Lawsuit could pave the way to pay college athletes

[pstall]

The key to this order is that it opens the door to the discovery process, and we soon can begin collecting evidence from the NCAA, taking depositions, and uncovering everything that it wanted to hide and keep from the public's and athletes' view," Jon King, a lawyer representing the players, said in an e-mail Monday.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/2010-02-08-judge-approves-ncaa-suit_N.htm

So if this goes thru, what is a fair amount? Will a player on a large revenue generator make more than a tennis player etc? Who decides this?

[Carolina Husker]

As much as they can negotiate hopefully. The NCAA is a bigger criminal organization than the Mafia, Yakuza and the Catholic Church combined.

[MadHatter]

Collegiate athletes ARE paid. They attend (free of charge) some of the finest universities in the country. Many of the schools have tuition, books, room & board, etc.. that exceeds $50,000 per year.

I do not have a problem with college athletes receiving a modest monthly stipend to help with incidentals....pizza, dates, etc... Given their schedules, most are prohibited from even holding down part-time jobs. They don't even have the cash to take a date out for pizza and a movie.

Modest stipend....Yes.

major payments....No.

[Carolina Husker]

Meanwhile the NCAA makes billions under the guise that it's protecting the rights of student-athletes. Of course they should be paid.

[pstall]

I think 100 bucks a month per player is doable. That's 25 a wk for a date and you don't have to spend all of it each week. It can roll over.

[Carolina Husker]

That's a fairly arbitrary number. How'd you come to that amount?

Wouldn't want to take too much from that $2.25 billion dollar ESPN/SEC football contract...

[Guild]

They should be paid they are making money for the school and should be compensated more than their scholarship. I'm not talking big bucks, but they should be making a few hundred a month.

[pstall]

Pay them exactly what the scholarship is worth. Fail a class, no dinero. Leave early, funds go back to school's general scholarship fund.

Think of the unintended consequence to some degree though. Some schools don't generate the same revenue as other schools and can't compete finanacially paying kids the same as say a USC or Texas.

Base pay on grades, going to a bowl, cost of living in that city. 100 in LA is much different than Boise. So are grades, *cough*.

[Bobby]

I thought the SEC was a collection of pro teams and Vanderbilt anyway?

[Carolina Husker]

Think of the unintended consequence to some degree though. Some schools don't generate the same revenue as other schools and can't compete finanacially paying kids the same as say a USC or Texas.

Conferences divy TV revenue to schools equally, so that's not really an issue.

[pstall]

The BCS ones can do this. But not others.

This has to be really thought out because the haves could have even more if they are not careful.

[Carolina Husker]

Yeah, because the NCAA does such a bang up job of leveling the playing field for non-BCS teams already...

[pstall]

Since the NCAA has shown to be equal to other big govt programs. Leave it alone.

[Carolina Husker]

So essentially you're advocating the the NCAA should keep the lion's share of the revenue generated by student-athletes. How socialistic of you.