If the athletes truly brought the value and it wasn't the schools and league itself, then the NBA's D-League would be raking in the billions and they could all

If the athletes truly brought the value and it wasn't the schools and league itself, then the NBA's D-League would be raking in the billions and they could all play there. It turns out that people want to watch their school beat another school, and they aren't particular about the athletes. You can say the individuals bring value, but they destroy an equal amount of value at some other school when they succeed. Witness the last NBA lockout when the players had some all-star games and couldn't fill the seats. A mature competitive league is responsible for far more of the revenue than it gets credit for.