Ohio State Scandal Case Study

Whether the sport is basketball, baseball, volleyball, football or swimming, college athletes bring in an immense amount of surplus revenue and popularity to the college they attend. For example, a study held by Orlando Sentinel estimates that the University of Texas Athletic Program had the highest income of any other university at $120,288,370 (Robbins). Given the amount of money generated for the university, no player was legally paid for their athletic performance. According to NCAA regulations, "You are not eligible for participation in a sport if you have ever taken pay, or the promise of pay, for competing in that sport” (Staff. 2). With that regulation being stated, it has been rumored athletes are being paid through black markets. Josh Luchs, a sports agent who broke many NCAA violations however, now fights for NCAA reform stated, "Inside Higher Education reported that 53 of 120 FBS schools were caught violating NCAA rules in between 2001-10” (Dohrmann).

Their fellow sports personnel gets to indulge in this gargantuan amount of money made off them, while they do not even get a minuscule percent of it. According to Stanley Eitzen, in his article “College Athletes Should be Paid,” in the year 2000, some football coaches were paid a minimum of 1,000,000 dollars in compensation. Considering this staggering figure, it is almost impossible to fathom why athletes are not being compensated something, out of all the money they generate. As a result of this deprivation of financial support, some athletes end up violating school policies. There were reports of athletes who have accepted improper benefits from coaches, fans and “boosters.” According to Dan Wetzel, in his article “Chris Webber deserves apology from Michigan, NCAA for disassociation treatment,” Former Michigan State basketball player Chris Webber, accepted money from “team booster” Ed Martin which resulted in a “humiliating 10 year disassociation penalty.” There have even been instances when athletes sold their jerseys and championship rings. These incidents resulted in suspension and expulsion of student athletes and the firing of coaches. Most, if not all of these cases, could have been prevented if universities have stepped in, and provided the financial help their athletes needed.

It is the NCAA’s policy that no student athlete shall receive any special benefits or compensation in regard to their status as an athlete of a university. This basically means that no player can accept gifts or services with any special benefits from school or athletic personnel, or receive any benefits for outside entrepreneurship for reasons regarding their play. For example, a student athlete cannot sign a jersey with their number on it and exchange it for any type of compensation. However, over the past few years, many scandalous conspiracies of soliciting services to athletes for their commitment and play have surfaced. Due to the NCAA’s stance on this issue many of these violations have left athletics programs with sanctions that in reality are very unnecessary and hardly ever punish those who initially violated the rules. The fact is that the college athletics generates on average 10.5 billion dollars of revenue annually, and the NCAA organization alone, about 720 million annually. Of that 720 million that the NCAA accounts for, only 60 percent of that is returned to the Division I universities whose athletics accounted for almost all of it. The rest is dispersed into other funds such as championship games and the national office services, with a small amount being paid to division II and III schools. However, of that 60 percent paid back to the Division I schools, which amounts to approximately 430 million dollars, the majority is spent by the University on

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

(http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/11328442/judge-rules-ncaa-ed-obannon-antitrust-case) The decision stated that if an institution sold anything with players ' names, images, and or likenesses the compensation will be paid into a trust fund. However, if a school does not try to sell anything with such, there will be no money to pay into the trust fund resulting in a player only receiving his/her cost-of-attendance scholarship.

College athletics assume a large role in the entertainment industry of America. Each week, millions of people tune in to watch their favorite team, buy tickets to go to the games, or spend money on university athletic merchandise to show their pride. The NCAA and universities benefit enormously from college sports. The top 10 total revenues generated by universities were all well over the $100,000,000 mark in 2012 (“College Finances 2012”). The University of Texas tops the list with $163,295,115 total revenue from athletics (“College Finances 2012”). Last football season, Texas A&M University quarterback Johnny Manziel won the Heisman Trophy. As the first freshman to ever win the trophy, he propagated over 1.8 million media impressions which translated to $37 million of media exposure (Cook). The University’s licensing revenue jumped 23% this past year due to the success of one player (Cook). The NCAA itself generated $871,600,000 in revenue from the championship games (“College Finances 2012”). All of this revenue is impossible without the student-athletes. The NCAA is strict on making sure that athletes should be treated no different from any other student (Blias). However, the athletes are involved in a heavily commercialized multi-billion dollar industry. As amateurs, athletes remain restricted solely to scholarships as the only form

The NCAA hurts their players by discouraging them from selling their own memorabilia, the consequences from such actions could potentially harm their future career. According to ESPN's Jay Bilas, “all you had to do was go to the NCAA's online shopping website, type in "Johnny Manziel," and an image of his jersey would pop up, despite the NCAA's howl that players are not exploited at the NCAA register.” This shows that the NCAA is reaping all of the profit from players merchandise even though the players are the ones who are dedicating their hard work and time trying to advance their career.

Therefore students should be compensated for the time they have put on the field or court. While professional athletes are allowed to earn money however they want, college athletes cannot or else they will not be able to play the next season. “Anybody that wants to pay a pro can, but paying college athletes is a big no-no. Athletes have no time to get a job and earn money. Student athletes that do not focus on sports will not be able to play at all” (Looney). From personal experience, playing a sport, especially at a high level, takes a lot of practice. That is a hefty task considering that many athletes have to receive an education as well. Many athletes do not even have time for education because of all the time needed to practice. Furthermore, many athletes have little to no time to hold a steady job, let alone receive a degree. In the past, many college athletes have been suspended or fined for taking money from signature sessions or selling pictures of themselves. “NCAA should allow students to receive money from people based on their performance level. Keeping athletes poor will bring about shady characters” (Looney). One year ago, the NCAA suspended Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M quarterback, for the first half of the season opener. The NCAA suspended him for allegedly taking money from signing autographs which is against their policy. This year, a running back from Georgia ran into the

Over the past 30 years some of college sports most famed athlete’s legacies have been tarnished due to scandals. As a result to the scandals not only are players affected but their schools, along with coaching staffs, depending on the specifics of the NCAA violations. Incidents have dated way back to the 1980’s where both SMU (Southern Methodist University) along with the “Bad Boy Miami Hurricanes” were found of guilty of arguably two of the NCAA’s worst and most televised violations of all time. In 1988 after already being previously on probation as a program, the SMU football team was hit with the most severe penalty possible to a college athletic team, “The Death Penalty”. The penalty insisted the program was to be suspended for two years and football was not to be resumed in University Park until 1989. Not only did the program lose its eligibility but they also sacrificed 55 scholarships over a 4 year span, which to date is the harshest penalty the NCAA has handed out. This penalty and sanction alike came about when investigators had discovered 13 student athletes of that respective team decided to accept cash gifts from a

These players have a passion and know what they are getting into. Just because, a student is all time star player their athletic scholarship doesn 't cover the full cost. Attending college, comes with top expenses to cover tuition, room and board, books and fees, and other important things such as money for gas or food. In some cases, athletes are given partial scholarships to attend or just walks paying the full price to attend. According to study in 2012 from the Oxford Economics, a season of Texas A&M football games generated eighty-six million dollars. Where A&M is located, according to their football season in 2013; the National Collegiate Athletics Association and Texas A&M. Suspended a sophomore quarterback Johnny Manziel, who won the Heisman trophy last season. From, Johnny Manziel winning the award for signing autographs. The National Collegiate Athletics Association gave him a issue. Due to, Manziel not knowing that trinket brokers are able to profit from his signature. A modest way to go about this on going debate that schools can pay them or have their salaries be regulated. The Salary caps that exist in the NBA and NFL; they 're fair game for college sports too. A fair idea is having athletes be eligible for payments, plus their scholarship. For

“Heading to the NFL, Michigan’s Jake Butt Says College Players Should Be Paid” exemplifies the reasons why college athletes should be compensated for their hard work. As explained by Jake Butt, “I should be the example of why college athletes should be getting paid in college or why I can't use my name to benefit off my likeness in college”(Butt). This college athlete’s chance of becoming a NFL player was ruined all because of an injury to his ACL. Though he may have diminished his career, the University of Michigan still receives payment based off of his name. The university gains money from their players, hurt or not. The revenue that the college/coaches receive come from the fans. This money is sometimes never given to the players that were

“Are these college athletes getting paid for their contribution?” In the spring of 2011, a

Billy preston had a bright future but he may not get to play basketball for the rest of his life. The NCAA is very strict on these rules. They must receive no money from anybody but teammates or parents. O’Bannon and 19 others sued the NCAA, claiming the organization violated United States antitrust laws by not allowing athletes to get a share of the revenues generated from the use of their images in broadcasts and video games. Many former collegiate players were compensated, but some felt it was inadequate and they were owed more.

There are many issues with today’s college football system. The NCAA is a multi-billion dollar industry, and that is part of the reason why the system is so corrupt. The NCAA makes many of their decisions based off of personal gain and are partly to blame for the predictability of College Football in the last few years. Recently in the media, these issues have been dissected and addressed from many different views. Issues including, star players sitting out of bowl games, coaches leaving early and serious injuries such as concussions.

Salaries, wages, and compensations have always been major and generally controversial topics in democratic America. And, with the rising popularity of college athletics, particularly football, compensation (or lack thereof) for college athletes has recently been a hot topic in American sports. While some of the debate stems from the similarity between responsibilities college athletes have to their programs and those of professionals, most of the issue involves the principles of amateurism. Recent “scandals” involving college athletes such as Terrelle Pryor, Johnny Manziel, and Todd Gurley have raised questions about the ethics of amateurism, particularly with regard to the NCAA organization. The issue is found in a very gray area, where there is most likely no definitive one-size-fits-all solution, but the resolution of this issue is one that will change and shape the future of college athletics across the national landscape.