I'm all for it. It's long overdue as most major Universities including Texas make $$$ off college athletes. So what if this "breaks the model". Whatever plonsky.
I go back and forth on whether athletes should get paid or not. But if they do get paid and hence become employees, doesn't that bind them to the exact same policies/procedures and code of conduct as ALL other employees? If custodian A curses out custodian B, and B reports him to HR, can't a receiver report a DB if the DB curses him out during a scuffle in locker room? I know that seems silly but if a regular employee gets disciplined for something athletes get away with all the time, won't lawsuits begin to fly? After all, they are all employees under the same university policies. Thoughts?
It will open up a hornet's nest of litigation. The lawyers must be salivating. Sounds like even Texas will look to cut some support services for the players.
It opens up this basic argument. How would Sam Houston afford to pay their players? Or would paying be optional?
Just speculating, but my guess is there would be some arrangement other than “employee” of the university that gets around some of the typical HR red tape. One argument is that these guys are being compensated with their scholarships, and that should be enough. That's a direct form of remuneration with a dollar value. Indirectly, if they have NFL aspirations then they are also getting valuable preparation for that as well. Personally, I like the idea of the players getting something extra in their pockets, especially since they contribute to a very lucrative operation.
Players already get stipends that help defray food and other costs. It's not much (a few hundred based on on-campus/off-campus living arrangements). Does it pay for all their expenses? No but they do get money to pay for essentials, or at least they did when I was in school in the 90's. I fear for those smaller schools. In the end, the college football fan will be the loser. Some small schools will drop football altogether or the student body fees will increase to pay the football players. Less teams = less scholarship opportunities. Some teams may shift out of the FBS because they can't compete with the $$$. Overall, I think this is bad for college football and amateur sports in general. Maybe schools should spin off their programs in recognition that they are simply a minor league, not a college program anymore.
May be just old school attitude but nonetheless my vote would be against it. Only the big boys would survive and much as I support the Horns I am still opposed.
It would end the concept of "amateur athletics." If I want to watch professional football, I can tune in on Sundays, but I don't like it. Even though UT would be better positioned to pay for play, I am against it. It would just be another pro sports league.
So what's next, paying the high school athletes a share of the gate, merchandise sales and booster club monies?
If a cash payment is included, our friends at the IRS will classify that as employee remuneration plus attempt to reclassify the full value of the scholarship as pay in kind which would make the entire deal taxable. If that happens a whole lot of lawyers are going to get rich. The value at some schools could exceed $200k which would put those players in the tax surcharge rarefied air.
Pay them $10.00 an hour. All athletes male and female get paid the same. If they put in 20 hours a week , they get paid $200.00. Hours put in during Spring and Fall workouts count at $10.00 an hour. After having my youngest graduate from Texas in 2011 and knowing the cost of books, tuition, fees, housing and living expenses, the scholarship athletes are getting paid damn well. Or pay them $10,000.00 a year and let them take out student loans to pay for the education part of their stay at college like the rest of the students.
What happens when Alabama pays $15,000 a year? Shouldn't a starter get paid more than a bench warmer? I also agree that the the full value of the scholarship should be considered pay in this case.
This change will destroy even the power conferences. I read a business insider article that said $6M/yr would be ~3% of UT's annual athletic budget. They went on to say that for a lesser school like Washington State that figure jumps to >12% of their annual budget. I'm sure you could replace Washington State with Iowa State or Kansas State and still be in the same ballpark. College athletics is about to undergo a significant change and I fear it won't be for the better.
Because of greed and arrogance by the Universities and exploitation of college athletes as a whole, yes its going to get "worse". It's time to right this wrong. Yes fans lose but it should all be about the athletes.