Michigan Football: Capitalism and competition; time to pay players

One parent’s thoughts

Q: As a parent of an athlete, why do you think student-athletes should get paid?

A: Actually I’ve been against paying athletes outside their scholarship almost forever. It seems like it’s only been an issue for the last 20 yrs or so that it was even a consideration, and only then at Power 5 football and basketball programs. Schools like Michigan, where a four-year degree costs +/- $200k, but also increases a person’s earning potential greatly over their lifetime. My son played D1 soccer (at a very small private school) but soccer only receives 9.5 full scholarships. (9.5?!? Ask the NCAA…) He never got any athletic money but does get an academic scholarship that pays about half of his ($54k) tuition. We pay the rest. Once it became clear(er) that the NCAA was going to allow student-athletes to be compensated, however, my stance changed a bit to “Well, EVERY student-athlete should benefit, or none should”. There is no doubt that Power 5 football and men’s basketball players generate the majority of the income in NCAA athletics. I’m not advocating that they receive the same amount as a D3 wrestler, only that the D3 athletes should be included. The scale could be similar to the NFL rookie scale. First player drafted gets “X”, a fifth-rounder gets “Y”.

Q: Can you estimate how much time in a week he or she spends practicing, playing, or otherwise preparing?

A: About 4 hrs/day in season or out, except on game days. No weekends either season except game days in season. At home, they might have a light workout in the morning, or watch film (An hour or hour and a half). Then, of course, the game prep, game & postgame are about 4 more hours at home. Could easily be 3,4 or 5 hrs one way on a bus for an away game. No morning workout, etc those days. Very rare to travel a day ahead and stay in a hotel. Don’t have the budget. Often hard to get sleep, but usually, the bus has wi-fi, so he can do homework if he’s motivated to do so.

The hours spent don’t tell the complete story: The athlete’s schedule is not their own, either. 6am workouts are pretty normal. Often regularly scheduled workouts mean that player’s cannot take certain classes (esp labs) that occur late in the day. My son and a teammate had to get an academic staff member to step in so that they could take a certain class that was offered only at one day/ one time. They were able to take the class, but going to practice until they absolutely HAD to leave for class meant no dinner those nights. Dining hall was closed by the time class was over. If they had had a small stipend from the NCAA, they could at least have bought dinner. My kid and his teammate didn’t go hungry. Each has parents that made sure they had access to some money, but every student-athlete does not have the same situation.

Q: What advice would you give to the NCAA on how to regulate payments to players?

I’m not much of a financial whiz, but people much more well versed than me could figure out a system, I’m sure. Personally, as opposed to cash payments, I’d prefer to see the money put into an independently managed fund, available to the player once they had left their sport for say three years. Allow it to earn interest, and then give the student-athlete access. I’m sure someone will shoot holes in that plan, but I’m already concerned that with the NCAA allowing money to be derived from use of a player’s likeness, etc that P5 sports are going to become an under the table bidding war. “Come to XYZ U and we guarantee $1M of income during your eligibility”

Q: Should the NCAA foot the bill or should the colleges be the ones paying? Should it be split?

I think the P5 schools should be required to provide a % of their revenue towards the plan. The NCAA should provide funding for the schools in smaller conferences, etc that actually don’t have the resources. All the B10 schools could pay every student-athlete on campus a nice stipend and barely feel the sting. Smaller conference schools, where some sports don’t even charge admission, would need help. Back to question 3, I’d be okay with a cash stipend to student-athletes AND some money set aside in a fund. I believe some of these athletes do need money in their pockets.

No system will ever be perfect. It’s an imperfect world. The “honor” of being a scholarship athlete used to be enough. (Ah, the good ol’ days, Fielding Yost and all that…) Now some players seem that they’re doing the school a favor when they attend. With the cash at stake, maybe they are.