ken d
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I Root For: college sports
Location: Raleigh
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RE: New bill in congress would allow NCAA athletes to make $ from their name and image
(03-11-2019 08:24 PM)mturn017 Wrote: (03-11-2019 07:00 PM)Cyniclone Wrote: (03-11-2019 06:50 PM)mturn017 Wrote: “If a kid is at a school on a music scholarship, you can go get gigs”
But that person is not an amateur, by definition. Why are we trying to redefine amateur athletics? You want to be on a Wheaties Box then go pro.
They're still amateur athletes; they're still not getting paid to play their particular sport by the NCAA or their school. This prevents the NCAA and any amateur-sports organization from not allowing an athlete to benefit from their name, image and likeness — all of which are theirs in the first place, not the school's and not the NCAA's.
Let's be honest — the reason some of us are excited about this is that it opens the door for NCAA Football '20.
There’s a handful of NCAA athletes whose name, image or likeness are in any kind of demand. You could expand that handful if you include local businesses that would put them on a commercial or name a sandwich after them. There’s a lot more that would be in theposition to receive money to simply sign with a certain school and give no economic benefit to the organizations paying them. You might as well start the SEC Super PAC which will publish your picture in thier annual newsletter and give you 5 figures. Full page article gets you 6 figures. There’s only one thing they’ll be getting paid for, playing sports and that makes them non-amateurs. If you want to promote free market then start making professional sports foot the bill for their own player development instead of perverting what is meant to be actual amateur athletics.
Why is college football "meant to be actual amateur athletics"? Star college football players have been paid for 150 years. They were being paid long before professional football began. Now basketball players are being paid as well.
We often speak of amateur athletics as some sort of ideal - a pure form of sport. Rubbish. The concept of amateurism is a byproduct of the modern Olympic movement - a movement that was meant to be elitist from its very beginning. By limiting participation to those who could afford to compete without having to worry about making a living, European nobility could entertain themselves without having to rub shoulders with commoners and riff-raff.
Amateurism in college athletics is mandated by our tax code. This bill is an attempt to lessen that mandate without removing it entirely. It's a start.
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03-12-2019 05:53 AM |
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