NCAA athletes strike...

[cyman05]

Never considered this a possibility until this line was thrown out there.

Rivals.com College Football - Huguenin: The beginning of the end

Hmm - how soon until we have the first players' strike in NCAA history?

I think in the end, unless someone intervenes, the question is definitely "when" and not "if."

Think about this. Universities are raking in about 1.3 billion per year off of TV contracts. If all these conferences expand in order to rip up their current contracts, and you get somewhere in the 75% increase that the NFL-ESPN extension got, you're going to be seeing university revenues around 2 billion per year. This doesn't include any other revenue streams, but just TV.

If the players are smart, all they have to do is walk away from the game and they'll bring the university presidents and commissioners to their knees. I don't know if that'd take the form of a season-long strike, or just striking for all bowl games and/or conference championships, but TV networks would surely sue the schools for lost revenue for not delivering their promised product.

Another item to consider. Pro athletes DO NOT really want to strike in the end for fear of lost wages for the year. But if you're an athlete, you have everything to gain and nothing to lose by striking. You're not making anything, so you have no wages to lose if you don't play. If you all strike together, you aren't going to lose your scholarships because the universities will never take them away from the athletes and give them to actual normal students attending the universities to play football or basketball because nobody would watch them play on TV and the contracts would be voided. So its only a win-win senario for the players.

Besides, if you're a player and the media accuses you of being greedy, just claim you're following the university presidents' and commissioners examples by being greedy in all this. If they were looking out for your best interests, why are they making you fly 1/2 way across the country for games when you're supposed to be going to classes. They've abandon their original mission of keeping education of students #1 long ago, so just claim that if we can't trust the example of those at the highest level of our educational system, then who can we trust?

Now, the only way a strike would happen is if all the players across the FBS level would communicate and be on the same page with each other. Is this possible? I don't know. But even if you just have a few teams refuse to play, it would send shockwaves.

Like I said, if everything continues on the trajectory its on, its only a matter of time before we see a strike.

However, my gut feeling is that we'll see some anti-trust lawsuits filed really soon by schools like Baylor or schools in the Mountain West conference if Congress doesn't intervene. This will probably cause major changes before players could organize themselves someday to strike.

I don't know what's going to happen, but I have a feeling that college sports are going to look radically different in 5 years from now in more ways than just 16-team conferences.

[jbhtexas]

Do you think ISU can afford to pay salaries to scholarship athletes?

[cyclonestate]

Do you think ISU can afford to pay salaries to scholarship athletes?

If we're in one of the major conferences when all the dust settles, the answer is yes.

[Clark]

lol. the names on the front of the jerseys are FAR more important than those on the back. If they indeed strike, it would end worse for the players than the NFL players did in the 80's. They'd lose their scholarships and unlike NFL players, they have no saved up cash/union payments to fall back on. This is absolutely one of the dumbest ideas I've ever read on the internet.

And as jbh pointed out 99% of schools can't afford to pay scholarship athletes even in the best case scenario of only paying football and basketball players.

[Clark]

If we're in one of the major conferences when all the dust settles, the answer is yes.

No, it really isn't. I'm getting sick and tired of people throwing around the gross revenue figure for schools/NCAA like they have no expenses.

People, for the love of God, gross revenue does not equal net income.

[RayShimley]

lol. the names on the front of the jerseys are FAR more important than those on the back. If they indeed strike, it would end worse for the players than the NFL players did in the 80's. They'd lose their scholarships and unlike NFL players, they have no saved up cash/union payments to fall back on. This is absolutely one of the dumbest ideas I've ever read on the internet.

And as jbh pointed out 99% of schools can't afford to pay scholarship athletes even in the best case scenario of only paying football and basketball players.

This.

Next man in if they go on strike. There will always be kids willing to fill those full ride scholarships.

[Rhoadhoused]

Plus there is a basically infinite supply of kids who would love to go to college for free or at at a bigger school than they would otherwise when the big players would strike.

[Clonehomer]

They could strike, but it wouldn't take long for anyone in an accounting role to add up the benefits these athletes recieve. That benefit, with tuition, room and board, health care, tutors, access to exclusive facilities, and more would show what these athletes get. Once that number is released they will lose the PR battle.

I still fall back in the fact that playing D1 sports is a privilege. Athletes know the financial situation going in. If they don't like it, no one is forcing them to play. This isn't soviet Russia.

[Cyclonepride]

Much, much more likely that those who are left with their butts flapping in the breeze after all this end up drawing the attention of Congress, thereby threatening the tax exempt status.

[ruxCYtable]

Do you think ISU can afford to pay salaries to scholarship athletes?

Absolutely not and anyone who thinks so is a fool. We had to drop our baseball program. The only reason we still have a wrestling program is because of a sad devotion to an ancient religion and yet there are people who think we can afford to not only have a men's swimming team (do we have a men's swimming team?) but we can afford to pay them?

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Scholarship athletes are the richest students on campus. They don't pay for ANYTHING. They get training tables, free workout facilities, unlimited free gear, free medical care, free books, free travel, Pell Grants, off-campus stipends, etc.

Mandating pay for athletes would only further the divide between the haves and the have-nots and would be a major contributing factor to the total demise of college athletics.

[RayShimley]

They could strike, but it wouldn't take long for anyone in an accounting role to add up the benefits these athletes recieve. That benefit, with tuition, room and board, health care, tutors, access to exclusive facilities, and more would show what these athletes get. Once that number is released they will lose the PR battle.

I still fall back in the fact that playing D1 sports is a privilege. Athletes know the financial situation going in. If they don't like it, no one is forcing them to play. This isn't soviet Russia.

Agree, and I'd like to see this number released.

Not to mention all the other "benefits" they get from the coeds on campus, you can't put a price on that.

[Clonefan94]

Absolutely not and anyone who thinks so is a fool. We had to drop our baseball program. The only reason we still have a wrestling program is because of a sad devotion to an ancient religion and yet there are people who think we can afford to not only have a men's swimming team (do we have a men's swimming team?) but we can afford to pay them?

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Scholarship athletes are the richest students on campus. They don't pay for ANYTHING. They get training tables, free workout facilities, unlimited free gear, free medical care, free books, free travel, Pell Grants, off-campus stipends, etc.

Mandating pay for athletes would only further the divide between the haves and the have-nots and would be a major contributing factor to the total demise of college athletics.

I would imagine this too would be the killing blow that revokes Tax exempt status for College programs. Further separating the haves and have nots. Those competing well now, even in big conferences, would completely lose out. Probably narrowing the field down to about 16 teams at the most. And probably all from the south.

I guess, in a way, it could do a lot for College athletics. Let Texas, Florida, Auburn, Alabama, etc, have their Minor league NFL, then the rest of America's schools can get back to playing college football the way is should be played, with student athletes and not pro ones.