The NCAA at a Crossroads: A Death Knell or a New Beginning?

The NCAA at a Crossroads: A Death Knell or a New Beginning?

With multiple lawsuits, unionization efforts by college students, and state laws allowing students to sign NIL deals, the NCAA has been pummeled in the courts, the states, the National Labor Relations Board, and the court of public opinion. In this episode of the Sports Business Podcast with Prof. C., he examines the mounting challenges this venerable organization faces, and the ways in which it could solve its problems and reform college athletics. Hard decisions will have to be made and purists won’t like it, but, as Professor Conrad explains, a brave new world will await the NCAA, like it or not. Tune in!

  • 00;00;00;00 - 00;00;38;02
    Mark Conrad
    Hello and welcome to the Sports Business Podcast with Prof. C, the podcast that explores the world of professional, collegiate, amateur, and Olympic sports. I’m Mark Conrad or Prof. C from Fordham University's Gabelli School of Business, where I serve as Professor of Law and Ethics and the Director of the Sports Business Initiative. The NCAA is the legal gift that keeps on giving.

    00;00;38;04 - 00;01;25;27
    Mark Conrad
    If betting on the outcome in any of the myriad legal challenges against its authority was allowed, it is almost a sure thing to wager against this beleaguered organization. One court grants, class action certification to student athletes challenging its compensation restrictions. Another court grants a preliminary injunction preventing enforcement of its name, image and likeness rules. A Supreme Court justice calls its business model illegal in just about any other business in America. It is likely that student athletes will be considered employees in the next year or so, and after that, look for team athletes to unionize to negotiate compensation and benefits.

    00;01;25;29 - 00;02;03;06
    Mark Conrad
    How could things go so badly so fast for this venerable organization? How did it stay stuck in the ground until it was too late? These are questions we can all ask, but at the core, is its flawed conception of its mission or its credo, not a business, but a bastion of amateurism. The notion is nonsensical in today's age of multibillion dollar TV contracts, merchandising, brand identity, and conference realignment. The big time schools use athletic success as a recruitment tool.

    00;02;03;08 - 00;02;39;26
    Mark Conrad
    Many other institutions tout the achievement of their athletes as a way to entice alumni to shell out money to subsidize these programs and to help students get NIL deals. Finally, top tier college coaches are highly paid for their services, even in schools that are not vying for national titles. So who are we kidding? But the NCAA waives its tattered flag of amateurism to judges, labor regulators, and the halls of Congress to little avail and increasing mockery.

    00;02;39;28 - 00;03;16;14
    Mark Conrad
    At the same time, it takes tentative steps to a semblance of reality. When it recently proposed a compensation system for athletes in certain top programs. The latest nail in the coffin of amateurism was the recent vote by members of Dartmouth College's men's basketball team to unionize. That vote - 13 to 2 - comes shortly after the regional director of the National Labor Relations Board concluded that these students fit the definition of employees under the labor laws.

    00;03;16;16 - 00;03;56;14
    Mark Conrad
    While this determination will be appealed to the entire National Labor Relations Board - and possibly endure court challenges after that - the vote by a group of Ivy League students who don't receive scholarships and play on a team that is not one of the powerhouses of college sports is significant. The seismic changes put college sports at a crossroad. Schools can go one of two ways - embrace a professional system of compensation and unionization, or continue a path of litigation and more litigation and attempts to lobby Congress to save the NCAA’s

    00;03;56;17 - 00;04;31;15
    Mark Conrad
    butt by creating an exemption from antitrust laws. But there's another approach. For some college athletic programs. It may make more sense to abandon this NCAA system for a system of home grown club sports. No big money, no pressure, no alumni base NIL collectives, just the experience of playing on an athletic team for the joy of doing so. An alternative that meets the more virtuous goals of amateur college sports.

    00;04;31;17 - 00;04;57;03
    Mark Conrad
    Any thoughts? Send them to me at [email protected]. Thank you for listening. Until next time, this is Prof. C for the Gabelli School of Sports Business Initiative.