Wednesday March 21, 2007
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The exploitation of the Collegiate STUDENT-Athlete
By: Patrick Riesenberg
It is considered by some to be the greatest time of the year in sports, March Madness. That’s right, a month full of nothing but last second buzzer beaters, Cinderella stories and heartbreaking upsets. But there is a bigger question present than, “Who do I pick to win it all for my office pool?” Who doesn’t want to be the one that picked the proverbial George Mason to make the Final Four?
However, with all the talk about brackets, the constant stream of experts being interviewed during halftime shows and around the clock “bracketology” talk on ESPN about who's in the tournament and whose bubble will burst, it is easy to overlook the bigger issue, not only with basketball, but with other college sports as well. Are these schools, and subsequently their athletic departments, exploiting STUDENT-athletes to make money?
At the time of publication (Thursday, March 15), CBS sports - the official broadcast partner of the NCAA Men’s National Basketball Tournament - had sold out 95% of their advertising spots for the tournament, according to adweek.com, an advertising analyst website. A thirty second ad spot during the opening round games (March 15th – March 25th) cost approximately $100,000, with a spot during the national final on Monday, April 2 (which is already sold out) going for about $1.2 million. CBS has already sold out every ad spot for the selection show which aired live on Sunday, March 11, in which the 65 team field was announced.
Basketball is not the only sport creating huge revenues for major Division I college programs. Football is by far the largest revenue-creating sport in college athletics. The Ohio State University Football Program brought in $60.7 million in revenue last year alone, which accounts for well over half of the $104.7 million brought in by the entire athletic department at OSU, according to an article published in the March 5 issue of Sports Illustrated.
Fox, the official broadcast partner of the Bowl Championship Series, the National Championship series for college football, signed a $320 million TV deal which runs through 2010.
With such staggering numbers, you have to stop and ask yourself, "where is all this money going?" Survey says: to the general athletic fund of the schools which participate in these events. This money is then used to buy new equipment, or make improvements that the department deems necessary, such as renovating an arena or stadium. STUDENT-athletes see little to none of the money made by their schools, who are marketing their talents on national television.
It's true that athletes in Division I sports receive benefits that the “normal student body” may not have access to, such as full or partial scholarships, tutors and tons of free gear, but is it really a fair deal? Are we not sacrificing the ultimate goal of going to college and allowing these young men and women to mature in a learning environment?
There are a lot of people who may not understand the stress that college athletes go through. They see athletes as the kings and queens of their respective campuses, but what they don't see are the closed-door meetings with coaches in which they are told that their full scholarship is being withdrawn or reduced because they did not perform as expected. This leaves them scrambling to find a way to pay for school, or find another school to transfer to. If an athlete transfers, they must then make sure their credits will transfer to keep them on track to graduate.
The stress does not stop there, with a full load of classes (most colleges require athletes to maintain at least 12 hours to be full-time), and the full-time job of practice, extra training, travel for games, and if need be, a transfer, it is becoming increasingly difficult for these young men and women to graduate in the four years that their scholarship covers. So what happens after the four years are up? Are the athletes covered for any extra semesters they may need to complete their degree?
The bottom line is that if Division I athletic programs are making nearly $100 million a year by marketing products, such as jerseys emblazed with players' names and numbers, and the talents shown by these STUDENT-athletes on the field or court, shouldn’t the schools make sure they are giving these STUDENT-athletes the opportunity to succeed in the classroom?
The NCAA has taken steps to ensure higher graduation rates by placing sanctions on schools that do not meet current graduation rate standards, as well as implementing a new Academic Progress Rate (APR) system in which teams are penalized for students that leave school early for professional leagues, or because of transfers. Sanctions can range from reduced scholarships to losing eligibility to compete in post season play.
Despite the good-natured intentions of the NCAA, these sanctions have had an adverse affect, sparking many coaches and academic advisors to place incoming athletes into “easier academic programs,” reports George Dohrmann of Sports Illustrated. With the risk of monetary fines, many student-athletes are dissuaded from taking full course loads as well as entering into programs that require more out-of-class time.
With so much at stake for the major Division I universities, there is no easy solution to the problem, and as long as there are hundreds of millions of dollars at stake for TV deals, it is unlikely that things will change anytime soon.
So remember as you tune into CBS to watch the madness of the NCAA basketball tournament, that you are watching STUDENT-athletes working towards a degree and not working towards a career in the NBA.