March Madness: Buying Stock in College Athletics


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If NCAA officials insist that college athletes can’t be paid to protect the integrity of higher education, would it be fair for shareholders to profit as well?

Apparently not because Grand Canyon University (GCU) , a for profit institution announced ” it has accepted an invitation to join the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) and will begin the process of reclassification from NCAA Division II to NCAA Division I status in athletics during the 2013–14 academic year.” According to the GCU Athletics official website.

Grand Canyon University is traded on the NASDAQ under the LOPE symbol.

The university also settled a “$5.2 “lawsuit for alleged shady recruitment practices in 2010.“The lawsuit alleged that Grand Canyon violated the so-called incentive-compensation ban with, among other things, non-cash awards for enrollment counselors.” According to AZ Central.

Although NCAA President Mark Emmert says higher education is an “an integral part of higher education and to focus on the development of our student-athletes” , he failed to mentioned a for-profit university could also benefit from college athletics.

Emmert also added “We have to remind ourselves that this is about the young men and women we asked to come to our schools for a great educational experience. “ according to the NCAA official website.

“Traditions and keeping them are very important to universities” said Emmert when CNN’s Sara Ganim asked what would happened if the NCAA started paying student athletes.

Emmert told CNBC’s Jeff Morganteen “The vast majority of college basketball players never make it to the pros — under 100 out of about 5,000 athletes — and an all-expenses paid degree provides a much better incentive than a paycheck”.

Grand Canyon University told investors is considering a buyout to return to a non for profit private university, according to Bloomberg Business.

GCU’s basketball team failed to make the NCAA Tournament and also lost to Northern Arizona in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.