NCAA amateurism is effectively dead, and the association itself may not be far behind

[Halldan1]

NCAA amateurism is effectively dead, and the association itself may not be far behind

The tenet upon which the NCAA's based is fading, and its power is quickly slipping away

www.cbssports.com

The tenet upon which the NCAA's based is fading, and its power is quickly slipping away​

By Dennis Dodd

NCAA amateurism is dead. Whatever you thought the moving target that was the "collegiate model" is gone. The date for the dearly departed will go down as June 21, 2021, but really, the exit from this world was years in the making.

It's not just that amateurism is dead. The NCAA that strangled it might not be far behind.

No rational human could recognize the association's stance as either amateur or fair. Not with athletes working an average of 50 hours a week on their "job" (per a recent Pac-12 study). Not with the NCAA having to pass legislation to ensure practices were not held starting midnight or before 6 a.m. That needing to be legislated meant that some coach, somewhere, was actually practicing in that window.

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court could no longer ignore the abuse.

In a relatively minor legal contention, it upheld a lower-court decision that will allow athletes to receive such education-related items as laptops, paid internships and post-graduate opportunities.

The NCAA was worried about recruiting advantages. The Supreme Court was concerned with fairness, violations of the nation's 131-year-old antitrust law and NCAA power than had become intolerable.

"The NCAA is not above the law," wrote Justice Brett Kavanaugh in a concurring opinion following the unanimous 9-0 vote.

Somebody had to say it.

Truth is there are no minor legal contentions with the NCAA. It exists to be sued these days. It chose to go all the way to the Supreme Court over laptops because it can, because powerful people like to stay in power. No matter the consequences.

Monday, the NCAA got slapped down in perhaps its biggest legal defeat. Think about the implications: The association did not prevail in the NCAA v. Alston appeal despite a conservative majority court that included three conservative judges appointed by the previous administration. In fact, the NCAA didn't get a single judge to side with it. The 9-0 whitewash in favor of Alston was pro-player, pro-labor and probably overdue.

It was not predicted by any legal experts analyzing the case. To put it in betting terms, who would have taken Shawne Alston laying the nine (judges)?

Monday, the NCAA was certainly marginalized. It is now somewhat of a bystander as history parades by.

There are a only handful of things the NCAA still controls, namely eligibility and enforcement. And you'll find plenty of complaints from membership regarding those subjects. There is arguably only one thing it still does well -- throw a heck of a party each March known as the NCAA Tournament.

Everything else was laid bare by Monday's decision.

There is no more amateurism because … what was it, anyway? Cost of attendance was handed out to athletes, not normal students. Bowl gifts (capped at $550) are basically pay for play. We're down to arguing semantics and whether five figures can become six figures in the age of name, image and likeness.

Now, there are few roadblocks as to what athletes can earn. Without Congressional help in NIL, whatever the NCAA installs in its legislation will be subject to similar antitrust challenges as Alston v. NCAA

There's no sign that help is coming anytime soon, which speaks to the NCAA's bad planning as much as its desperation.

Predictably, NIL has become politicized in Congress much like any other bill. While this is great for the fair-market earning power of the college athlete, it's dangerous for the NCAA and the membership that allowed it to happen, starting with yet another WTF?! extension for president Mark Emmert.

If this was the real world, the NCAA would be out of business. The only thing tethering it to any kind of logical business model is March Madness. Just don't deny the athletes their share while the association is taking in $1 billion per year.

"The NCAA's business model would be flatly illegal in almost any other industry in America," Justice Kavanaugh said. "It is highly questionable whether the NCAA and its member colleges can justify not paying student athletes a fair share of the revenues."

That opens the door to massive financial gains for those athletes in the future. Justice Kavanaugh even addressed the potential impact on minor sports and Title IX. Athletes could collectively bargain those benefits. Amazing. A Supreme Court justice just gave the NCAA a roadmap out of this mess.

Whether the advice is taken remains to be seen.

One prominent Power Five source characterized Monday's decision as "shock and awe" suggesting it "scraps the entire amateurism model as we know it." The challenge now, the source said, is finding an NCAA decision in this space that is not a walking, talking antitrust violation.

You know what's coming, right? NIL is going to be a monster the NCAA can't control. It certainly can't hint at capping compensation. It is begging Congress for legal protection not only on NIL but for any athlete in the past who want to sue. That's a huge ask for an organization that just got blown out in the Supreme Court.

Unless there is that Congressional intervention, the NCAA is a fly on the wall to antiquity. And if Congress steps in, the NCAA will be even further marginalized. The federal government will be the de facto arbiter of college sports.

"I think it's terminal. I really do," another prominent Power Five source told CBS Sports in March regarding the current set up.

The NCAA had to know this day was coming. Monday's loss in court is at least its biggest since the landmark NCAA v. Board of Regents decision in 1984. The Supreme Court deregulated college football television in that one. That eventually created a pile of money so large it got the attention of the lawyers and the 30% fees they command.

So here we are, arguing over the same pile of money the athletes can't get their hands on. Soon, that will change. That's good for the athletes who have been marginalized themselves.

"When you think about this ruling and the upcoming NIL, now we're starting to see the onion being really peeled back on the power of the NCAA," said Tim Derdenger, associate professor of marketing and strategy at Carnegie Mellon. "It's transformative for the student-athlete."

The NCAA's transformation has already begun. The Supreme Court saw to it.

 

[TomD82]

Very damaging concurring opinion by Kavanaugh where he specifically mentions compensation for labor. Many more cases have to follow now and lawyers are already talking about adding to their cases for more compensation than NIL.

 

[HallBall02]

If schools start paying players directly….does this mean the end of title 9 as well, equal treatment with women sports? Since they aren’t bringing in revenue they will and should be treated differently right?

This can certainly hurt all non football 5 schools, non revenue sport athletes and most women sports athletes.

I don’t think many are looking to the long term affects of what happens after the NCAA has lost all its power.

Memphis’s gamble playing a player that was ruled ineligible might pay off 🙊

 

[shu09]

This is pretty much the nail in the coffin for the NCAA. Can't see myself really caring about college sports moving forward from this. I don't watch it to see players get paid and make marketing deals. That's what pro sports is for. I watch college basketball because the players represent our school, not because they're out for themselves to cash in.

 

[dehere23]

This is pretty much the nail in the coffin for the NCAA. Can't see myself really caring about college sports moving forward from this. I don't watch it to see players get paid and make marketing deals. That's what pro sports is for. I watch college basketball because the players represent our school, not because they're out for themselves to cash in.

I’m hoping some common sense middle ground solution can get brokered here so the sport I love isn’t destroyed. I understand the competing arguments, but there has to be a creative approach that works for all.

 

[SHUHoopsFan]

This is pretty much the nail in the coffin for the NCAA. Can't see myself really caring about college sports moving forward from this. I don't watch it to see players get paid and make marketing deals. That's what pro sports is for. I watch college basketball because the players represent our school, not because they're out for themselves to cash in.

Everyone loves the NCAA basketball tournament. This is my favorite time of the year with the College World Series. While I'm sure college baseball isn't all pure, it is much better than basketball and football. I'm hoping this forces the NBA and NFL to have legitimate minor league systems, take the elite college players, and let the NCAA product suffer talent wise but at the same time let the fans who like the product for the reason you mention still have that.

Ideally I wish the schools would just exercise their power and say we're not having sports next year. Let the players stay on scholarship. There is nothing that says Seton Hall, Duke, Kentucky, St Peter's, etc needs to provide athletics. What happens to the players if the schools decide for 1 year to have some balls and say go to hell, we'll focus on academics and dip into the endowment to pay our coaches for 1 year. What happens if they do it for 2 years. Don't most colleges lose money on athletics anyway?

 

[shu09]

Everyone loves the NCAA basketball tournament. This is my favorite time of the year with the College World Series. While I'm sure college baseball isn't all pure, it is much better than basketball and football. I'm hoping this forces the NBA and NFL to have legitimate minor league systems, take the elite college players, and let the NCAA product suffer talent wise but at the same time let the fans who like the product for the reason you mention still have that.

Ideally I wish the schools would just exercise their power and say we're not having sports next year. Let the players stay on scholarship. There is nothing that says Seton Hall, Duke, Kentucky, St Peter's, etc needs to provide athletics. What happens to the players if the schools decide for 1 year to have some balls and say go to hell, we'll focus on academics and dip into the endowment to pay our coaches for 1 year. What happens if they do it for 2 years. Don't most colleges lose money on athletics anyway?

I watched the Vanderbilt-NC State game last night. Very refreshing. Both pitchers worked quick and it was quite a duel. I even saw a bunt!

 

[HALL85]

Coach K's decision to retire this year was impeccable...

 

[SPK145]

Everyone loves the NCAA basketball tournament. This is my favorite time of the year with the College World Series. While I'm sure college baseball isn't all pure, it is much better than basketball and football. I'm hoping this forces the NBA and NFL to have legitimate minor league systems, take the elite college players, and let the NCAA product suffer talent wise but at the same time let the fans who like the product for the reason you mention still have that.

Ideally I wish the schools would just exercise their power and say we're not having sports next year. Let the players stay on scholarship. There is nothing that says Seton Hall, Duke, Kentucky, St Peter's, etc needs to provide athletics. What happens to the players if the schools decide for 1 year to have some balls and say go to hell, we'll focus on academics and dip into the endowment to pay our coaches for 1 year. What happens if they do it for 2 years. Don't most colleges lose money on athletics anyway?

Fully agree with the first paragraph, nicely said. Add college hockey to that too.

No school would do paragraph number 2, far too many fans/administrators/AD's really care primarily about the sports programs.

 

[anon_ezos2e9wn1ob0]

It's a shame a free education and the experiences most would kill for are not worth anything to these kids and their handlers. Most will blow the NIL money they do make, or have it doled out to their entourages, and still not appreciate the college education. Maybe they'll negotiate payments for life lol

 

[SPK145]

It's a shame a free education and the experiences most would kill for are not worth anything to these kids and their handlers.

Not just them, not worth much to many, including evidently Justice Kavanaugh per his concurring opinion.

 

[SHUHoopsFan]

Fully agree with the first paragraph, nicely said. Add college hockey to that too.

No school would do paragraph number 2, far too many fans/administrators/AD's really care primarily about the sports programs.

College hockey is probably the best atmosphere in all of college sports. Small arenas with wildly passionate fans. But I will say nothing beats being in Omaha on Father's Day. To me that's the best. You can't replicate America's pasttime combined with the good people of Omaha. Add in some of the freshest steaks and vegetables for dinner, it's absolutely a trip every baseball fan needs to take.

I know no school would ever have the balls to do it, at the same time this stuff could destroy many of the small schools like SPU and FDU

 

[HALL85]

If this ends up accelerating a larger minor league for the NBA, so be it because that's how it should be.

 

[SHUSA]

If this ends up accelerating a larger minor league for the NBA, so be it because that's how it should be.

the g league has always been there.

 

[MichiganStoleTitle]

It's a shame a free education and the experiences most would kill for are not worth anything to these kids and their handlers. Most will blow the NIL money they do make, or have it doled out to their entourages, and still not appreciate the college education. Maybe they'll negotiate payments for life lol

No one says they’re not “worth anything.” (Though worth a lot less at some schools than others.) The question is why the NCAA should be able to organize a labor cartel in which the artificially limit the compensation these athletes receive. Is there a single other field in which we’d accept this type of an arrangement? (And why athletes should have to bear the costs of this while the schools, coaches, and others profit without any such restrictions.)

What do you do for a living? Would it be OK if the employers in your occupation colluded to decide that $X, along with the experience you gain, is “enough” and decided no one should pay you any more than that?

Kavanaugh made this point well in his concurrence.

The NCAA nonetheless asserts that its compensation rules are procompetitive because those rules help define the product of college sports. Specifically, the NCAA says that colleges may decline to pay student athletes because the de- fining feature of college sports, according to the NCAA, is that the student athletes are not paid.
In my view, that argument is circular and unpersuasive. The NCAA couches its arguments for not paying student athletes in innocuous labels. But the labels cannot disguise the reality: The NCAA’s business model would be flatly il- legal in almost any other industry in America. All of the restaurants in a region cannot come together to cut cooks’ wages on the theory that “customers prefer” to eat food from low-paid cooks. Law firms cannot conspire to cabin lawyers’ salaries in the name of providing legal services out of a “love of the law.” Hospitals cannot agree to cap nurses’ income in order to create a “purer” form of helping the sick. News organizations cannot join forces to curtail pay to reporters to preserve a “tradition” of public-minded journalism. Movie studios cannot collude to slash benefits to camera crews to kindle a “spirit of amateurism” in Hollywood.

Price-fixing labor is price-fixing labor. And price-fixing labor is ordinarily a textbook antitrust problem because it extinguishes the free market in which individuals can oth- erwise obtain fair compensation for their work. See, e.g., Texaco Inc. v. Dagher, 547 U. S. 1, 5 (2006). Businesses like the NCAA cannot avoid the consequences of price-fixing la- bor by incorporating price-fixed labor into the definition of the product. Or to put it in more doctrinal terms, a monop- sony cannot launder its price-fixing of labor by calling it product definition.

 

[TomD82]

It's a shame a free education and the experiences most would kill for are not worth anything to these kids and their handlers. Most will blow the NIL money they do make, or have it doled out to their entourages, and still not appreciate the college education. Maybe they'll negotiate payments for life lol

Thing is many including players that made it to the pros said they were not allowed to take classes they really wanted to take. Only morning classes were allowed so not or conflict with practice and many have said they were steered to majors that were useless and not of interest to them. Damien Woody said it on Get Up on ESPN today.

 

[HALL85]

the g league has always been there.

And this is an opportunity to expand it.

 

[SHUSA]

And this is an opportunity to expand it.

opportunity was always there. nobody was stoppingn anyone from signijg into the g league

 

[shu09]

No one says they’re not “worth anything.” (Though worth a lot less at some schools than others.) The question is why the NCAA should be able to organize a labor cartel in which the artificially limit the compensation these athletes receive. Is there a single other field in which we’d accept this type of an arrangement? (And why athletes should have to bear the costs of this while the schools, coaches, and others profit without any such restrictions.)

What do you do for a living? Would it be OK if the employers in your occupation colluded to decide that $X, along with the experience you gain, is “enough” and decided no one should pay you any more than that?

Kavanaugh made this point well in his concurrence.

Playing college basketball is not making a living. It is not a job that entitles you to compensation.

 

[MichiganStoleTitle]

Playing college basketball is not making a living. It is not a job that entitles you to compensation.

Says who? Plenty of other people certainly profit and make a living off the backs of people who play.

Again, I ask, what do you do for living? How about the rest of us determine whether it’s something that “entitles” you to compensation, or whether your employer should be able to collude with others to determine what’s you should be entitled to?

 

[shu09]

Says who? Plenty of other people certainly profit and make a living off the backs of people who play.

Again, I ask, what do you do for living? How about the rest of us determine whether it’s something that “entitles” you to compensation, or whether your employer should be able to collude with others to determine what’s you should be entitled to?

They are students at colleges and universities who happen to play a sport. They are not employees who make a living like you and I do at our jobs.

They already receive tons of benefits and a free scholarship is more than enough.

 

[papacheesy2]

Great summary of the decision that I just read on the website electoral-vote.com:


In a unanimous ruling, the Court sided with Alston and his fellow plaintiffs. The majority decision was written by Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, and found that "full scholarship" means "all educational expenses" and not just tuition, books, and room and board. The absolutely scorching concurrence, which might as well have been penned by Bernie Sanders, was written by...Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, of all people. He went rather further than Gorsuch, calling the NCAA the cartel that it is, and making very clear that future, broader lawsuits are not likely to go the NCAA's way. Thanks to Monday's decision, student-athletes can now get laptops and such, and thanks to a previous decision, in O'Bannon v. NCAA, student-athletes must be paid when their likenesses are used. Kavanaugh's concurrence is basically an invitation to file a suit that will confront head-on the most sacred cow of college sports, namely whether or not student-athletes can be paid. If that suit is filed, and is successful, it will topple the NCAA's whole business model.

The Court's ruling is, in the end, not especially surprising. Liberals like to empower laborers (i.e., the student-athletes), while conservatives are fans of the free market. Further, the NCAA has abused its power and its position for a very long time. So, the new status quo, the one established yesterday, should not be especially controversial.

However, there are a lot of people in this country, particularly in the Midwest and in the South, who really love their college sports. And once some student-athlete takes Kavanaugh up on the implied suggestion in his concurrence, and that student-athlete turns the NCAA on its head, the effects are likely to be massive. Right now, the two most succesful college coaches in the country (Nick Saban of Alabama and Dabo Swinney of Clemson) take home more than $8 million per year. If schools have to pay their players, then the math is going to get problematic very quickly. Some universities will cut a bunch of sports that aren't football or men's basketball (possibly putting those schools in violation of Title IX). Others will say that if they have to choose between having a big-time coach and a physics department, well, too bad for the physics department. Still other schools will decide that they simply can't support a Division I program anymore, and will drop down a division or two, where athletes don't even get scholarships. And all of this upheaval will be the result of a case that pits, to a greater or lesser extent, predominantly Black and Brown athletes against predominantly white coaches and administrators. So, there's potential for this to get very politically charged in a year or two or three.

 

[SHUHoopsFan]

Playing college basketball is not making a living. It is not a job that entitles you to compensation.

Eventually it will trickle down to HS.

 

[MichiganStoleTitle]

They are students at colleges and universities who happen to play a sport. They are not employees who make a living like you and I do at our jobs.

They already receive tons of benefits and a free scholarship is more than enough.

Why should you or anyone else decide what is “enough”? Why should universities get to collude to limit the amounts of compensation they could earn?

 

[shu09]

Why should you or anyone else decide what is “enough”?

Because civil societies have norms, rules and regulations. That's the way it is.

 

[MichiganStoleTitle]

Because civil societies have norms, rules and regulations. That's the way it is.

Exactly! Except you seem to ignore that the “rules and regulations” we have in these United States of America include the mandate that you cannot fix prices—which is precisely what the NCAA attempts to do.

 

[The Crows Nest]

They are students at colleges and universities who happen to play a sport. They are not employees who make a living like you and I do at our jobs.

They already receive tons of benefits and a free scholarship is more than enough.

I have to say I agree with this perspective....this is college...not their career. And if they wanted it to be their career...go to the G League...or overseas and play professionally. What's that you say? They need the 4 years in college to showcase their talent so they can get those opportunities?

Think that also answers the question; Education, meals, travel,. see the world, adulation from the student body and alums....value at most schools would probably come to 300,000 over 4 years....and much more at other schools.

But I have to say....the NCAA and the schools have no one to blame but themselves; instead of sharing some of those outrageous revenues they earn in some way with the students and athletes that make it possible...you have coaches routinely making more than $ 1.0 million a year....and the NCAA sitting on their throne paying their bigwigs for doing.......what exactly? Oh that's right, for acting sanctimonious and doling out "penalties" to anyone (well anyone outside of the "Power Schools" who all get a pass) who dares threaten their existence.

They have killed their own golden goose.....

 

[SHUHoopsFan]

Exactly! Except you seem to ignore that the “rules and regulations” we have in these United States of America include the mandate that you cannot fix prices—which is precisely what the NCAA attempts to do.

Universities don't need to offer athletics. They should all say screw it for a couple years. Sadly as noted above it will probably never happen. Until they do that the players have all the power. Once they do that, the players are screwed. It will probably never happen, but at the end of the day the Universities have all the power in the world here if they want to exercise it.

 

[MichiganStoleTitle]

Universities don't need to offer athletics. They should all say screw it for a couple years. Sadly as noted above it will probably never happen. Until they do that the players have all the power. Once they do that, the players are screwed. It will probably never happen, but at the end of the day the Universities have all the power in the world here if they want to exercise it.

Universities don't need to offer athletics. They should all say screw it for a couple years. Sadly as noted above it will probably never happen. Until they do that the players have all the power. Once they do that, the players are screwed. It will probably never happen, but at the end of the day the Universities have all the power in the world here if they want to exercise it.

Lots of entities don’t need to do lots of things. But so long as they choose to engage in those activities they cannot collude with their competitors to artificially limit the compensation of those they engage to do those things on their behalf.

 

[HallB]

Would be an interesting world where there were no college athletics, and thousands of athletes were told to start making a living playing in the minor leagues of basketball or football which no one watches right now. and who is going to invest all of the money to create these leagues - G League makes no money I'm sure (players make $75g), and we've seen how well the secondary pro football startups have done. The college "brand value" is likely being overlooked in these scenarios. That brand value adds to the equity and worth of the individual players to make money after their college careers (both domestically and abroad), and in exchange they also receive a college education plus additional benefits. What would be the alternative if there is no college ball? Again, playing in the minor leagues of basketball or football earning next to nothing. That could change, but it would likely take decades to do so.

Lastly, how does Title IX factor into all of this? Who pays for all of the women's sports? The revenues generated from men's football and basketball. Well, there goes the funding for women's sports at 99% of the universities.

I think the ole' adage, careful what you ask for may apply here.

 

[MBF72]

I have been happily impressed with Kavanaugh, though my expectations were not high to begin with. At times, though, he seems like a loose cannon. That was the case here. I wonder if his vision of college athletes becomes true, will we see a stampede of mid and low D I schools to Division III. I am thinking of Hartford not being able to make ends meet without paying and compensating athletes. I wonder how many Hartfords will emerge in the coming years.

 

[lloyde dobler]

I have been happily impressed with Kavanaugh, though my expectations were not high to begin with. At times, though, he seems like a loose cannon. That was the case here. I wonder if his vision of college athletes becomes true, will we see a stampede of mid and low D I schools to Division III. I am thinking of Hartford not being able to make ends meet without paying and compensating athletes. I wonder how many Hartfords will emerge in the coming years.

At the same time, is there really a need for 351 D1 schools? It wasn’t a long time ago where the number was closer to 300, and lower before that. At some point it becomes a valid question why schools that can’t draw 200 people to a basketball game belong in the highest level of competition.

 

[seton1996]

If athletes want to be compensated more, the NBA and NFL should pay the extra money to the athletes or have their own true minor league systems.

 

[anon_ezos2e9wn1ob0]

At the same time, is there really a need for 351 D1 schools? It wasn’t a long time ago where the number was closer to 300, and lower before that. At some point it becomes a valid question why schools that can’t draw 200 people to a basketball game belong in the highest level of competition.

So at the end of the day this will hurt kids who then lose scholarship opportunities if there are less D1 teams

 

[lloyde dobler]

So at the end of the day this will hurt kids who then lose scholarship opportunities if there are less D1 teams

No…. D2 offers scholarships and D3 offers tons of aid.

 

[The Crows Nest]

No…. D2 offers scholarships and D3 offers tons of aid.

But the athletes should be paid at all levels, no? What makes a Division II or III athlete not eligible under this same ruling??

 

[SHUHoopsFan]

Lots of entities don’t need to do lots of things. But so long as they choose to engage in those activities they cannot collude with their competitors to artificially limit the compensation of those they engage to do those things on their behalf.

Isn’t compensation taxable? Are the players getting anything taxable. I’m all for it if it’s taxable.

 

[lloyde dobler]

But the athletes should be paid at all levels, no? What makes a Division II or III athlete not eligible under this same ruling??

Why are they entitled to it if the school elects not to play at a certain point? If athletes should be paid at all levels, then schools will just stop having teams.

 

[Pirate143]

Perhaps there will be a reduction in the # of administrators, coaches salaries, or facility spending, mostly at public and power 5 schools that receive the largest % of the $. This ruling is no different than the 3rd circuit ruling in Hart v. Electronic Arts, which along with Keller case established resulted in a national class action settlement and creation of a $60M fund for 22,000 athletes who’s image was used in the EA video game product without consent. EA was required to change their product, the NCAA was forced to change their rules and now a student in a EA Sport video game (or other product) can be compensated for the value of their image in that product. I expect the P5/P6 schools will use this ruling to break away and form their own revenue sharing model without the burden of NCAA over sight. Smaller conferences will need to be more focused on revenue generating with an eye towards creating a marketplace for students to seek renumeration for their images. Students will have a voice in this process and change will be the norm. Sharing revenue and or not capping benefits is the message in all of this.

 

[shu09]

Exactly! Except you seem to ignore that the “rules and regulations” we have in these United States of America include the mandate that you cannot fix prices—which is precisely what the NCAA attempts to do.

How does the NCAA fix prices? Come on now...