PAY FOR PLAY?

While I was working the Alabama Spring Game about 3 weeks ago, I couldn’t help but wonder exactly how much money the Crimson Tide’s current student athletes were producing for the University. I stood on the sidelines and glanced around Bryant-Denny stadium in admiration at the over 70,000 fans that made the trip to Tuscaloosa just to watch their beloved team participate in a glorified inter-squad scrimmage. Although admittance for Bama’s spring game is completely free, during football season the average price of a ticket is $205 according to TiqIQ.

       NCAA data shows that during the 2011-12 season the University of Alabama Football Program was third in the nation in revenue generated ($82 million) and 5^th in highest profit among all football programs ($45.1 million).  I love the fact that college football programs are able to generate the funds to support their athletic association and University. In fact I probably would not have been able to attend the University of Georgia on a full volleyball scholarship without the massive success and revenue generation of the football team. But I am still torn by the NCAA by-laws that prevent Division I athletes from profiting from their athletic skills and likeness. For example, a collegiate football player cannot go back to their hometown and operate a children’s football skills camp that possesses their own name because they would resultantly generate an income based on their athletic skills. While in the mean time not only do their head and assistant coaches make an annual salary, but they also earn money on the summer camps run on campus in the name of the University's athletic program.

          It was only 3 years ago that former Georgia wide receiver AJ Green received a 4 game suspension from the NCAA for selling his own bowl game jersey for $1,000 in order to have some extra spending cash for spring break. My question is if student-athletes do not have time to get a part time job during the season due to their athletic and academic time commitments, why shouldn’t they be able to sell their own paraphernalia, or operate an “AJ Green” summer football camp to generate spending money? 

         I believe that if a student-athlete possesses the athletic skill to secure their own licensing deal, they should be able to market themselves to the public. And maybe limiting the ability to market athletic skill and likeness to collegiate juniors and seniors would make more student-athletes want to finish up their college careers and degrees instead of instantly fleeing for a professional league and the prospect of generating income. I think players should be allowed to promote different businesses on their social networking sites. Players like former Notre Dame women’s basketball star Skylar Diggins had close to 400,000 followers on Twitter when she was competing on the collegiate level.  And if Nike came along and wanted her to tweet on their behalf, she should be allowed to make money off of that transaction. I am convinced that there are better ways to handle the big business of college athletics. 

         I am not going to place sole blame on Universities, Coaches, Athletic Associations or even the NCAA but I can't help but recognize that there is a problem. And with the growing use of the internet and social media, student athletes should be able to build their own brand and make a profit off of it. People who believe that getting a full scholarship should be compensation enough, are simply kidding themselves and devaluing the revenue generated by college athletes, as well as, the hard work dedication and effort these athletes put into their craft in hopes of turning it into a career and foundation for their families.