It is all about money.
College sports is a big business. The Big 10 may be adding schools or the Big 12 may be adding schools, the Pac 12 could be adding schools after losing two big market colleges, University of California and University of California, Los Angeles and the Denver market, University of Colorado. Florida State might leave the Atlantic Coast Conference and lawmakers in Washington are trying to figure out how to pay players in what the college poohbahs think is a fair way. College sports is a big business in terms of marketing or media partners as well. The Pac 12 was struggling with media rights. It is just a business.
The colleges and universities’ poohbahs, the presidents, the chancellors, board of trustees, are trying to align themselves into proper conferences for television or streaming purposes and to attract more marketing partners. It is all about money. But it is also about trying to limit the money that college athletes can make. That is why the college poohbahs want Congress to intervene and overrule the various state laws which allow college athletes to sell their names, images and likenesses to marketing partners. There are numerous proposals but none of them have gained any traction. In one of the proposals, there would be a provision to allow the student-athletes to unionize. The college poohbahs are also afraid that the athletes could become school employees at some point as well and that would not be good for the business model. But the college football season is back with the front of the stage all that matters. The games, the tailgating, the betting, the boosters and alum reimagining their college days. But does anyone really care about the actual performers, the ones who perform in exchange for a chance at going to classes and risk their bodies? Probably not.
Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191
Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com
