College Football Players Can Unionize

[guido911]

Let the mess start. As long as the NCAA gets ripped apart.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/10677763/northwestern-wildcats-football-players-win-bid-unionize

[davideinstein]

Pay em'

[Red Arrow]

Pay em'

Yep, and then make them pay regular rates for tuition, books......

[davideinstein]

Yep, and then make them pay regular rates for tuition, books......

Why? They bring in money and excel in their sport.

[Red Arrow]

Why? They bring in money and excel in their sport.

Why not make them pay regular rates for tuition, books......?

If they are paid to play, they will be compensated for their efforts and results much like any other employee.

I can see cutting a player in on the proceeds of sales of jerseys with their number and such but if they are paid a regular "salary" it should be instead of rather than in addition to free school.  Evidently the financial  benefit of a free education worth tens of thousands of dollars is not worth their time.

Medical benefits is one of the things I heard that the player want in case of an injury.  I can agree to that at any school level.  It's one reason my grandparents would not let my dad participate in track & field in High School, the school wanted a waiver holding them not responsible for injuries.  My grandparents rightly said no.

[rebound]

Non-sports students (undergrad and grad) are comped all the time, both in scholarships and in actual salary or stipend form.  Even lowly me, an absolute nobody at OSU, received scholarships, and I also worked for (and received a paycheck from) the university in one way or another for most of my time there.   For the major colleges, sports (and therefore the athletes) are a major source of branding and recruitment.  These athletes are not simply playing a game, they are most definitely working for the university and their time commitment is way more than any regular job a college student would have.   Their compensation package could be split between scholarship or direct payments, or both.  But whatever form it takes, they need to be compensated according to their role for the university.