ant wrote:I was being facitious guys.

I agree that full tuition payment is enough.

That's how I took it I was merely agreeing with the both of you.

gesler0811 wrote: Would you also pay the high school football players in Texas?

Would you pay the Pee Wees that play in televised games?

Let's rephrase this. Do you think if these players generate a lot of money, that everyone involved should make money off of them except for the players?

If Pee Wee football became big business, then why not? Don't you think child actors should get paid, instead of just being happy for the experience?

ant wrote:I was being facitious guys. I agree that full tuition payment is enough.

I know you were being cheeky, but your comment goes to the core of this question. Schools only give full ride, non academic scholarships to athletes whose sport make money for the schools. Schools are able to give athletes full rides because they make money. These schools are giving these basketball players an opportunity they might otherwise never have.

Dexter wrote:Let's rephrase this. Do you think if these players generate a lot of money, that everyone involved should make money off of them except for the players?If Pee Wee football became big business, then why not? Don't you think child actors should get paid, instead of just being happy for the experience?

The little league World Series makes money, and those kids get nothing accept for a huge bill for hotels, airfare and equipment. It costs a lot of money from parents of the players for the privilege to make money for the little league World Series.

Dexter wrote:Let's rephrase this. Do you think if these players generate a lot of money, that everyone involved should make money off of them except for the players?

If Pee Wee football became big business, then why not? Don't you think child actors should get paid, instead of just being happy for the experience?

The difference of course, between child actors and professional athletes is that the child actors are in fact "working" for an employer, that is, the filmmakers/production companies who are hiring talent in order to produce a product, the film. It is a product being produced, which has economic value, and the actors are being compensated for their time and talent. It is an employer/employee relationship.

The case could be argued, and I would agree with you if you argued it, that the NCAA tournament has become something of a "product" with economic value. This fact notwithstanding, the players are not so much "working" for an employer as they are playing a game, an extracurricular activity no less, for a school in return for free tuition, exposure, marketing, training, and coaching, the economic value of which, when taken together, is great indeed. Those who prove themselves go on to become millionaires in the NBA.

Handing cash money to students for playing a game at an extracurricular level is going to introduce all kinds of issues down the road, not to mention a conflict of interest between whether you're a student or a paid employee of the school.

The deeper issue, as I have argued in the past, though not on this site, is that maybe the NCAA tournament shouldn't be as big as it is. Maybe that's the real problem. Maybe we're spending too much money and time on a sport that we can go play in our own driveways for free. Athletes in general are revered too highly, and elevated to pedestals as role models simply because of their exposure, when in fact, they did not get where they are because of any particular greatness of character but because they are strong/fast/coordinated/etc. Maybe if we as a culture could get as fired up for our educators and our kids and our emergency responders as we do for a bunch of kids throwing a ball through a basket, then maybe the tide would turn and the true heroes would be compensated as such.

It's a hot topic at the school I teach at, and some of the athletes in my courses think it would be a good thing. My athletes have expressed their dislike of having their image branded on posters, etc. Some, who have graduated, still appear in advertisements for the school. I'm sure this goes on all over the country, but I used to work in the entertainment business and you signed licensing agreements for that.

Whether we like it or not, the athletic programs at the college level can be cash cows for schools. I'm not a huge fan of paying student athletes salaries, but I think they all should get scholarships and have more knowledge about how their images will be used to promote the school they attend.

I don't really have an opinion on this issue, but since my BF's mother worked as the athletic department office manager at a state university until last summer I learned some really interesting things about the subject. Schools don't really make money off of these sports. They have to pay for facilities, equipment, travel, and plenty of other things. The money that is extra over cost from big football or basketball teams goes to pay for the other sports at the school. This article, Myth: College Sports Are a Cash Cow, has some interesting information about the college sports system including:

What sets UGA athletics apart is that it can pay for its expenses without turning to the university for help.
Only seven other athletics programs at public universities broke even or had net operating income on athletics each year from 2005-2009, according to data provided by USA Today to the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics (for which I consult).

But don't think that getting rid of sports is a solution. Alumni are major donaters to their alma maters. Those funds are very important to the schools and would shrink drastically if a school tried to do away with sports. All those campus buildings have funny names because they're named after the people who donated large amounts to build them.

I'm commenting because this morning I ran across this article discussing the lawsuit which I had not heard of before. It includes the court papers from the lawsuit at the bottom of the article.

And just for fun, check out this map showing the highest paid state employee in each state and some commentary on it. A lot of the money generated by the sports goes into these salaries. Cutting their pay doesn't really help the problem since having a great sports team is a great recruiting tool (more students = more money) and makes alumni happy enough to open their pocket books a bit more.