As far as paying college athletes I’m mixed. Here’s my two cents. Who do you decide to pay? Just the major money makers or everyone??? Secondly, if we are going to pay them, do they get a free ride as well? Look at Duke @ 60K a year. So these kids like the basketball team get free education, free clothes, shoes, food, transportation...etc. What should they get paid? 25K? 50? 100K? Then how do you justify the other kids who are on the basketball team who aren’t on scholly?
You think tix are expensive now??? Pay them and watch those tickets go up 25-50%.
Whatever it would look like, I doubt it would look the same as it would look ten years after that. It would require some tinkering.
My 2 cents, then, on the starting point...
*Full rides are still full rides. When we're talking about people who will be making millions of dollars
without a degree, the difference between $20K and $60K is negligible.
*Pay revenue sports only.
*Have some % of payment come in the form of a trust, available at some point later. That might allow consideration for non-revenue sports.
*Have the stipend (we'd call it a stipend) be big enough to include a little help for their families. We can never do anything to account for sheer greed, but where it's a matter of
need we can defray some of that and make it easier for people to adhere to the rules.
*Have the base stipend increase each year to allow for things like moving off-campus, leasing/buying a car, buying their own suit, etc. Throw in a term injury insurance policy based on their pro earning potential. All that might encourage guys like Frank Jackson to stay in school an extra year.
