The NCAA College Basketball Tournament starts in earnest on March 21 (I’m not counting the play-in games). Breakout star for the Duke Blue Devils, Zion Williamson, should enjoy the tournament like nearly everyone else: by filling out a bracket and sitting on a couch somewhere to watch the games.
Last night, Duke played their bitter ACC rival North Carolina in a much anticipated game. How anticipated? Tickets for the game were resold for over $3,000.00 (nearly as much as Super Bowl resale). So anticipated that President Barack Obama attended last night’s game.
That’s a lot of money, that’s a lot of attention for one college game. Yet, future NBA star Zion Williamson and every other player on the court last night received the exact same amount of money for playing in this Super Bowl of college basketball — none. In addition to receiving no money, Williamson was injured in the first 30 seconds when his shoe exploded. Reports indicate that this is a “mild knee sprain” (thankfully) but a future NBA star’s career could have ended last night, and with it his hope to finally earn some money for his talents.
College sports is dominated by the “Power 5” conferences: the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, and Southeastern Conference (SEC). Many of those conferences have dedicated cable channels or exclusive contracts with broadcasters. The NCAA Tournament’s national TV contract is approximately 1.1 Billion per year (and that’s just the end-of-year tournament never mind the regular season). There’s a lot of money in college sports, none of which goes to the players.
Okay, so a player does not get paid for playing. Can that player receive money for appearing in a commercial, or maybe for doing autographs, you know selling yourself? Nope.
Can a college-bound student-athlete be paid for appearing in a commercial or receiving an endorsement?
College-bound and current student-athletes who want to compete at Division I and II schools need to preserve their eligibility by meeting NCAA amateurism requirements. If a college-bound student-athlete is paid for appearing in a commercial or receives an endorsement before he or she is accepted at an NCAA member school, his or her eligibility could be affected.
If the college-bound student-athlete was chosen for the commercial or other event for reasons other than athletic ability, he or she may be compensated. If the college-bound student-athlete was chosen to participate because of his or her athletic ability, he or she may not be paid. However, the prospective student-athlete may receive expenses related to the commercial event such as meals or lodging.
To make matters worse for NBA and NFL hopefuls, you cannot go straight from high school into either league. Meaning, you need to either play, for free, in college and risk injury and potential millions or sit out a year or more (like for the NFL), which might reduce your value if only because out of sight, out of mind.
Zion Williamson will be the #1 draft pick in the NBA even if he does not play in any subsequent games this season. The cost is too great a burden for such a young man, and he should sit the rest of the season out. What about team loyalty? What about school pride? In that scenario, Williamson would have the university’s back, but should he get injured, Duke will not return the favor. The NCAA’s exploitative system should end.