4 ms·

>Why does paying the player hurt amateurism but paying the coach doesn't? Why would a player making $50 to sign his name on some hats ruin the game, but CBS pay

>Why does paying the player hurt amateurism but paying the coach doesn't? Why would a player making $50 to sign his name on some hats ruin the game, but CBS paying the NCAA billions for the rights to broadcast the game be totally ok? Are the players underage? If the players are treated as employees of a business would the business have to jump through tons and tons of extra legal hoops? I'm not saying that this is the case. But it's not too uncommon that messed up situations arise as a result of society's desire to protect a group.

ameliaquining 5y ago
The vast majority of American college students, including college athletes, are adults.
crooked-v 5y ago
> Are the players underage? Why would that matter? Underage sports participants get money all the time (tournament prizes, junior racing sponsorships, etc).
- throwawayboise 5y ago
  They have to be careful about that. Most high school sports associations ban any kind of payments to athletes, including prize money. One of my kids was in running and if he entered any kind of non-school race he had to get a waiver from the state and also decline any prizes (trophies, medals, ribbons, etc. were OK). I think it may also be possible for stuff like that to impact college/NCAA eligibility, i.e. once you have been paid or earned money from your sport, you are never considered an "amateur" again.
  - crooked-v 5y ago
    While that's a practical complication, it's one that has a huge number of holes in it—thus my mention of racing in particular, which is often overlooked as a "sport" despite the physical demands it can put on drivers. More broadly, it points out just how incoherent the demand that some athletes remain "amateur" is, when "amateur" is just used as a proxy for "unpaid": there's nothing noteworthy about a teenage driver winning a cash prize for a small-time race, and nobody in the pro racing world is going to say that they're not an "amateur" driver just because they got money for racing once.
  - cortesoft 5y ago
    Yes, this is part of the horribleness of the NCAA. I have never heard of someone getting kicked off their school newspaper because they wrote a paid article for someone else. Why shouldn’t athletes be the same?
cortesoft 5y ago
No, they are 18-22 year olds

ameliaquining 5y ago

The vast majority of American college students, including college athletes, are adults.

crooked-v 5y ago

> Are the players underage? Why would that matter? Underage sports participants get money all the time (tournament prizes, junior racing sponsorships, etc).

throwawayboise 5y ago
They have to be careful about that. Most high school sports associations ban any kind of payments to athletes, including prize money. One of my kids was in running and if he entered any kind of non-school race he had to get a waiver from the state and also decline any prizes (trophies, medals, ribbons, etc. were OK). I think it may also be possible for stuff like that to impact college/NCAA eligibility, i.e. once you have been paid or earned money from your sport, you are never considered an "amateur" again.
- crooked-v 5y ago
  While that's a practical complication, it's one that has a huge number of holes in it—thus my mention of racing in particular, which is often overlooked as a "sport" despite the physical demands it can put on drivers. More broadly, it points out just how incoherent the demand that some athletes remain "amateur" is, when "amateur" is just used as a proxy for "unpaid": there's nothing noteworthy about a teenage driver winning a cash prize for a small-time race, and nobody in the pro racing world is going to say that they're not an "amateur" driver just because they got money for racing once.
- cortesoft 5y ago
  Yes, this is part of the horribleness of the NCAA. I have never heard of someone getting kicked off their school newspaper because they wrote a paid article for someone else. Why shouldn’t athletes be the same?

cortesoft 5y ago

No, they are 18-22 year olds