One excerpt from The Athletic

From Andy Staples, of the Athletic:

But that level of self-awareness doesn’t exist for the people who run major college sports. They have chosen over decades to build a multibillion-dollar business, and they still think they can appeal to the government and to an increasingly cynical public to hold on to a system that even they admit is broken.

On Thursday, The New York Times (The Athletic’s parent company) published an op-ed from Notre Dame president John Jenkins and athletic director Jack Swarbrick that cloaked itself in nostalgia while nakedly asking the U.S. government to codify a system that will allow schools and their executives and coaches to enjoy all the benefits of running a couple of major American sports with none of the pesky annoyances like paying market value for the talent or negotiating with the workforce. Jenkins and Swarbrick also command the NFL to create its own minor league instead of using the perfectly good — and incredibly popular — one they’ve created. They’d also like the NBA to abolish its age limit.

Click here for link at https://theathletic.com/4340398/2023/03/23/notre-dame-oped-n

Basketball made $1 million. So did my septic guy

Woo Hoo.

I'm fine with the NBA abolishing the age limit.

Kobe and LeBron did just fine.

If you can't hack it, go play in Europe and still get paid.

Isnt it the NBA who does not want high school players

to be drafted because they cant project who will do well as easily? That being said the development of the G league helps with that problem.

Yes…NCAA football saves NFL teams a ton of money as well *

The argument is frequently made that college is not for

everyone in the general public, so why should it be for those who want and can play football or basketball professionally?

There is an obvious recognition that many high school students do not have the acumen for college and are better served learning a trade or pursuing employment in areas that don’t require a college degree. Yet we somehow think that those who play professional sports are all intellectually equipped to meaningfully attend college. Obviously, many aren’t and forcing them into college and expecting them to remain academically eligible ends up making a farce of the whole enterprise.

They've realized the value of having seasoned talent.

And have done a good job building up the G league.

I know the NFL looks at the XFL as a lab environment to try stuff (and a good place to source seasoned talent if needed).

"cloaked itself in nostalgia" - So true *

exactly. It is a blatant attempt and a hail Mary pass

my business would be a lot more profitable if I didn't have to pay my staff as well. "But I give them office space to use!" would be my argument.

One question that I have about all of this.........

If they go to some sort of pay model, how do they account for tuition and other costs? Free tuition is compensation. And the range of tuition is wide across major programs where it's cheaper to go to Alabama than ND or Stanford or USC. Do players have to now contribute to their education from their wages earned?

Or are we just dispensing with the notion that these kids are going to class and instead they are just employees of the school with no requirements to actually be students? So there is actually no cost of educating them.

Guessing that will be up to the schools?

Is it any different from some employers choosing to subsidize a graduate degree or professional certification for their employees?

Could we even have a scenario where some players are employees who choose not to pursue a degree while other players do want to take advantage of the university education given the shelf life of a football player?

How are employees' kids handled?

Haven't University employees' kids historically been able to attend for free? Is it treated as taxable compensation to the employee?

Does anyone know if employees themselves are able to attend degree-earning classes for free?

how about employees themselves?

my wife works for a large health care provider/teaching hospital and I believe that they give substantial tuition reimbursement for employees getting degrees/certifications.

I believe that it is treated as taxable income, which would seemingly solve this issue. Give them tuition reimbursement for passing their classes and then a 1099 and call it a day. Notre Dame can make a strong argument that the value of the education is worth it, and make a case to compare it to CA schools (as an example) state income tax.