They have been scared into doing something.
It is Halloween and for many big-time sports college and university presidents, chancellors, board of trustees and athletic directors, the thought of entering a brave new world where student-athletes can make some money off of their likenesses must be a scary notion. In 2023, it will be state law in California that student-athletes can make money off of their talents by selling their likenesses. The world of amateurism is over in California for some athletes and that might be a recruiting tool for UCLA, USC, Stanford, California-Berkeley and other California colleges and universities which could give those schools an advantage landing high school seniors to play in their programs. Big-time schools might want to boycott playing California schools in retaliation with Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith leading the way in not scheduling games against California teams in Los Angeles or San Francisco or San Diego or Sacramento. Ohio State could always also say no to going to Pasadena and the Rose Bowl or perhaps Stan Kroenke’s Inglewood stadium in the College Playoff series if games are scheduled in the Los Angeles area.
The NCAA men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments can skip San Francisco’s new Warriors arena or Steve Ballmer’s proposed Clippers arena in Inglewood or the renovated Lakers/Kings building in downtown Los Angeles and the money that is available in those major markets. The Pac-12 put out a statement that it was “disappointed” and the Fair Pay To Play Act “will have very significant negative consequences for our student-athletes and broader universities in California. This legislation will lead to the professionalization of college sports and many unintended consequences related to this professionalism.” Big-time college sports in the United States is a professional endeavor. Television money, marketing partner dollars, boosters and alumni contributions and ticket sales make it a billion-dollar business.
