As March Madness begins to wind down, it’s becoming more apparent to me that the maddest part of March Madness is how every single player we see on that court makes $0.
Especially in basketball, most players we see on television will go on to do something other than basketball. While I understand that these students are receiving a free education, I cannot help but think about the cash flow that goes on from a tournament like this one. In a capitalist society, you pay for what you want and get paid for what you provide. These young adults deserve compensation.
Now, I am not going to sit here and say that funding from a school should go to an athlete rather than a student. That is not fair to those who go to college for their education. Nobody should see their education suffer or be denied access to a school because the funding is going toward athletics.
What I can justify is allowing a player to profit off of their name and likeness. I think it is absolutely ridiculous that a school can sell a jersey that is clearly a particular player, yet that player sees nothing from that. These players are used as a marketing tool. They should be able to profit off of their own name as well.
My biggest pet peeve with college sports is restricting a player from signing their name for profit. How does this hurt anyone? If someone wants to pay you to sign your name, you have every right in the world to accept payment for that. It is your own name you are signing. You are signing your name. You are that person. You built that fame. You should be able to receive payment for that. It is absolutely ridiculous for someone to say that you cannot profit off of your own name.
Duke superstar Jahlil Okafor wears number 15 for the Blue Devils. I wonder who’s jersey this is that they are selling.
If you think about it, college football and college basketball are bigger than some professional level sports in this country. March Madness is one of the most watched sporting events of the year. You have to realize how much money is being made from this. Entire towns flourish from the athletics that the local school provides.
This is about doing what is right. Colleges suck all of the money that comes from the players, but within seconds a player can get injured and see their career end. What happens then? They lost it all. They lost it all while the college made tons of money off of them and they made nothing.
This debate can get even uglier. Athletes are beginning to think about unionizing. Athletes are going to want benefits and plans in case they get injured. If some sort of settlement happens, then the argument will become which sports have their athletes get paid or covered. Then it can extend into whether the same treatment will go into women’s athletics as well. You have to consider the different divisions of sports, the different conferences etc. This is a debate that extends much larger than the simple question of whether or not a college athlete should get paid.
My opinion is that it should start with athletes being allowed to profit off of their name. Let them profit off of jerseys with their name on it. Let them hold autograph sessions where they can get paid to sign their name. Let the athlete see some sort of monetary gain from the sport they work so hard on. This is the best first step you can take. In essence, everyone should be happy here. If anything, you buy some time to come up with ideas to the intricate details of what will have to happen for these athletes down the line.
Kentucky superstar Karl-Anthony Towns wears number 12 for the Wildcats. I wonder who’s jersey this is that they are selling.
Next time you debate whether Jahlil Okafor or Karl-Anthony Towns is the best player in college basketball, maybe you should think about which one is worth more. Spoiler, they both make nothing.
