If there is one lesson to be taken from the Heisman trophy won by Cam Newton, it is that amateurism, the one component that separates the NFL and NCAA, doesn\u2019t mean much. Now, don\u2019t blame Cam Newton or his dad, because the NCAA system exists to promote \u201camateurism,\u201d which is basically code for unpaid indentured servitude.<\/p>\n
The NCAA has developed the best possible economic scenario: national exposure of its product, insane revenues, and virtually zero expenditure on payroll. Since its inception, the NCAA has exploited its workhorses with an egregious lack of concern for its participants. In one particularly damning example, the NCAA went so far as to develop a new designation for athletes in order to avoid Workers Compensation claims.<\/p>\n
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After losing The University of Denver v. Nemeth in 1953, in which the court determined that the University of Denver would have to provide athletes with Workers Compensation provisions, the NCAA created the \u201cstudent-athlete\u201d designation. This feat of linguistics ensured that athletes would not be technically under the employ of various member universities and consequently not covered by Workers Compensation.<\/p>\n
Athletes are there under scholarship, making them only entitled to the standard benefits available to college students \u2013 access to the university clinic and on-campus amenities. Because they\u2019re just normal students that \u201cfull ride\u201d scholarship covers everything, right? Not quite \u2013 a report by Ithaca College details<\/a> how the average “full scholarship” Division I athlete winds up having to pay $2,951 annually in school-related expenses not covered by grants-in-aid.\u201d.<\/p>\n I hear the typical reaction from here, \u201cOh no, how will athletes ever afford three thousand dollars a year.\u201d One should remember though, that athletes \u2013 especially in football and basketball \u2013 are more like investments and can bring significant sums of money to the university. How significant? Since the 2006-07 season, each BCS bowl has been worth $18 million to the participating conferences. There are 75 participating teams in the six BCS member conferences for an average conference size of 12.5, earning each school somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.4 million.<\/p>\n Furthermore, Division 1A (since retitled \u201cFBS,\u201d or Football Bowl Subdivision) allows for 85 scholarships per football team. With a little calculation, we find that each one of the 85 scholarships nets about $17,000 for those BCS schools just from the Bowl Championship Series. A healthy return indeed, considering the massive corporate sponsorship money, alumni donations, and advertising involved in collegiate sports. And yet, \u201cfull scholarships\u201d at universities are anything but full.<\/p>\n Boise State\u2019s post-season fate is a recent example of how impossibly broken the NCAA payout system is. In early December, Nevada beat Boise State, sealing Boise State\u2019s fate of being left out of the National Championship game. The loss, more importantly, bumped Boise State out of contention for a BCS bowl \u2013 all the way down to the significantly less prestigious MAACO Las Vegas Bowl.<\/p>\n More fascinating, though, is that fateful night, in both teams\u2019 final game of the 2010 season in the Western Athletic Conference, Nevada cost every school in the WAC about a million dollars. There are 11 teams in the WAC, and their haul from a BCS bowl would be a little over $1.6 million per school. However, because Boise State got knocked out of BCS contention and to the MAACO Bowl, the WAC member schools will only be receiving about $90,000.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not even just the big schools raking in cash. Small schools benefit as well, though the process is a bit more painful. Often, major teams will schedule small schools early in the season as pushovers \u2013 warm-up games to help ease into the season before conference play starts, as well as the benefit of guaranteed wins in a system where any loss is catastrophic.<\/p>\n Imagine me making air quotes around \u201cguaranteed\u201d though, because occasionally the stars align just right and you get this:<\/p>\n