If you’re a media outlet, and you want to cover the non revenue generating college sports, you should be running a non-profit organization. The NCAA claims it’s a non-profit, despite their 11 billion dollar television contracts and obscene revenue streams from both college basketball and college football.
The NCAA has gotten away with this “non profit” misnomer/scam because all women’s sports and every men’s sport other than the two previously mentioned, lose money. They lose money because no one cares. Well, the athletes themselves, and their close friends and immediate family care. That’s about it.
So that’s the hole in an argument from those deriding the NLRB decision ruling in favor of the Northwestern players unionizing. This is why they believe the players are not employees. They believe the players are employees ruling could lead to the end of the non revenue generating college sports. They also think that’s supposed to concern; let alone interest us.
Here’s the argument of Sports Illustrated’s Seth Davis:
People cheering this ruling should acknowledge the possibility it could lead to elimination of non-rev sports. Acknowledge, then defend.
— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) March 27, 2014
And that’s not a good thing? RT @Coach_Warzu: a lot of those non-revenue sports exist only Bc of football/basketball.
— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) March 27, 2014
Okay, I acknowledge it.
I don’t care.
Not many people do. The attendance figures reflect that.
It’s interesting that a lot of the crowd deriding Kain Colter, CAPA and the right to unionize movement are the exact same crowd (not saying Seth Davis is in this crowd, I don’t think he is, but a lot of CAPA’s opponents certainly are) that espouses so-called “free markets,” “pure competition,” and denounce “socialism” and the “government nanny state.”
So then why is it okay to then have taxpayer dollars go to a state school to subsidize a free ride for an athlete on a team that no one watches?
These sports should be made club immediately.
There shouldn’t have to be some kind of seismic shift in the NCAA cartel in order to reform the non revenue generating college sports. They don’t have to go away. They can still exist; just as financially self-sustaining entities. The extremely small number of fans that do follow these sports will still be there regardless of who’s financing it. Fans don’t care about politics and economics all that much. We in the media do. But an overwhelming majority of fans only care about what goes on in the field of play.
After all, if it’s all about the “pure love of the game,” and the romanticized notion of “amateurism,” as the NCAA cartel loves to regurgitate as talking points, then the fan interest shouldn’t disappear because the source of funding disappears, now should it?
The primary argument against this idea is Title IX and all the political struggles that it’s achievement entailed.
Unfortunately, Title IX was/is not being used by University Athletic Directors as a way to espouse political equality. It’s main purpose has been to just double the size of department budgets. Non revenue generating college sports are a fantastic idea, and from an ethereal and sociopolitical standpoint, I’m completely behind them.
However, from a practical, socioeconomic perspective, they won’t be missed. If they are indeed a casualty from the NLRB ruling to begin with. Women’s basketball is the most high profile of the non revenue generating college sports, only because the NCAA and the conferences force feed it to the media. And some media members take the bait. However, that’s tomorrow’s essay/harangue: why we need to stop shoving women’s basketball down people’s throats!
Should be fun.
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. He’s also a frequent guest on national talk radio. Banks is a former contributor to NBC Chicago and the Washington Times, who’s been featured on the History Channel. President Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)