most athletes, who are without the guidance of an attorney and often in the presence of excited friends, family and cameras, overlook this most disturbing and controversial section of the contract. 

Oh, and by the way, athletes do not have the right to terminate this agreement for any reason without the express written consent of the said institution. So, for a lack of better words, they own you. Congratulations, Little Johnny, you have just been “punked” by the NCAA.

So the question that needs to be asked is as follows: Is the NCAA working for college athletes, or are college athletes working for the NCAA? Let’s see, the new president of the NCAA, Mark Emmeret, who will take over Nov. 1, is scheduled to make close to $1.85 million a year in salary and benefits.4 (Perry, 2010) We do not want to leave out the $1 million the NCAA pays to a charter travel company for all of its executives to travel.

Now, I have been checking my mailbox for the past several years and still have not received a check for all of those endorsement deals the NCAA so candidly negotiated on my behalf. You see, the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB give all players an endorsement check at the beginning and end of their seasons for the use of their name and likeness.

There is hope for compensation in the future for all who have been duped by the NCAA. A class action lawsuit, headed by a former NCAA basketball star, has been filed and allowed to proceed, thus finally allowing the NCAA’s licensing contracts to be open for discovery.5 (Farrey, 2008) 

For the record, a class action lawsuit in 2008 against the NCAA has already awarded $228 million to Division I football and basketball players for unmet educational expenses. Legislation is being discussed in Congress to force the NCAA to justify how an association generating an estimated $3 billion annually keeps its tax-exempt status. 

Notice: This story reflects the opinions of Johnny Walker and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of NSIDE Publications.  

Please e-mail me at johnny@longhornsunplugged.com and let me know what your take is on college athletes being paid and get plugged in to Longhorns Unplugged Radio Show on Ticket 760 AM, where I (Johnny Walker), former Longhorns Wane McGarity and Todd Hunt and ex-KENS /KSAT 12 sportscaster Maury Vasquez will debate controversial topics such as this one every Thursday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.