National Collegiate Athletic Association's March Madness

With college basketball and football originating in the 1800’s, the game has had much time to adapt. Over the years, the sports have become more and more popular, gaining a bigger fan base, which has resulted in substantial profits from the sale of merchandise representing the teams and players. There is one thing that has not changed; all of the athletes are still not being paid. The National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA, is an organization that regulates most aspects of

One of the top sporting events in the world is considered to be the NCAA March Madness tournament. This tournament is ranked third just behind the super bowl and FIFA World Cup. It’s unbelievable to think that one of the top sporting events in the world is in college athletics. You have other professional sports like basketball, baseball, hockey and NASCAR, but there championships still don’t compare to the NCAA championship. March madness is so popular that global firms Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc believe that companies are expected to lose about $1.2 billion because of every hour of work that employees are watching games instead of working (Koba, 2014). These employees will spend on average 90 minutes a day at work watching

March Madness collegiate basketball tournament, hosted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) tournament, generated “7.5 billion dollars in revenue over the past decade,” through advertising alone (Chupka, 2016). Currently, this year 's 2016 March Madness tournament is projected to make over “1 billion dollars” (Chupka, 2016). The NCAA is counting the cash, lots of it,” stated financial analyst Kevin Chupka. Does this solicit the view that the NCAA is a money-hungry organization? Through extensive research as a group, we will be collectively addressing the intrinsically paternalistic view that the NCAA has portrayed to all athletes and spectators alike. We will be focusing on the origin of the organization, motivation for implementation, specific divisional separation, financial asset allocation analysis, and the social stratification of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Cheating scandals in collegiate athletics have been happening since the beginning of the NCAA, ranging from paying players to play, recruiting violations and other cases of academic cheating. One of the greatest scandals of all time was when the Southern Methodist University football team was sentenced to the athletic program’s “death penalty” (termination of the program) for paying athletes to play football for their school (Ribock, 2012). Louisville’s case of recruiting violations has been the most recent. The Cardinals (Louisville) were found to have had athlete-held parties with drugs, alcohol and strippers that were paid over $10,000 in the time period of 2010 to 2014 by former Assistant Coach Andre McGee, who left after the case opened in 2014. These outrageous parties were held to persuade the new basketball recruits to attend their school. This case came to a close in

Howard Chudacoff raises the controversial question of whether or not college athletes should be paid during a time of the year when people are most focused on college athletics, March Madness. Chudacoff is a firm believer that college athletes are given enough amenities as it is and do not deserve extra compensation or paychecks. His main arguments to support his position revolve around the royalties that power five athletes receive in regards to education centers, training facilities, and the fact that these players receive a free education. Chudacoff paints the picture of these facilities throughout his article and appeals to the reader’s pathos by descriptively showing the reader how college athletes really do live like millionaires.

As the final four comes to a close and the two champions are presented with their trophies, the real winners in some people’s eyes are the sponsors, advertisers, the schools, and finally the NCAA. All of these groups are the ones who end up with the money generated as a result of the games in the tournament and college athletes who particiapte. “The NCAA basketball tournaments, or "March Madness," have become a huge business. As Forbes' Chris Smith wrote, CBS and Turner Broadcasting make more than $1 billion off the games” (US News- Forbes’ Chris Smith). Smith’s statement shows how much money these athletes’ skills and contributions are generating. In return for giving their efforts and producing all this money, the student athletes do not receive any of these proceeds. People think college athletes should also be paid because of the money the NCAA makes off using these athletes names and likeness, like jerseys with an athlete’s number being sold and even in video games being played. Because of this, a group of former players filed an

The champions of the 2015 NCAA March Madness Tournament were Duke University Blue Devils but they were not the real winners: the NCAA truly won. The NCAA is a “non-profit” organization which is “...dedicated to safeguarding the well-being of student-athletes and equipping them with the skills to succeed on the playing field, in the classroom and throughout life.” (NCAA.org). The NCAA regulates college sports, enforce rules and organize college sporting events. The NCAA more or less performs as a professional league’s governing body would do except one major thing, paying its moneymakers. Now is the time to pay college athletes because most live under the poverty line, the NCAA has enough money to, and the athletes are being taken advantage of.

With another year going by, fans watched another exciting NCAA Basketball Tournament and another football season filled with highlights and heartbreak. Many people think that the NCAA is as popular as professional sports. It’s a fact that it’s annual revenue can challenge this opinion. College football and basketball generate more than the National Basketball Association, a total of more than $6 billion yearly (Nocera, Joe). There is one major difference between the two associations, however. NBA players get paid for the all the money they help bring in, while NCAA athletes receive no compensation. Getting an education for free is not enough anymore; especially if the NCAA wants to act as a money making business, but not reward those who

Over the decades, Division I college athletes have been pouring their heart and soul into the game they love. Their passion for sports has allowed them to attend and play for a university of their choice. College sports is similar to a business, especially at the Division I level and the athlete’s job is to bring profit and revenue to their school. In recent years, there has been an ongoing conflict in collegiate athletics: should college athletes get paid? In this essay, I will discuss the effects of paying college athletes, and reveal on how much each athlete is really receiving.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a member-led organization that regulates the athletes of over 1,200 universities, conferences and organizations. The NCAA prides itself on dedicating themselves to the wellbeing and lifelong success of college athletes, believing and committing to core values and beliefs (NCAA). The NCAA’s main and most important task is to make sure that all students and institutions adhere to the extensive rules and regulations that the Association has created (Andrews). Although the National Collegiate Athletic Association is a famous and well-know organization, it has flaws within the system of regulating college athlete’s collegiate sports career. The condition of which college athletes are in while under regulation of the NCAA is neither ethical nor fair. In this paper I will argue that it is not morally ethical the way that the NCAA treats college athletes; the system must be reformed and changed so that college athletes are treated with the utmost ethically moral respect.

“The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), formed in 1905, set laws requiring college student-athletes to be amateurs in order to be eligible for intercollegiate athletics competition. According to the NCAA, requiring college student-athletes to be amateurs protects them from being exploited by professional and commercial enterprises” (Schneider). College sports is a business, and a booming one at that. With ticket sales, merchandise, and booster funding, universities can bring in huge amounts of money from collegiate athletics. “During the 2013-2014 year alone, the NCAA’s gross revenue totaled 497,600,000, with a majority the revenue generated through various media rights payments” (Grimmett-Norris). In addition, since 1988, the NCAA has received over 150 million a year from CBS alone for the rights to broadcast the annual men’s March Madness basketball tournament, on top of millions being generated by students play, school sponsorships contracts can also generate universities tremendous amounts of revenue. For example, in 2014 Oregon signed a record-breaking contract with Under Armor valued at over 100 millions dollars. Meanwhile, a recent study found that a college football player at the University of Texas is worth, on average, $578,000,

The NCAA continues to prohibit payment to its student athletes, while its member universities continue to seek new ways to increase revenue from the athlete’s accomplishments. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is the nonprofit governing body of college athletics. The primary task of the NCAA is to oversee the actions of all student athletes and universities to verify that both parties abide by the rules and regulations within the principles of amateurism, defined by the Association. However, the NCAA has been ruthlessly exploiting the athlete’s talents in the hopes of maximizing profits.

As a nonprofit the NCAA is often not compared to large companies even it makes comparable revenue. All television and video game revenue, as well as ticket, jersey, and souvenir sales made from college athletics all go to the NCAA, the conferences, the athletic departments, and the coaches. In fact, one study suggests, “Men’s basketball and football combine for $6 billion alone” (Mondello, Piquero, Piquero, Gertz & Bratton, 2013). None of that revenue goes directly to the student athlete even though the NCAA surely has enough money to do so if it chooses. USA Today writer Bruce Horovitz states in his article, March Madness Evokes Marketer Madness that, “The NCAA men’s basketball tournament generated $1.15 billion in television ads in 2013, well beyond the revenue generated by the NFL and NBA playoffs, according to ESPN” (Horovitz, 2014). Marc Edelman, a professor at City University of New York takes it a bit farther in his article The Case for Paying College Athletes, and claims, “The college sports industry generates $11 billion in annual revenues. Fifty colleges report annual revenues that exceed $50 million. Meanwhile, five colleges report annual revenues that exceed $100 million” (Edelman, 2014). In contrast, during the 2014-2015 season the NBA grossed about $5.18 billion in revenues according to Forbes Magazine, which was a league record high. The NCAA revenue money is also not evenly distributed among the schools, as top tiered athletic programs tend to make more money

“The Overestimation Phenomenon in a Skill-Based Gaming Context: The Case of March Madness Pools,” an article written by Dae Kwak, a research of sports consumer behavior, stated, “Over 100 million people are estimated to take part in NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Championship Bracket contest” (Kwak 107). With the popularity that college sports have gained, a subject has been drawn-out: Should college athletes be paid to play sports? It seems that everybody gets compensated except the players playing the game. The NCAA and Athletic Directors need to compensate college athletes who play at their top level, who devote more time practicing than being in a

The National Collegiate Athletic Association, which is better known as the the NCAA, is an organization that regulates intercollegiate athletics. The NCAA not only is the administrator for all intercollegiate athletics, but also “formulates and enforces the rules of play and the eligibility criteria for athletes.” Being a student-athlete, I know the responsibility that one has not only in the classroom but also on the athletic field. There is a big standing problem in front of the NCAA and is a serious issue and that is the paying of student-athletes. According to an article written the the U.S. News. “the college sports industry generates over $11 billion in annual revenues” (Edelman). The problem is that the student-athlete who goes to