Should NCAA Adjust Division1A ollege football regulation_Cervantes Senior Thesis 5.2012

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The Sports Economic Disparity
“Should NCAA adjust Division1A college football regulation
for Student -Athletes?”
By
Esteban Cervantes
Submitted to the Board of Study in Economics
School of Social Sciences
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Bachelor of Arts
Purchase College
State University of New York
May 2012
Accepted:
Sponsor: S. Ikeda
Second Reader: S. O’Cleireacain

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Table of Contents
Introduction: Disparity in Division1A Football p5
Ch.1 Reasons why Division 1A college football has Disparity: p8
A. Financial Perspective:
1. Student-Athletes generate top revenues for amateur college football.
2. Scholarships don’t compensate students-athletes for their marginal
productivity equal
B. NCAA’S Amateur Code:
1. Restricts Student-Athletes from entering the Professional league
2. The amateur code limits Student -Athletes to maximize their potential
revenue in college football.
C. Coaches’ Salaries:
1. Coaches benefit full compensation for running an amateur program with
overwhelming compensation packages.
D. Student –Athlete Dilemma:
1. Student athletes don’t have the same performance as traditional
students do because of the amount of practice and class work.
2. The graduation rate of Student Athletes shows that student athletes
don’t graduate at the same rate as regular student.
3. Student athletes don’t receive the proper benefits for serious football
injuries
E. The Professional recruitments
1. Universities don’t fully disclose student- athletes the information when
recruiting
F. Black market for Student –Athletes:
1. Student –athletes since student athletes have a restriction of what
revenue they can possess, black markets emerge to create incentives for
performance and eligibility.

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Ch. 2 What changes can be done to reduce the disparity in Division 1A football? p22
A. Amendments to the Athletic scholarship
1. Make it possible for student Athletes to receive financial aid for several
years
2. Stipends to cover full cost of attendance
B. Amendments to the NCAA
1. Provide better health compensation packages for student athletes injuries
2. Allow student athletes to receive endorsements while in college to a
moderate amount.
3. Reform accounting practice for accurate revenues and expenses for
athletic programs.
4. Allow Student athletes to be eligible for the professional leagues after a
single season.
C. Creation of Minor leagues for Football
1. Minor leagues would help facilitate the players who want to focus on
football and not have to juggle school and regulations
Ch3. The Consequences intended and unintended incentives p29
A. Multiple year scholarships
1. Student -athletes would have a higher ability to graduate
2. Higher academic standard for multiple year scholarships
3. Stipends would cover the cost to attend college and diminish black market
4. Small Division1A School’s would struggle to offer stipends
B. Amendments to Amateur Status
1. health care compensation to cover football injuries
2. distribution of wealth to other programs would be cut with added expense
3. .Olympic model amateurism would diminish black markets
4. NCAA would be useless because of amateurism and would imply
professional ism in college sports

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C. Minor League
1. Student-athletes won’t have a black market at risk to jeopardizing
university programs since they can be paid in a minor league.
2. Quality of talent would be restricted in college football and the NCAA
would be obsolete
D. Mobility into the Professional league
1. By removing barriers from prospective players into the professional
leagues allows them to maximize their profits without having to enter the
amateur status of college football
2. The NCAA will not have to police schools for violations since players have
the ability to become pro without having to stay in college. Therefore
schools can police their own programs.
Conclusion: College Football needs to adjust for changing time p37
Should NCAA adjust Division 1A college football compensation for Student –Athletes?

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Introduction:
Football is one of the most popular sports in America. The high level of
competitiveness has blurred college and professional football. In college the game is a
pastime in which education is the priority. Football in both cases is highly competitive
where winning is the ultimate goal. The Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) or Division 1A
continues to grow every year along with the demand for winning. Student-athletes in
Division 1A have a tougher schedule than the average student in order to have success
on the field and in the classroom. The work load is more difficult than a professional
athlete since they have to tie in academic work not their regime.
Football has benefited college in a tremendous way. Success on the football
field has a direct impact on the number of enrollments. In the early stages of college
football, schools used their athletic football programs to attract student enrollment.
The University of Chicago used a winning football program to attract students (Sack,
Staurowsky, p20, 1998). Universities do a great job of advertising their schools through
the exposure of athletic programs especially college football.
The National College Athletic Association (NCAA) oversees the integrity of
universities and student-athletes. Athletic Scholarships provide aid to recruit students
and help fund a college education. The NCAA purpose is to “maintain intercollegiate
athletics as an integral part of the educational program. The NCAA is part of the
student body and, retains a clear line of demarcation between intercollegiate athletics
and professional sports” (NCAA bylaws 1.3.1). However, critics argue that NCAA gains

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from players’ talents and its control on student-athletes is compared to a “Cartel” (Kahn,
p211, 2007).
The thesis will look into Division 1A football and identify disparities that should be
addressed for student-athletes. By identifying disparities we can examine some
proposal methods to adjust. Yet, Intended or unintended consequence can arise from
methods used to adjust disparity for student athletes. First, should Division 1A college
football adjust athletic scholarships in college football? Studies show athletic
scholarship for high-ranking football schools fall about $2000 below the nation’s poverty
line (Huma, Stauwarksy, p4, 2011). For the most part athletic scholarships are given to
families of low income. Student-Athletes in college football for Division 1A are unique
because they bring top revenue for colleges. The scholarships granted for athletics fall
short of their value.
Second, The NCAA and the NFL minimize the mobility for student athletes to
explore their athletic options. The players have to be out of high school for at least 3
years before being able to play at the professional football level. In other sports like
baseball all athletes can opt into the professional league after attending college for a
single year. The NCAA also establishes an Amateur code. This code limits athletes from
any personal gains during their college careers. In sports like Baseball and Hockey
players have the option of going into minor leagues after high school without limits.
Should football players have similar options that basketball or baseball players
do coming out of high school? Universities place a great deal of importance on
acquiring the right football coach. Coaches in high-ranking Football schools like

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Alabama, Louisiana State and Ohio State have a great compensation package. This is
interesting because it reflects on the importance of a colleges’ football program. Is it fair
that college coaches have such a high value and can move freely compared to a
student athlete even though the student body makes most of the production?
Fourth, Student-athletes are expected to perform academically. Yet their
schedules consist of practices, traveling, and games that consume a large part of their
time. Baseball and hockey players in minor leagues don’t have to worry about attending
classes because their focus is on harnessing their craft. . Should the NCCA make it
possible for student athletes to balance out their studies and athletic responsibilities
without having to overwhelm a student with their education and football program?
Fifth, illicit payments and gifts have surge over the past recent years creating
what most people refer to as black markets. Scandals have been publicly exposed
where students take payments for performance or a result of performance on the field.
It’s interesting that players take money or gifts even though they have an athletic
scholarship that covers for their tuition. Why are amateur athletes taking payments that
are illegal in College football especially in high-ranking football programs?
College football in Division 1A can be adjusted to help benefit the culture and
state of what college football is now. Since student athletes are going to be in college
for at least 3 years they should have the chance to graduate and receive an education.
A multiple year athletic scholarships could allow student athletes to finish college. Also a
college football student athlete shouldn’t have to worry about money. They should worry

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about school work and playing football. The NCAA recently passed a bylaw to give
schools the options of stipends in addition to their full athletic scholarship.
Certain conferences have petitioned against it (Infinite, p1, 2012). By having an
allowance student athletes wouldn’t have to take in illicit payments. Having multiple
years athletic scholarships would also secure a student to graduation if an injury
jeopardized his athletic status. The landscape in Division 1A football has several
dilemmas that need to be addressed. An athlete should have the choice of becoming a
professional athlete if he has the talent or choosing to go to college at his own
discretion. The NCAA and the NFL have orchestrated a minor league farm through the
colleges in order for an athlete to become a professional. No other sport has such
loopholes to become a professional. Especially since such a small percentage of
players can become a professional strictly out of high school in any sport
Ch1. The Financial Perspective
College football players need to have a better compensation than the current
model offers. The NCAA and large school universities have made revenue through
Television contracts, corporate advertising in stadiums, apparel sponsored equipment,
booster clubs, and video game revenue royalties. There is a large source of revenue
that penetrates through college football in Division 1A. For example, The PAC 12
Conference has a TV contract that would bring $150 million dollars in revenue just to
that conference alone (Huma, Staurowsky, p5, 2011). College football brings Division

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1A large revenue that can pay for lucrative coaching contracts and lavish stadiums. Yet
the players themselves who have a rigorous practice and class regimen have nothing
but an undervalued athletic scholarship as compensation that doesn’t reflect the actual
cost to attend.
The average tuition for a college education is $12,000 and 31,000 depending on
private or public schools (Sack, p177, 2008). Currently college football programs can
have a roster of 85 players on the team. An average scholarship of $21,500 between
public and private school total money would be $1.8 million dollars, Television deals
excessed 1 billion dollars in revenue for the 2009-2010 football season (Huma &
Staurkowsky, p1, 2011), and the fact of the matter is that student-athletes bring in large
revenues to schools. The compensation to match those revenues is clearly undervalued
and creates a favorable workforce for college schools and the NCAA.
There is a $4.2million dollar difference on average between the value placed on
student athlete scholarships and profits in Division 1A college football. This financial gap
shows the lack of compensation student-athletes has even with scholarships in placed
to cover room and board. The marginal college player salary would be $121,048 using
the data provided by the NCPA research (Huma, Staurowsky, p4, 2011).

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NCAA AND Conferences’ TV Revenue 2009
Entity Total Revenue Per Year
New Revenue Per
Year
Date of Negotiation
Contract
Length
Networks
ACC $155,000,000.00 $88,000,000.00 2011 12 years ESPN
Big East $0.00 $0.00 TBA TBA TBA
Big Ten $252,000,000.00 $146,000,000.00 2007 10-25 YEARS ESPN,BTN
Big 12 $150,000,000.00 $97,000,000.00 2008/2012 8-13 years ESPN,FOX
Pac-12 $250,000,000.00 $190,000,000.00 2012 12 years ESPN,FOX
SEC $205,000,000.00 $145,000,000.00 2009 15 years ESPN,CBS
NCAA $770,000,000.00 $136,000,000.00 2011 14 years CBS,TURNER
Total $1,800,000,000.00 $784,000,000.00

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NCAA’s Amateur Code
In 1905, the NCAA was created as an attempt to police the amateur athletic
programs across the nation and to reduce the injuries at that time (Sack, Staurowsky,
p11, 1998). Since then, violence still plagues the college football but fatalities are less
prevalent. Improvements on helmets and other equipment along with better tackling
techniques have reduced violence but the athletic monitoring is still prevalent. As the
game of football grew, the NCAA power has become discriminating. The establishment
of the NCAA was built on the premise to maintain the amateur integrity in college
football. According to the NCAA, playing college football was meant for recreational
purpose and to stay fit. The NCAA primarily compensates Student-athletes through an
athletic scholarship that covers their basic tuition for college. In theory the trade off to
play football at a university for an athletic scholarship is fair.
The way in which the NCAA governs the athletic lives of student is unequal and
only benefits the schools and not the individual athletes. The only way to have a chance
at a lucrative deal in the professional league is to follow the rules and regulations placed
by the NCAA. Talented young athletes don’t have the freedom of leaving college to
enter the pros unless they have been out of high school for at least 3 years. The NCAA
clearly uses its power to “lease” players’ abilities and force them into its college athletic
system if they wish to pursue a professional career. This makes it impossible for
talented individuals who want to enter the professional league. By forcing talented
individuals to enter college sports, it reduces stipends athletes can earn. The NCAA
should allow the student- athletes that didn’t actually want to attend college a chance to

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try out for the professional leagues. This opportunity will allow athletes the preference to
attend school or try to enter the professional workforce without the NCAA choosing for
them.
Once a student enters college to play football, the NCAA controls students’ lives
and unequal compensation becomes prevalent. The NCAA’S amateur status prevents
the player from maximizing his potential revenue in college. The NCAA uses the
players’ talents to fill its stadiums and bring high television exposure. Hence, the NCAA
is able to reap the benefits from football for three years while student athletes conform
to the standards and laws placed on them in college. The NCAA still tries to preserve
its long-standing views on amateur football. The NCAA yields the production of young
adults through its amateur status by preventing athletes from being compensated.
As the game evolved the NCAA’s tremendous power and authority became
overwhelming for its members. Today the NCAA uses the amateur status to bring in
revenue and prestige to schools that is unequally compensated to the student athletes.
It’s Important to understand that the NCAA is operated as a professional entity that tries
to justify an amateur sport like football. The game of football is a big attraction and
NCAA makes a profit on this through several sources. Yet by trying to preserve students
from getting compensated to play, black markets are created for the student athletes
playing the game.

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Coaches’ compensations
The economic disparity in college football can be shown clearly by high profile
coaches in an amateur sport like college football. Is it right for a professional coach to
teach amateur football players? It’s clear that when a school hires a coach from the NFL
to run the football program in college the emphasis is clearly on sports. Coaches bring
in a professional agenda in order to develop the best chance of competing at a high
level much similar to the pros.
The average salary for head coaches in the NFL is about 2 million dollars a year
(NFLsalaries.org). One can easily mistake a college coach for a professional NFL coach
if you were to quickly look at their paycheck. Essentially what this shows is that a
university is willing to treat the coaching position like that of a professional while he still
doesn’t compensate the players for their true value in the production. Coaches are
heavily rewarded with several incentives to win. Yet students have to practice, stay
academically eligible, and not take illegal payments while the coaches enjoy the
benefits.
Several high profile coaches benefit from running a college football program.
Nick Saban left his position as the head football coach of the Miami Dolphins. Saban
currently runs the football program at the University of Alabama. Alabama University
pays him $4million a year for 8 years. He also receives bonuses for bowl game victories
(Thornton, p7, 2011). Football coaches make a remarkable amount of revenue in
college football sometimes more than what they can make in the Pros.

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Division 1A coaches can have higher salaries than tenured professors. Coaches
in college football receive a base salary plus incentives from apparel endorsements. It’s
not surprising that a university president can earn less than a football coach of the same
campus. Football coaches in D1 football make figures similar to the NFL, nearly a
million dollars in salary. The figure makes a coaches salary 9 times greater than a full
time average professor (Thornton, p8, 2011). The value is clearly placed on coaches
instead of our professors especially when the coaches make figures that are ridiculously
comparable to the Pros.
Today the coaches in a division 1A football programs have extra revenue extras.
Memberships at country clubs, free expense accounts, use of vehicle, and radio and TV
exposure payments are all just some of the underlying perks that come with the job
(Zimbalist, p81, 1999). In high ranking athletic programs coaches and schools are
targeted by sponsors advertise logos worn by on student-athletes uniforms (Zimbalist,
p137, 1999). Of course coaches have a suitable compensation deal for this and student
at- athletes have nothing to gain from wearing logos.
Thus a player walks a rigid path to balance out team practice and class work.
The payoff for most student athletes is that they can survive three years of college
thanks to the help of their coach and perform in games and practice that can catapult
them into the pros. So in essence a professor might have a potential big time salary
player in class all without finishing college. Consequently, college football is a stepping-
stone for players of high caliber who have little intention of pursuing a degree and

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graduating on time. What the school does is solicit the classrooms for the student
athlete.
$0 $2 $3 $5 $6
Jim Grobe
Gary Pinkel
Bob Stoops
Mack Brown
Jim Tressel
Kirk Ferentz
Les Miles
Nick Saban
Bobby Petrino
Urban Meyer
Mark Richt
Millions
Top Division 1A Caoching Salaries

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$0.00 $2.00 $4.00 $6.00 $8.00
Mike McCarthy
Mike Shanahan
Lovie Smith
Ken Whisenhunt
Mike Tomlin
Andy Reid
Bill Belichick
Tom Coughlin
Jack Del Rio
Pete Carroll
Millions
Top NFL Coaching Salaries
The Student -Athlete Dilemma
In college, student-athletes have to juggle several different aspects of their
college career. Several tasks like practice, games, travel, conditioning and academic
work are all some of the few obstacles a student athlete endures. This task becomes
difficult when you have to keep a high level GPA if a scholarship finances a college
career. Students also have the burden of dealing with homework and hard practice
sessions in order to be ready for game day. There’s no question that the stakes in
Division 1A college football are much higher. A school’s reputation is basically
represented on the field and televised throughout the nation. An average student-
Athlete bears a heavier workload than the traditional student. The responsibility to

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manage time to practice, games, and conform to a grade average can be strenuous.
Football coach is able to grant athletic scholarship based on athletic ability and is the
key player in allowing athletes to renew their scholarship. Simultaneously they have to
stay eligible by performing in the classroom as well
Student athletes are expected to perform above par to keep their place in the
classroom and in the field. Athletic scholarship demands a high quality of athletic
ability. Most players have a hard time juggling the demands of coaches’ expectations on
the field and what professors want in the classrooms. Ultimately it translates into
countless hours of studying and practicing which can deprive an athlete mentally and
physically. Yet they have to follow and obey the coaches’ demands and classroom
requests for student athletes. Failure to comply can lead to a student losing his
scholarship.
The athlete can also be ineligible by not studying enough for the classrooms. A
study done by Dr. Southall of the University of North Carolina found that Football
players in Division 1A don’t graduate at the same rates as the regular full time students
(Southall, p1, 2011).One of the more unreasonable disparities that exist in College sport
is that a player can lose his athletic scholarship and fail to finish his studies by an injury.
“It is not permissible for an institution to continue a grant-in-aid past the one-year period
if the recipient sustains an injury that prevents him or her from competing in
intercollegiate athletics”(NCAA Bylaws 15.3.3.1.3).

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There is no doubt that college football has numerous injuries. Students- athletes
suffer serious injuries that the NCAA and the Universities fail to be responsible. Kent
Waltrep and Fred Rensing are two student-athletes who suffered devastating injuries
leaving them paralyzed (Sack, p147, 2008). Here’s a situation where NCAA doesn’t
want to be held fully responsible a leaves much of the heavy burden on the student-
athletes and their families. Since both players were on athletic scholarships they can
receive compensation for their work on the field. Both players had to earn their athletic
scholarships by keeping academic standards and athletic ability. In court, both players
had the support by the judges. Court initially acknowledged that the NCAA is
responsible to provide benefits for such injuries. As the NCAA appealed student-
athletes were stripped of benefits for their benefits. The NCAA claims that student-
athletes’ scholarships are “educational gifts rather than payment for athletic services”
(Sack, p147, 2008). Student-athletes are given all the best equipment, training facilities,
and training camps, to perform at their best. Yet, when a devastating injury comes as a
result like that of Waltrep & Rensing, students aren’t given the best help.
Division 1A needs to be aware of how much the game has evolved since it first
was inducted in 1905. In this high division of football the role of a student –athlete has
been amplified to the point where students become a celebrity on campus. The
exposure that comes from highly televised college football games puts a student’s
college education at risk. Students recognize the significance of winning but to win
student-athletes have to put in the time and hard work to perfect their craft and keep an
athletic scholarship.

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The Professional Recruitment.
Today if you’re a highly recruited high school football athlete, the likes of a Tim
Tebow or Reggie Busch, the only way to make it through the pros is by attending
college. Recruiters often will try to lure athletes with the promise of athletic
scholarships. Yet they fail to disclose specific information on injury coverage and
scholarship renewals before athletes sign away their rights to a school which will exploit
the unlike basketball where players used to be able to go straight from high school to
the pros. LeBron James was the last athlete to do so. Recruitment is based upon the
athlete’s talent and disclosure on there future schooling like medical information and
grade point average, study regimen, practice, regimen might not clearly be stated, in
essence coaches and recruiters are pitching a sale for the athlete to attend
In football, the NFL wants players to have at least 3 years of college under their
belt in order to be eligible to enter the NFL draft (sack, p174, 2008). Players who know
they are NFL bound will look at college as a minor league pit stop. Since their junior
year they have the option of going straight to the pros. Once again the colleges and big
time universities cash in on the star players landing on their fields for those 3 years
instead of going straight to the pros and landing big time contracts and endorsement
deals that would go straight to the player itself and not the schools. One can see that
the chance of snatching the right athlete for a universities football program is a serious
business.

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These college coaching staffs have tremendous amounts of resources with the
communication tolls and technology available today. Allen Sack makes a great point by
stating that coaches can look up high school kids who have potential to become a big
time attraction all by a click of a mouse. The process of scouting a college to play an
amateur sport in which the school profits on the players talents on the field is a big
business. The inequality with college recruiting is that the coaching staff of top ranking
football universities can pay scouters to provide the best athletes for their schools. Yet
the players themselves are only being exploited through their talents and never
rewarded with the fact that they spend more than half their time on football and trying to
accommodate the requirements to stay eligible as a student-athlete.
Black Market
The rise of illicit and gifts payments in college football has exposed the black
market in division 1A is a direct result of players not being compensated correctly for
their value. According to the NCPA, average football players in Division 1A are worth
$120,000 a year (Huma, Staurowsky, p4, 2011). Athletic scholarships only cover tuition
which is about $21,000 a year on average. So Illicit payments and gifts provided for
student-athletes adjust to close the gap on what players are worth.
Black markets wouldn’t have a place in college football if athletes were rightfully
compensated. Players who are valued to be worth over $ 100,000 have to practice,

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play, and study hard to earn a scholarship that is below what the student-athlete
provides to the university or college.
Reggie Bush, a star football player at the University of Southern California had a
successful college career. Bush had to overcome living in a low income and a single
parent home. After his college career, he was found to have taken illicit payments and
gifts while he was playing football in college. Why do College football players like Bush,
take payment/gifts even though they are offered an athletic scholarship to pay for their
entire tuition? Well as we know now college players in Division1A football have the
ability to attract large markets and cause a tremendous inflow of revenues. Reggie Bush
gets offered payments because there is a value in his talents. Math students don’t get
offered money to solve a math question because they don’t do it in front of a stadium
with corporate sponsors or on television. Americans love to watch Division 1A football
and winning is solving the problem so when players get offered money it’s because of
what value student athletes have.
This is no different than when the prohibition outlawed alcohol yet the demand
was there and mobster provided the alcohol. In this situation alcohol is comes in form of
cash payments or gifts like cars or jewelry. The mobsters take the role as boosters,
fellow alumni or assistant coaches. Prohibition failed and not being able to compensate
football players is failing. The need for reform is needed to stop black markets from
taking control of the needed adjustments
The actual students who produce the main attraction are under compensated
even with a full athletic scholarship. The NCAA and the Universities takes revenue in

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from commercial sponsors and advertisement. While Student-athletes scholarships
match closely to federal poverty levels (Huma, Staurowsky, p4, 2011). Factors like
television revenue, large stadiums, practice facilities, and high profiled coaches has
made college football a billion dollar industry that compensated the NCAA, College
Football, coaches, and athletic directors. NCAA can adjust to the rules in place to make
it fair for student-athletes’ talents not be undervalued and exploited.
Ch.2 Changes to Reduce Disparity
College football in Division 1A can be adjusted to help benefit the culture and
state of what college football is now. The landscape in Division 1A football has several
dilemmas that can be addressed in several different ways. Student-athletes are the
main source of production and it’s evident that their compensation needs to go farther
than a renewable one year athletic scholarship. Multi-year scholarships are a quick way
to help benefit the student-athlete and insure a college education. Stipends to grant the
actual cost of college needs to be looked at since mist college scholarships fall under
federal poverty line (Huma, Staurowsky, p4, 2011). Restrictions on student- athletes
should be lifted. The NFL should make it possible for students to enter the professional
market before their junior year in college. Student-athlete should be able to market their
talents and profit from them accordingly. The recruitment practices must be adjusted to
provide future students with all disclosed information about individual schools and their
academic policies before choosing their future college.

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The NCAA and the NFL have orchestrated a artificial minor league farm through
the colleges in order for an athlete to become a potential NFL candidate. The NFL
restricts the opportunity of athletes to apply for the NFL after and athlete has been out
of high school for 3 years (Sack, p174, 2008). No other sport has such loopholes to
become a professional. Especially since such a small percentage of players can
become a professional strictly out of high school in any sport. The recruiting practices
need to be changed as well. Our universities should make it clear to future prospects of
what an athletic scholarship consist of by having a full disclosure provided. Minor
leagues farm systems separate from schools in football should be assembled. The
theory he is that by instituting a paid minor league system for football, Universities can
truly attract true students who see a priority in education. There is no place for
commercialism in an amateur setting like a university.
Amendments to the Athletic scholarship
It’s important that we restructure the way we compensate our student athletes in
division 1A football. The NCAA has benefited from the revenue streams it brings in.
Television deals, Corporate Advertising, Sponsorship, Memorabilia, and video game
royalties are just a few means. Student-athletes can get a share of that revenue. Let’s
make it possible for Student–athletes to be financially stable in D1 Football. Athletes
should have an athletic scholarship for several years that will allow students-athletes to
graduate without having to worry about getting injured and losing their chance to get an
education. Multiple year scholarship can levy out the amount of physical demanding
hours needed in the field and in the classrooms. This also eliminates the discretion of a

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coach who renews the grants of student-athletes’ scholarship. Academics should decide
whether an athletic scholarship is granted not a coaches discretion (p.6 2002, Getz).
Stipends
Several schools in Division 1A fail to cover the incidental cost with a full athletic
scholarship. The research done by the National Collegic Players Association (NCPA)
was able to come up with the revenue produced by college football programs in top
ranking schools. The NCPA used the NFL and the players association’s bargaining
agreement to divide the revenue and value of each team in college football. As a result
the NCPA was able to show that an athletic scholarship was valued less than federal
poverty line in high ranking schools. The incidental cost of traveling home or doing
laundry can be reimbursed by the NCAA or the individual schools themselves. Currently
most kids fall under the Federal poverty lines that receive financial aid through an
athletic scholarship. Athletic scholarship can be adjusted to cover incident costs.
(Huma, Stauwarksy, p16, 2011)
Scholarship Shortfall
Nationally
Ranked
Division 1A
Schools
Team Market Value
NFL/NFLPA Mock)
Ind. Federal
poverty
Ind. scholarship
shortfall
Team Scholarship
Shortfall
1 Texas $513,922.00 -$778.00 -$3,624.00 -$308,040.00
2 Alabama $393,251.00 -$684.00 -$2,475.00 -$210,375.00
3 Georgia $387,528.00 -$2,430.00 -$1,510.00 -$128,350.00
4 Penn State $384,082.00 -$1,836.00 -$3,924.00 -$333,540.00
5 LSU $376,485.00 -$2,680.00 -$2,870.00 -$243,950.00
6 Florida $375,916.00 -$2,250.00 -$3,190.00 -$271,150.00
7 Auburn $361,949.00 -$1,260.00 -$2,510.00 -$213,350.00
8 Notre Dame $351,010.00 -$20.00 -$1,500.00 -$127,500.00
9 Ohio State $348,750.00 -$726.00 -$4,716.00 -$400,860.00
10 Michigan $345,683.00 -$1,698.00 -$2,090.00 -$177,650.00

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Amendments to the NCAA
The age long myth of being an amateur in college football only benefits the
NCAA and the universities. Student-athletes should have the right to profit on their own
self-image. These young men also deserve to have health compensation readily
available in every school even for serious injuries like death or becoming paralyzed.
Kent Waldrep is the primary example of such tragedy. Waldrep was a star player for
TCU when he suffered a life altering injury during a college football game. As a result he
became paralyzed. The NCAA failed to compensate Waldrep on the grounds that he is
an amateur player and he couldn’t receive any benefits because it would go against the
amateur code (Sack, p149, 2008). The players in college should be able to profit on
their own commercial opportunity. The Olympic committee did so in the 1970’s and it
didn’t harm the Olympics or its overall view. As a matter a fact it only grew with the
exposure. Students can cash in on the benefits of college sports and its commercial
advertising If graduation is met. It would only be fair to both parties. If a player wishes to
sell himself he should also responsible for being a good role model and graduating as
part of the clause for accepting sponsorships. After all the purpose of school is to learn
an hopefully have the opportunity to graduate in a certain field of study.

26
NFL eligibility
Student-athletes need to a better health coverage plan. The NCAA has no
obligation to help student-athletes with devastating injuries from college football.
Several players in the past have become paralyzed or even losing a life. In both cases
the NCAA is partially liable and covering death expenses up to 25,000 and medical bills
for injuries only for a certain time. It’s time that athletes have full coverage for serious
injuries. There shouldn’t be anything to stop a player from being aided for their injuries
caused in a school program. The NCAA and schools make excessive revenue through
television and apparel contracts. It’s time that student-athletes have the full benefit of all
their injuries covered.
Accounting adjustments
An accurate way of showing expenses and revenue has to be set up for
accounting practices in universities (Zimbalist, p149, 1999). We have to have a uniform
way for accounting measures in schools. Universities are free willed to come up with a
net income. For instance a coaches’ salary can be place as an athletic or academic
expense. The right for a player to enter the NFL out of high school should be accepted.
This clause is basically unused since the level of maturity and athleticism is far too great
for a player of such young age to accomplish. By allowing a player to test the market
would at least give him the option of going professional and not waste time in college.
Professional football shouldn’t restrict who can enter the league just because of age.
Young adults can enter the Army out of high school and be at a higher risk than being
eligible to enter the Professional football league. The combines are the true test to

27
prove a players conditioning mentally and physically amongst peers to qualify as a
professional athlete worthy of the NFL. Why should the NCAA restrict the limits of
student-athletes in “free” country? This three-year window needs to be closed; players
who think they have the skills should be able to prove themselves and not have to
waste their time in college if they don’t wish to.
The proposal of closing the gap on what college players are worth and receive in
their athletic scholarship is clearly in need of change. With the great television revenue
that floods the NCAA we can help student receive extra money for normal everyday
needs like laundry and food. Basically an expense account would allow the players to
use for any needs. They are some alternatives for change varies from adjustments to
eradications. The athletic scholarship has to be adjusted to accommodate accordingly
for athletes. Closing the gap on what athletes are missing out, as a part of an athletic
scholarship is necessary. Adjustment to the injury clause should make it possible for
players on scholarships to finish their education.
Recruiting
The need to disclose all medical information and athletic scholarships renewals
needs to be fully disclosed and be understood by future college athletes. Recruited
athletes sometimes aren’t fully disclosed of what they are entitled when choosing a
prospective college. Usually recruiters try to sell them a name or publicity but lack to
inform the young adults on policies concerning health and scholarship renewals.

28
Minor Leagues instead of NCAA
A great way to resolve the ambiguity of college and professional football in
America is by creating a minor league system. In sports like hockey and baseball young
athletes can chose to go this route after high school if college isn’t an option they want
to pursue (p.5, 2002, Getz). The NFL has to start taking in their own minor league farms
and stop using the academic system as a way to breed their future players. College
football shouldn’t hide behind schools. The money that college football brings with
commercialism only benefits the NCAA and uses the athlete’s talents to fund large
untaxed revenues (p6, 2002, Getz). The NFL needs to improve by taking the burden off
college football and be held accountable by creating a minor league system. Football
should have the right to have farm systems created for those who have a clear path on
what they wish to d .Universities shouldn’t be held accountable for breeding football
players at the expense of other potential students. There is no place for
commercialism in college football when the priority is on academics
Ch3. The Consequences intended and unintended incentives
It’s evident that Division 1A football needs to reform regulations to adjust the
compensation for Student-athletes. These reforms can have several intended and
unintended consequences. The concern to reduce corruption and have college sports
operate with academic value can be a hard task. Schools in Division 1A football
programs who offer compensation to student-athletes beyond the athletic scholarship
have to expect several outcomes.

29
Multi-Year Scholarships
Closing the gap in disparity for student-athletes in Division 1A with multiple year
athletic scholarships can benefit them. Multiple-year scholarships can improve the
graduation rate of student-athletes in Division 1A. By allowing students-athletes to
increase graduation rates schools and the NCAA send a clear message that graduation
is important and that academics do come first. Our current model of one year renewable
scholarships doesn’t emphasize academics. Instead student-athletes have to perform to
renew their athletic scholarships to validate their education. By having a multiple year
scholarship schools can also reap the fruitful benefits of having a talented player in
school their entire college career. This improves the image and successfulness of a
school. This new multi-year scholarship can reduce the power of a head football coach.
Several times a new coach takes over and the existing football class and might not
renew an athletic scholarship to an existing student in order to make way for new
recruits. With a multiple year scholarship, student- athletes are able to stay in school
without the coaches’ discretion.
Multi-year scholarships can have some unintended results. With a guaranteed
multi-year scholarship schools would have to give higher academic standards to those
students in order to ensure that their academics are being honored. Students might
have to have a higher grade point average. This would cause the students to cut back
on the time spent on football and more on academics. Large schools in Division 1A
football wouldn’t have a hard time offering students multi-year scholarships. Yet, the
smaller Division 1A football programs would struggle trying to keep up with the larger

30
schools since they don’t have such a large revenue pool for multi-year scholarships.
This would give larger schools an advantage to recruit. Ultimately a new division within
1A might emerge to distinguish the upper class within Division 1A football. A multi-year
scholarship has several positive intensions, but some schools may not benefit from
such proposals
Stipends
The incidental cost of traveling home or doing laundry can be reimbursed by the
NCAA or the individual schools themselves. The intended result for stipends makes
sense. Student-athletes are reimbursed expenses not covered by an athletic
scholarship. By offering a stipend that provides a source for incidental expense,
students-athletes can lower their risk of hazards being corrupted by like illicit gifts and
cash payments. Division 1A would benefit from stipends because it would reduce risks
that can jeopardize their football programs and avoid strong sanctions. This change
would create a better image for Division 1A football.
Conversely, stipends could also have a dreadful effect on college football.
Prosperous universities like Ohio State and Alabama won’t have a hard time providing a
stipend since they generate a revenue surplus. Yet, schools who don’t possess great
financial means might find this added expense to be a burden. . Larger FBS
(Division1A) schools would also have a comparative advantage on future recruits.
Yes, stipends can help close the gap between student athletes’ real value and
what they have been granted. However schools that don’t have a successful football

31
team are at a disadvantage in relation to large profitable football programs. Recruiting
would also be unbalanced since wealthier programs are able to provide stipends while
much smaller revenue-producing schools would struggle to meet such requirements.
Since the access to a stipend might be hard for some unprofitable division 1A schools, a
greater division might derive to separate the division 1A Schools who can afford the
stipend for student-athletes.
The NCAA recently passed a bylaw to give schools the options of stipends in
addition to their full athletic scholarship. Certain conferences have petition against this
(Infinite, p1, 2012). This stipend like the Multi-year scholarships does give a positive
incentive for the student-athlete to remain in school and graduate. The stipend also
closes the gap between an athletic scholarship and the real cost to attend college. Yet,
this new stipend possesses and added expense for Division 1A college football.
Generally the smaller programs would have a hard time offering such incentive for
athletes. Again, only the larger schools could handle this added expense. Smaller
division 1A school’s would not offer such package or would have to cut back in other
programs to accommodate this added expense.

32
Health Plan consequences
The full health compensation program in place for any type of injury is going to
have strong consequences. Clearly student-athletes can feel much better about playing
College football when schools have securely established a compensation program that
will cover any range of injury during college. Consequently schools will create a better
image for their athletic programs if they can cover the cost of life-changing injuries like
those of Kent Waldrep. Families of those student-athletes who suffer serious injuries
would feel better knowing they don’t have to absorb the full burden of such a tragic
event.
This extensive health coverage would come at a serious cost which is
unintended consequence. Providing full health-care compensation would entail schools
having allocated an expense devoted to such injuries. An insurance company needs to
be established to cover such injury. This added service would mean having an advocate
to represent the players. A players’ union would be created for the benefits of the
student-athletes. Substituting employers involved which in this case might come in a
shape of a school or university.
Olympic Amateur model
Student-athletes can benefit from the Olympic amateur model. This model allows
athletes access to commercial free markets. Currently student-athletes are being bribed
by illicit payments and gifts for their performance and market value illegally. By
legalizing the marketability of a college athlete, black markets would be abolished.

33
Players can now make honest wage without having to bear the burden of ruining the
school image or imposing harm to football programs through sanctions. In order for
players to cash in on profits made through college it would only be fair to graduate from
that institution. Students still have to honor the fact that universities are a place of
education. It would only make sense for players to graduate to profit from any benefits
made during college. As a way to show good examples for future players who also wish
to retain and education and profit form their talents in a free market.
The unintended result of legalizing the commercial opportunities for players in
division 1A can be drastic. Schools would have to find a way to pay students out upon
graduation. And a set GPA would have to be met. Guidelines would have to be met for
conduct in order to receive full payment. The scholarship granting for student-athletes
would drastically be altered for students. Who are able to make money and are no
longer in need of financial aid. The NCAA would probably take on a new role or be
abolished all together since players can now market themselves legally. Finally would
players who belong to schools who have more exposure to television have an
advantage of landing large commercial deals? Smaller schools with less exposure
would be at a disadvantage to lure in high profile players since larger school already
have a marketability. Should players who were exposed in video games and had
memorabilia sold under their college be reimbursed even though they haven’t been a
part of college sports when a new law has been in place?

34
Minor League
Black markets wouldn’t have a place in college football if athletes were rightfully
compensated. Players who are valued to be worth over $ 100,000 have to practice,
play, and study hard to earn a scholarship that is below what the student-athlete
provides to the university or college.
Having a minor league farm system would result in developing the young players
in football just as they do in baseball or Hockey. A system can help reduce the
exploitation that some student-athletes and critics believe college sport posse. B y
having a farm system Players can devote their entire energy towards Football. Baseball,
Hockey and Golf are all able to operate these minor league systems without disrupting
classrooms since multiple year scholarships would be readily available. Since smaller
schools might be at a disadvantage, a cap on the number of multiple year scholarships
might have to be set. Multiple year scholarship could definitely have a positive impact
on the academic value that a university has to offer buy providing the means to
graduate. Yet, it can pose some difficult obstacle since players might cause injuries that
can jeopardize their athletic scholarship and hire standards of academic performance
might also be a requirement
Yet, Colleges would have a devastating loss to the control since they wouldn’t
benefit from players talents since they would have a place in the minor leagues instead
of the college stadium. This would hurt Ticket sales and other revenue producing
entities that watch college football since it has such a large pool of attraction.

35
Mobility into the professional league allows players to avoid college and enter the
NFL draft without going to college. If players were free to move try out into the NFL it
would make it possible for athletes who have the talent to be rightfully chosen. Players
who don’t go to the pros would obviously not enter the league. This mobility would make
it possible for talented player s to be actually compensated for their talents without
having to be in college for 3 years. This would also lower their risk not being
compensated for injuries that occur during college football. Since players have benefits
in the professional league.
By having player’s mobility into the NFL it would cause an unintentional result of
several players trying to enter the NFL draft. This would remove a large portion of the
quality of players from entering college and basically playing for free under the NCAA
rules, this would have a devastating effect on the publicity of college sports since the
level of productivity on the field would be reduced since the majority of talented players
would enter the draft. It would also open the question to see if players are allowed to
enter college after they tried out for the professional league and rejected. Would that be
allowed?

36
Conclusion: College Football needs to adjust for changing time
The state of college football is in dire need to adjust the compensation of student
athletes. As we have see3n the athletic scholarship is deeply undervalued of what a
player can produce for its school. There is a large outcry by several past and present
student-athletes, coaches and athletic directors who admit that the system in place is
flawed for the time s we live. It’s especially true given that the large amount of revenue
the schools and the NCAA are able to produce through several sources. It’s only fair for
players who are assembling the actual productivity to have some adjustment with their
current compensations. Surely the matter for change holds several risks. Yet most of
the adjustment is sought in good intentions to have positive results. Thomas Jefferson
advocated that every twenty years laws should be challenged and replaced to adjust to
changing times. It’s evident that our current state of college football need some change
to help benefit education and the well-being of sports.

37
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