If college athletic broadcast deals are undeniably a win/win proposition, why doesn’t tuition fall accordingly? Likely because revenue from them isn’t used to offset tuition, but rather gets funneled into a college spending spree. These outfits are so much like government you barely notice the difference.
The Fed’s spigot of easy money and credit have fueled the conditions for financialization that contributed to the astronomical revenue increases witnessed in sports programming. The low interest environment paralleling the rapid increase in coaching salaries allowed companies such as Disney to significantly increase its debt to capture a coveted monopoly on SEC programming. Further, the demand for a piece of the college athletic pie, coupled with athletic department necessity to finance their competitive arms race, have led to investment firms seeking direct deals with American universities.
You don’t want to get me started on college athletics … the top 2 sports; football and basketball which generate $hundreds of billions for the colleges … while the athletes who generate that revenue get room, board, and a (mostly) remedial education. Yes, our major universities of lower learning … these incubators of every insane leftist ideology are modern day slave plantations. They are exploiting the hell out of their player/slaves.
And no … the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) dollars are still a paltry amount compared to what these players would be/are worth in the free agent marketplace. The notion that these are “amateur” “student athletes” is just so much hooey left over from some long bygone era. Sorry, I’m a capitalist … and these players (many poor black kids) are being USED. The NIL money is just a paltry bone thrown to these exploited players. College players in major sports that generate revenue must be paid their free market worth.
It’s still unconscionable that Kurt Flood had to sue … all the way to the Supreme Court … to guarantee professional free agency in sports which were exploiting their “special” exemptions from monopoly laws. And that ONLY happened in 1972! It’s time for ALL college football and basketball players to take a case for free agency all the at to the Supreme Court … and make these leftist institutions PAY UP. These leftist institutions who constantly bemoan “billionaires” … are multi-billionaires themselves … and enjoy special exemptions that allow their shocking exploitation of college athletes. It’s utterly disgusting.
Will this change college sports? Duh. Of course it will. And then it will do away with the corrupt NCAA gatekeepers who are bought and paid for themselves. Good riddance.
There … phew … now I feel better.
Kenji, aren’t most of at least the Division I players given a rather pricey education for free?
What the players do or don’t do with it is their decision.
Certainly the “poor black kids” and the white ones have an opportunity to get properly edumacated where their spastic friends have to hopefully go get a useful trade.
As well, nobody is forcing them to play.
I do agree that the earnings of these schools is yuge.
You’re right no one is forcing them to play. Wait. No. That’s not true as the NFL won’t take players out of HS. No, the NCAA operates as a FREE Farm system for the NFL (and CFL). So the players have no other option … hence they MUST play college football for an expensive, but shitty education in “Mass media” or some other useless course of study. They have no choice if they want to pursue a career for which God … and their own hard work has prepared them for.
Compare these talented athletes … whose BODIES can earn them $hundreds of millions over a career to female models who can earn similar money … even BEFORE they leave HS. The beautiful female (and male) models can earn BIG MONEY in their most youthful years. Why? Because their youth and good looks are fungible. They age-out of their careers … rapidly. Same with (most) top athletes who also run the risk of career-ending injury.
So, no … these young pro-worthy football and basketball athletes have no option … except to train for work as a barista … or gang banging drug dealer. They are captive to the college farm system.