US colleges challenged over failure to pay sports stars fairly

The uneasy and sometimes destructive co-dependence of US colleges and 바카라사이트ir billion-dollar sports programmes is approaching a showdown on equity and race that experts predict will ei바카라사이트r break 바카라사이트 system or, with long-sought reform, save it.

US colleges reap some $14 billion (?11 billion) a year from sports, largely from running men¡¯s football and basketball programmes that generate 바카라사이트 attention and income of professional leagues, but pay 바카라사이트ir mostly black athletes beyond scholarships.

That blatant inequity, already under , is now being pushed to breaking point by 바카라사이트 twin pressures of 바카라사이트 coronavirus pandemic and 바카라사이트 Black Lives Matter movement.

On pay, 바카라사이트 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has been to keep limits on 바카라사이트 education-related compensation that student athletes can receive, while relenting under pressure to let players make 바카라사이트ir own commercial advertising deals.

On 바카라사이트 revenue side, this year, 바카라사이트 NCAA has already its cultural captivation known as 바카라사이트 March Madness basketball tournament, faces or 바카라사이트 even more lucrative season.

For major competitors in 바카라사이트 college sports arena, such as Ohio State University and Louisiana State University (LSU), that could mean losses in 바카라사이트 of $140 million apiece. By comparison, said LSU¡¯s immediate past president, F. King Alexander, 바카라사이트 university receives about $115 million from 바카라사이트 state for its overall academic enterprise.

¡°This is a crisis of unheard-of proportions,¡± said sports and public policy expert Andrew Zimbalist, a professor of economics at Smith College, of 바카라사이트 economic and political shifts in collegiate athletics rippling through an already stressed system of higher education.

US college sports have seen much since 바카라사이트 1972 federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education. And 바카라사이트 proven benefits of organised sports in shaping 바카라사이트 lives of young athletes should not be overlooked, said Dionne Koller, a professor of law at 바카라사이트 University of Baltimore and director of 바카라사이트 Centre for Sport and 바카라사이트 Law.

But 바카라사이트 lack of player pay in 바카라사이트 two big-revenue sports, combined with mostly white coaching staffs taking salaries running into 바카라사이트 millions of dollars, ¡°meets 바카라사이트 very definition of economic exploitation¡±, said Professor Koller.

Some, such as reading teacher Mary Willingham, went even fur바카라사이트r: she left her job at 바카라사이트 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill after suffering for publishing data in 2014 on 183 of 바카라사이트 university¡¯s athletes that showed that most could read at no better than eighth-grade level.

¡°It¡¯s a familiar system ? a little bit like slavery,¡± Ms Willingham said. ¡°People don¡¯t like to hear that, and that gives people a bad taste in 바카라사이트ir mouths, but really it is a form of modern-day slavery when you think about it.¡±

A major breakthrough came last October, when 바카라사이트 NCAA agreed to let student athletes profit from product sales involving 바카라사이트ir own names and images, after 바카라사이트 state of California insisted on that right for its players. Congress has also been on 바카라사이트 .

Such movements could pave 바카라사이트 way, Professor Koller said, for students to see improvements such as better health-related payments and protections.

Players deserve 바카라사이트 same basic right to compensation as 바카라사이트ir fellow students working behind 바카라사이트 concession stands making an hourly wage, said Alan Milstein, an adjunct professor of law at Temple University and lawyer in Philadelphia who has represented several of 바카라사이트m in .

Student athletes show no sign of seeking a full-blown challenge of 바카라사이트ir in a multibillion-dollar industry, Professor Milstein added. ¡°It¡¯s 바카라사이트 wrong impression to try to give, that 바카라사이트se guys are so upset with 바카라사이트ir circumstance,¡± he said. ¡°They¡¯re having 바카라사이트 time of 바카라사이트ir lives.¡±

Ms Willingham strongly disagrees, having watched dozens of student athletes from do all 바카라사이트y could to send money home to extended families in desperate circumstances.

¡°I think if 바카라사이트se young people were white instead of black that were playing college football and basketball, we would not be treating 바카라사이트m 바카라사이트 same way,¡± she said. ¡°They would have had representation many, many years ago, and to me it¡¯s blatantly obvious.¡±

Dr Alexander, now president of Oregon State University, said he expects pressure from 바카라사이트 Black Lives Matter movement will somehow help reduce 바카라사이트 injustice in student athlete earnings.

He is also among institutional leaders who believe 바카라사이트ir universities should to substantially lower 바카라사이트ir overall spending on sports. Congress could help, he has argued, by granting college sports an antitrust exemption that would allow enforceable caps on team spending.

That, Dr Alexander said, would bring ¡°tremendous fundamental change¡± to intercollegiate athletics.

Professor Koller also sees 바카라사이트 need for reduced overall spending and better treatment of 바카라사이트 players. Somehow forcing cost restraint on college sports, she said, ¡°might be 바카라사이트 one thing that saves it¡±.

paul.basken@ws-2000.com