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When I began my career as a sportswriter, it was scandalous when a college athlete was spotted driving around in a $100,000 car.
The unspoken thought, of course, was that this talented ballplayer must have been paid by someone under the table.
That sounds so quaint now after several years of student-athletes profiting off their name, image and likeness. The NIL arms race will ramp up even more this year as universities will each be able to share up to $20.5 million annually directly with athletes.
It was immoral how much money NCAA executives, administrators and coaches made off college athletes for decades while those athletes saw zilch of the billions in revenue they generated.
So although I’m glad we righted that wrong, I think the last few years of NIL, transfer portal chaos and litigation have led to universal acknowledgement that college athletics are royally screwed up.
The fix won’t be simple, and I’m afraid no fix exists at all.
I’ve long believed we ought to simply treat athletes as employees of the schools they attend, but I’ve moderated on that.
Yes, college sports generate billions while athletes risk career-ending injuries for the privilege of unpaid labor. The moral case for compensation seems clear-cut.
But further scrutiny of the idea is complicated. What happens when scholarships likely become taxable income? A full ride at a private university could saddle a player with tens of thousands in annual tax liability on “income” they never see in cash. Add the taxable value of athletic gear, dieticians and food, tutoring, medical care, and perks and tickets for family members, and you’ve created a nightmare that leaves many athletes worse off than before.
The tax implications alone would require an army of accountants. What’s the fair market value of access to elite training facilities? How do you price special coaching or sports psychology services?
Meanwhile, employment status could destroy opportunities for thousands of athletes in non-revenue sports. Schools already struggling with athletic budgets would face payroll taxes, workers’ compensation costs and employment benefits that could force them to eliminate entire programs.
Title IX compliance would be nearly impossible.
The NIL system, hailed as a compromise solution, has created its own problems. College recruiting now resembles professional free agency, with boosters purchasing players through endorsement deals. The transfer portal has turned athletes into mercenaries.
Perhaps the fundamental issue is we’re trying to reconcile irreconcilable goals. We want the passion and the community connection of amateur college sports, but we’re operating within an entertainment industry that generates revenue rivaling professional sports.
Every solution that addresses one problem creates three others.
Maybe “fixing” college sports isn’t about finding the perfect system, but accepting that any viable approach comes with significant trade-offs, at least as long as we insist on keeping up the amateurism charade.
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