RESEARCH

1. Payton Paluch
Harold Blanco
FYS Research Paper
September 17, 2014
A Change in the Making
Michael Dobie’s newspaper article, “A rim-rattling ruling in college sports;
Athletes aren't blind to the billions they earn for the NCAA. Change is coming...”
describes that college athletes are more like employees for the sports they play.
“Student Athletes” is just a preferred word by the NCAA to make the young adults
subject to their rules and regulations. These athletes bring in a tremendous amount
of money for the NCAA and don’t see a single dime of it. Student athletes are
recognized as “stupid”, “dumb”, and do just enough to get by and be able to play on
game day. “A Specialist from the University of North Carolina reported that 60% of
football and basketball players there read between a fourth and eightieth grade
level and 10% read below a third grade level. Their scholarships can be cancelled
for various different reasons that have nothing to do with academics.” (Dobie) The
NCAA is running a monopoly over some who are still considered kids, when in
reality; the NCAA is dependent on these same kids they try to rule. If there were no
athletes, there would be no games being played. When there are no games being
played, there is no revenue that goes along with it. Instead, what do these student-athletes
get rewarded with? They are given a scholarship to help pay for their

2. overpriced school tuition.
After analyzing all of the information in Michael Dobie’s, “A rim-rattling
ruling in college sports; Athletes aren’t blind to the billions they earn for the NCAA.
Change is coming…” and conducting my own research, I completely agree with his
article. The NCAA is running a monopoly over college student athletes and there are
many facts to back that statement up. In recent months, this topic has been
discussed numerous times. Whether on the news, on ESPN SportsCenter or sports
talk shows on the radio, it seems that everybody is taking interest in the NCAA and
the way they are doing business with the athletes they so heavily depend on. I am
not an athlete. I was a cheerleader and I am a big fan of sports, but have no ties to
college sports or the NCAA. I have no bias for one side or the other; instead I seek
the truth and what should be changed through the research of Michael Dobie and
others.
“Change is coming…”(Dobie) couldn’t have been said any better. It’s starting
to become evident what the NCAA is doing and people are starting to reach out and
fight against the NCAA on this matter. “A class-action antitrust suit led by former
UCLA basketball star Ed O'Bannon argues that some student-athletes should receive
more than just scholarships in what has become a multibillion-dollar
industry.”(Wharton) Ed O’Bannon is a former player under the NCAA and would
have no benefit anymore if there were to be changes. Why does he even care if there
are changes made? The truth is, he understands what these student-athletes go

3. through to make the billions of dollars in revenue possible, and he is a firm believer
that the kids should be rewarded more than what they are given in today’s sports.
These kids go through an everyday struggle whether it is in the weight room, in the
classroom and on the playing field for practice. To see them not be rewarded with
even just a small fraction of the money they make because of this hard work is
unfair.
“College sports at that level is a business, and nothing flows to the players on
whom the enterprise depends. TV contracts for the new football playoff system and
men's basketball tournament are worth $18 billion - to the NCAA and its schools.”
(Dobie) “Former and current players want a share of the lucrative television
contracts and video-game endorsement deals the NCAA generates by using their
names, images and likenesses.” (Wharton) The fans of college sports buy the games
not only for the football game play they will get to enjoy, but also to have the
excitement of playing with the college athletes they look up to. This is just another
example of how college athletes are what make these types of games sell and bring
in bundles of revenue. How much of this money do the athletes see? Nothing. Not a
single penny. Stores that sell college merchandise like game jerseys can’t even sell a
jersey with a certain players name on the back of it because of an NCAA rule. Name
me one reason why putting a players name on the back of a jersey is such a big deal
that it would be illegal? I sure can’t think of one.

4. “Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith just received an $18,000 bonus -
because one of his school's wrestlers won an NCAA title.”(Dobie) Think about that
statement for a second. All of the time and effort put in by not only the wrestler who
actually went out on the mat and won the match, but also the time and effort put it
in by his coaches and trainers just to be rewarded with most likely only a medal or a
trophy. However, the athletic director who probably only put the schedule together
is the one who is rewarded with an $18,000 bonus. Not to mention how much the
Ohio State athletic director makes a year. “Just last week, when Ohio State wrestler
Logan Stieber won an NCAA title in his weight division, it triggered a bonus of about
$18,000 - not for Stieber but for Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith, who is paid
more than $900,000 annually.”
My final thoughts on this article by Michael Dobie are that he has a legit
argument against the NCAA and the way it treats its student-athletes. I truly believe
that we will see change in the near future and unions like the Northwestern
University football team will be formed by many other schools who finally start to
act against the monopoly named the NCAA. But the debate over legal and ethical
questions regarding the NCAA's "amateur student-athlete" model has heated up
considerably over the past two years. Last fall, football players at Georgia and
Georgia Tech competed with gear marked "APU" - for All Players United - as a
protest against NCAA treatment of athletes on issues of concussions and
compensation.” (Jeansonne)

5. Sources
Jeansonne, John. "Cats Players Can Unionize; Northwestern Ruling Could
Alter College Sports." LexisNexis Academic. Newsday, 27 Mar. 2014. Web.
Wharton, David. "Suit Could Alter NCAA Culture; College Players Want a
Cut of TV, Video-game Deals Made by Using Their Names, Images."
LexisNexis Academic. Los Angeles Times, 16 Sept. 2014. Web.
Dobie, Michael. "A Rim-rattling Ruling in College Sports; Athletes Aren't
Blind to the Billions They Earn for the NCAA. Change Is Coming..."
LexisNexis Academic. Newsday, 15 Sept. 2014. Web.