National broadcasting companies and advertisers can generate more than $1 million in revenue for major sporting events in a wide range of sports. Chris Smith wrote in Forbes magazine that CBS and Turner Warner make upwards of $1 billion on the March Madness games. For the Final Four, Smith wrote that advertisers were paying more than $700,000 for 30-second advertising slots during the two games.
Collegiate players do not reap any of the financial benefits that schools, advertisers and broadcasting companies make from the big games.
University of New Mexico Vice President for Athletics Paul Krebs called it an issue for those involved in collegiate sports. He said the NCAA rules are becoming a bit looser in terms of access to funds that athletes may have.
The NCAA’s rules may have softened to allow its players to have access to small sums of money every now and then. However, it isn’t going to budge on paying athletes in terms of popularity or performance in addition to scholarships that players get for attending collegiate institutions.
However, Krebs doesn’t see the need to pamper players at the collegiate level beyond their student-athlete titles.
“I don’t want to see them categorized as an employee,” Krebs said. “I don’t think that they’re employees.”
Regardless of the lighter NCAA rules, student-athletes are unable to market their own names, despite filling seats at sporting events. UNM head football coach Bob Davie said his players don’t have to ability to obtain money even in the offseason, since players are working year-round in his program.
“Basically, you get three weeks off in May. There’s no chance for summer jobs,” Davie said. “There’s no chance to put a little money in your pocket or have a little income over the summer, so we have to do something.”
UNM has just recently taken advantage of the NCAA’s cost of attendance policy. Previously, scholarships only covered tuition, books and room and board, but now the full cost of attendance will include course fees, academic-related supplies and other basic necessities. Athletics scholarships would increase by $2,700 per UNM student-athlete, Krebs said.
Davie said the athletes deserve to be compensated for participating in a sport, which is their full-time job. He said he agrees with the cost of attendance policy and feels that colleges across the nation should have similar figures when granting cost of attendance.
“All we’re talking about is cost of attendance, which other students around the campus find a way to get,” Davie said. “Certainly they have their education paid for, but there are a lot of other expenses in the cost of living.”
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Krebs said the benefits that athletes gain from attending college and playing for accredited universities go far beyond a fixed number of dollars athletes could receive.
“In exchange for being a student-athlete and representing the University, young men and women are compensated in the form of a scholarship,” Krebs said. “That scholarship can be worth anywhere from $30,000, $40,000, $50,000 or $60,000. Over a four- or five-year period, now that adds up to over several hundred thousand dollars.”
Krebs said the compensation, which students receive via scholarship funds, is not the only amount set aside for the college athletes.
“That doesn’t begin to talk about medical care, the tutorial assistance they receive, academic support, and in some cases the chance to see the country and other parts of the world,” he said.
Professional sports leagues tend require individuals to make an appearance in a college classroom for at least a full year before entering the professional sports world. Baseball and hockey are the only major American team sports where an amateur may proceed to test the ranks of professionalism without being required to set foot in a university classroom.
Liam Cary-Eaves is the assistant sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at assistantsports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Liam_CE.
