Hello World — The NCAA Monopoly
College football might just be the most unpredictable and competitive sport to watch, paired with passionate fans with blind loyalties to whichever university they may have attended, it is hard to argue there is a sport as exciting as college football.
The NCAA is aware of this and has essentially created a monopoly over college sports, not just limited to college football. If you plan to become a professional athlete in one of the major sports leagues across the country: NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, or MLS, almost always your path will take you through college and playing under the NCAA. For some athletes, this gives them a platform and spotlight that they would have never received. However, for the majority of athletes, this means sleepless nights studying trying to pass classes, unable to support their families or themselves even with this marketable talent and product they produce for the NCAA. All the while, last year the NCAA reported revenues over $1.1 billion, along with twenty-year contracts with CBS Sports and Turner Broadcasting worth over $11.6 billion for the rights to March Madness (college basketball) alone. It is clear to almost everyone there is something very wrong with these statistics.

Being a student at the University of Southern California (USC), football has a long and glorious legacy at the university. It is nearly impossible to not be involved with football. As an avid sports fan, I almost feel an emotional connection to the performance of the football team. There is a sense of pride being involved with this university and I am angered by the injustice done to the players by the NCAA. This blog will attempt to tackle the long-debated question of: Should student-athletes be paid by the NCAA and/or be allowed to receive money from the university or sponsorships? Furthermore, it will discuss the definition of the term student-athlete, alternatives to college/NCAA, past scandals of student-athletes ‘wrongfully’ accepting money, and the future of this topic and whether change seems possible.
The NCAA has stated that every athlete that competes in college, is considered a student-athlete. According to the contracts, each student is required to sign, they are not viewed as professionals but as students first. Therefore, they are unable to receive payment from the university or truly anyone involved with sports. These student-athletes are not viewed as professionals yet somehow manage to bring in more revenue than many of the ‘professional’ sports leagues.

The vast majority of players that become professionals go through college and the NCAA, however, that is not their only option. Professional basketball in Europe or Asia is gaining popularity and becoming more respected throughout the NBA. For example, Luka Doncic, a European player, was just recently drafted #3 overall in the NBA Draft.
There are leagues in the United States that are being created as well, like the JBA League, which pays high school and college level players so they are able to receive an income before they make the jump to the NBA Draft. The options are very limited for football however, it is almost to the point where if an athlete is not going through the NCAA there is a slim to none chance they get drafted into the NFL.
Famous scandals like, USC and Reggie Bush, SMU and the ‘Death Penalty’, and countless more which we will dive into in the next few blogs to show how crooked college sports already is. Something like, let’s say, paying college athletes their fair and well-earned share would maybe help fix the narrative surrounding the NCAA.