While the upcoming college sports seasons are shrouded in uncertainty, one thing remains entirely clear: It’s time for Congress to allow college athletes to be paid.
The most recent high-profile case in favor of this is Clemson’s Justyn Ross. Ross, who was poised to be Clemson’s top receiver for the 2020-2021 football season, was recently discovered to have a congenital spinal fusion, which will keep him out of the upcoming season and potentially end his football career. Ross was projected to be a first-round pick in the 2021 NFL draft, which could have landed him a contract worth more than $16 million dollars like 2020 draft pick Henry Ruggs. Instead, Ross could never play again after having been barred from profiting off of his time at Clemson, thanks to NCAA rules.
The NCAA has tried to stave off reforms from states such as California, which passed its own rules to try and allow college athletes to profit off of their name, image, and likeness, or NIL — such as signing sneaker deals or other endorsements. The association has argued that different rules in different states could upend the balance of college athletics. Just last month, some of the NCAA’s most important members decided to undercut the NCAA’s position by asking Congress to intervene. The Power Five conferences of the ACC, Big Ten, Big XII, PAC-12, and SEC, asked Congressional leaders in a May 23rd letter to “not wait for the NCAA process to conclude before moving forward with a national legislative plan.”
The NCAA racket has seen increasing revenues for years, but college athletes have gotten the short end of the stick. In 39 states, the highest-paid public employee is the football or basketball coach of a state university. The NCAA has reported over $1 billion in revenues, and NCAA President Mark Emmert has a salary of nearly $4 million. College athletic departments rake in millions of dollars that go right back into renovations of grand athletic facilities. While some college athletes earn a “free education” in the form of an athletic scholarship (the quality of which can vary as athletes are frequently forced into “easy” and less time-intensive majors), top athletes like Ross have their values capped and run the risk of missing out on future earnings while college executives maximize their profits.
The NCAA is responsible for the mess it’s in with states such as California by not allowing reforms earlier. It’s rare that Congress has a chance to be the one cleaning up someone else’s mess, but for the good of college sports and college athletes, it’s time for it to put the NIL issue to bed.
