The NCAA and the Exploitation of College Profit Athletes: An Amateurism That Never Was


Unabridged Audiobook

Ratings
Book
1
Narrator
1
Release Date
June 2023
Duration
14 hours 20 minutes
Summary
A well-constructed and reasoned debunking of the mythology of amateurism in for-profit NCAA athletics
For the last 60-plus-years, as the revenue-generating capacity of Power Five football and men's basketball has dramatically increased, NCAA Division I Power Five football and men's basketball players (college profit-athletes) have been economically exploited, their labor has been severely restricted. To mask this inequity, the NCAA and its members
created, disseminated, and embedded a fictitious 'collegiate model of athletics' established and repeatedly modified for the benefit of member schools, designed to ensure profit-athletes were denied employment status and just compensation for their athletic labor.
The NCAA and the Exploitation of College Profit-Athletes: An Amateurism That Never Was provides a comprehensive historical, sociological, legal, financial, and managerial argument for the reclassification of profit-athletes as employees. Such a reclassification would permit profit-athletes to gain not only fair financial compensation but also equal access
to educational benefits that have been promised but systematically denied.
The authors trace how Power Five college sports have morphed into a hyper professionalized and commercialized sport–business enterprise. They provide evidence that at least since 1956 the NCAA's amateurism has been a collusive, exploitative, and racialized 'pay for play' scheme that disproportionately affects Black profit-athletes. The authors cut through
the institutional doublespeak of approved benefits, cost-of-attendance stipends, or name, image, likeness (NIL) collectives to lay bare the immorality of Power Five college sports.
The NCAA and the Exploitation of College Profit-Athletes makes the case that profit-athletes (and their representatives) must have the right to unionize and freely negotiate a collective bargaining agreement with management (e.g., NCAA, Power Five conferences and athletic departments). In addition, this book offers a forward-thinking structure in which individual
labor contracts, or a potential collective bargaining agreement, address profit-athlete compensation and working conditions.
Browse By Category
Reviews
Profile Avatar
Steve G.

The research for "The NCAA and the Exploitation of College Profit Athletes" is meticulous and the analysis on these complex issues is simply superlative. The writers eloquently demonstrate how the NCAA, college universities, and administrators have profited substantially off the labor of student athletes, while hiding behind the myth and propaganda that they are amateurs - thus they shouldn't be compensated. The NCAA wisely crafted the term "student athlete" to protect the collegiate model of doing business. Make no mistake, the power five's football and basketball offerings are big business with several NCAA athletic fields bigger than NFL stadiums. Major corporations sponsor NCAA football and the annual march madness, which is a television juggernaut. The SEC's television football package was recently awarded to ESPN for $3 billion. Clemson's Dabo Sweeney, who once remarked that he would quit coaching if the players were paid, is enjoying a $93 million contract. As noted in the book, in 2017, the NCAA passed the NFL is sports wagering. This work outlines how the NCAA has prevented the players to unionize and engage in collective bargaining. It was also noted that universities have made the means to play athletes for decades, but recently the players were granted the right to benefit from their NIL. However, they should have always had this right, and the NCAA has once again avoid sharing the profits. The hypocrisy of the NCAA is on full display in this book, pointing out that Russel Wilson was allowed to play minor league baseball and be paid, but was still considered a student athlete for college football. This is a must have book for all fans of NCAA sports.

1 book added to cart
Subtotal
$24.99
View Cart