Lots of students here at Sinclair play sports. They work hard, run hard, study hard, play hard, all of that. And–this is key–Sinclair makes money off that. They sell tickets, hot dogs, ball caps, shirts, hoodies, basically anything and everything.
The market for those items is strengthened–but not entirely created by–Sinclair having good athletes.
I’m reaching a bit here because the biggest grossing sport by a mile tends to be football, and Sinclair does not have a football team. Football makes a lot of money. Don’t believe me?
Despite the rough economy, Bloomberg reported earlier this year that the University of Texas’ athletic department–fresh off two appearances in the last five years in the sport’s biggest match up, the National Championship Game—now has an operating revenue of $138.5 million, up 32 percent from $90 million four years ago.
The point of the article was that Texas decided to invest in refurbishing their stadium instead of investing in stocks four years ago, and now they are reaping the rewards. But that’s not my point… my point in bringing the figures up is… well… $138.5 million! Yes, that is revenue, not profit, and of course Texas has expenses, but I’m sure they’re doing fine.
My proof is coach Mack Brown’s massive new contract—$5 million per year for as long as he’d like to coach there—and that Texas’ football program generated $87.5 million in 2008. That doesn’t smell like ‘struggling to pay the bills,’ does it?
The big story here is the jump in revenue seen after Texas reached their second title game. As good a coach as Brown is, he should not receive sole credit for that. I’m pretty sure he has players, and they had a hand in all of this success.
But should they get paid? The answer is yes. Without question.
The one major myth in this that I want to immediately dispel is the idea that the scholarship they are probably coming to Texas on is payment enough. Absolutely not. Not in a million years. That education is worth a lot, but it’s not quite worth what they are providing. Remember, the players are in essence providing a very lucrative service to their university.
Here’s my solution, though. Each player is not worth an equal figure, obviously. The punter doesn’t equal the quarterback. Plus, many college presidents have complained that paying the players would crush the schools financially. Okay, fine.
If that’s the case, then change the rules and allow NFL teams to draft high school players. The best players will still come from college due to the experience, but if a player is good enough right now to play professionally, then he should be allowed to. Let the market work it out; if making the jump is too hard, then players will stop and everyone will go to college.
But at least give them the choice. If paying them is not possible for a college team, then they should be allowed to make a living plying their trade elsewhere.