The school isn't paying the athletes. Yes, there might only be a whisker separating an "alumni sponsorship" and the school itself paying, but that's the alumni'

The school isn't paying the athletes. Yes, there might only be a whisker separating an "alumni sponsorship" and the school itself paying, but that's the alumni's choice. You can't spin out an NFL or NBA minor league at this point, because you'd just have to rip sports out of college entirely. The issue is that the NCAA's amateur rule prevents players from capitalizing on their likeness. There's no reason for that rule to stay in place. If you're working in any other field, like say Comp Sci, you can go out and get work in that field while going to school. Why shouldn't athletes? You're a QB, you can sell your likeness to NCAA 2K19 or whatever and make some money. You can sell merch or do jersey signings. That all seems extremely reasonable.