Mark “They are our students, so we don’t pay them” Emmert’s organization is getting ready to take up a new proposal.
… Currently, the NCAA bars companies from using an athlete’s name, image or likeness in advertisements, promotions or other ventures. That would change if the legislation gets passed.
The initial proposal, for instance, would allow game footage of current athletes to appear in TV ads, as long as the ads mention the name of the athlete’s institution. Companies could publicize sales events by saying athletes would be present to sign autographs.
In both cases, the sponsor would benefit from the athlete’s image or presence. The school would benefit with money from the sponsor. The athlete would remain unpaid.
What’s particularly nauseating is how shameless the rules’ proponents are about them.
… Baylor law professor Michael Rogers doesn’t deny money plays a crucial role in the legislation. Rogers is chairman of the Amateurism Cabinet and helped write the original proposal, which he defends despite widespread concern that caused amendments to be written.
“We want to find additional corporate sponsors who share the values of the institutions and the conferences,” Rogers said. “We were told that the (existing) rules were too complex and that some companies that might be interested in being a sponsor were staying away because they felt like it was hard to comply with.”
Rogers said he doesn’t believe the original proposal exploits athletes, but added that exploitation “is in the eye of the beholder.”
Well, to this eye, it doesn’t seem like a very close call at all. Telling someone that he or she isn’t allowed to profit by trading on his or her name while raking in the bucks doing the same thing is the essence of exploitation. And, no, a scholarship doesn’t justify that. After all, there are plenty of low profile student athletes who receive the same benefits from their schools that the kids who are prized by sponsors do.
When Rogers talks about “the values of the institutions and the conferences”, I guess he’s including corporate hypocrisy. He’s sure not referring to amateurism.
If this passes, I hope the NCAA gets fried in the O’Bannon case.
Get The Picture 
The only hope of stopping the NCAA is the Congress or courts. The Congress should just turn the IRS loose on these colleges and tax the dog crap out of their earnings from football and basketball as unrelated business income.
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Agree 100%
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This is low even for the NCAA
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Why am I not suprised?
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Wow. I could see some kind of system wherein the money a player would receive is put in some kind of trust, but this is appalling.
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The only thing worse than the NCAA’s greed is their arrogance. Not to mention a terrible sense of timing. To follow the recent HBO special with a statement like this is arrogance to the point of stupidity. Robber Barons cloaked in academic robes. To paraphrase Orson, the NCAA doesn’t seem to be able to get out it’s front door without tripping over it’s own penis.
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I disagree. You mentioned “After all, there are plenty of low profile student athletes who receive the same benefits from their schools that the kids who are prized by sponsors do.” The atheletes prized by sponsors get to freely promote themselves, helping them with name recognition which in turn helps their draft status as well as their endorsment status. The other players only get the college education (not that that is unimportant).
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What is that name recognition gonna do for Tyrone Prothro?
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This is truly going to open up the NCAA to the lawsuits a few former players have filed. The NCAA had decent standing to fight those type lawsuits before. With this new rule it seems to me that there will be lawyers lining up to file a class action lawsuit against the schools they played for and the NCAA. I am not a legal expert but to me it seems like that would be the case.
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There’s all kinds of interesting to this one. The NCAA wants to let kids make money for colleges, and a Baylor law prof is spearheading the effort. Baylor, as in the Baptist university so concerned with spreading Christian values that it chartered an “institute” to promote intelligent design. Think “the values of [that] institution” include raking corporate mammon off the back of Southern black kids?
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I wouldn’t be surprised if O’Bannon does some some damage. He’s well off financially and he does have Hausfeld LLC and Boise, Schiller & Flexner–representing him. That’s some serious artillery right there!
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I dont’s see why student athletes could not have annuities established in their names and any monies/revenues generated because of their participation in events could be placed in these accounts. The monies could not be touched by the athletes until all of their elegibility was complete, this way if for some reason there was a career ending injury, they might still have some defered compensation for there efforts.
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