Power 5 conferences aren’t opposed to compensating their athletes who play revenue sports above and beyond the full cost of attendance. They just want to do so on their terms.
The Bob Bowlsby amateurism statement delivered by the Big 12 Commissioner on Monday is an easter egg for fans wanting a glimpse into the inevitable pay-for-play fate of college athletics.
Speaking to the Knight Commission on College Athletics, an independent board which makes recommendations to the NCAA on a wide variety of matters, Bowlsby had the following to say when asked about the relationships that schools in the Big 12 — and other similar conferences — have with their revenue-sport athletes.
“I don’t think they’re amateurs,” Bowlsby stated. “They’re college athletes.”
When asked by the media about his position, Bowlsby provided some further clarification to his position.
“We typically categorize athletes as professionals or amateurs, right?” Bowlsby said. “And I don’t think (college athletes) are either. I think it’s a complete(ly) different genre of its own. Doesn’t exist anyplace else in the world where higher education and sports participation are linked, are co-curricular — and that makes it different.”
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The debate over whether college athletes should be compensated for their work above and beyond that which the NCAA currently allows is not only being debated in the court of public opinion but also in actual courtrooms. As that litigation is ongoing, officials working for conferences like the Big 12 might see the potential benefits of creating a system that works for them as opposed to letting the legal system dictate to them what they need to do.
Creating that system would be a monumental task. There are legal considerations, like how to remain compliant with federal Title IX requirements when almost all of the athletes playing revenue sports are male. There are also current NCAA concerns that interest in the sports would decline if athletes were compensated above the full cost of attendance. Regardless of the difficulties, adapting to a new system which the conferences and schools create could be an easier transition than implementing changes forced upon them by court orders.
A system for additional athlete benefits like long-term disability and loss of value insurance policies could also represent a tremendous cost savings over payments the courts compel the conferences and/or schools to make. At the very least, it would put the conferences and schools in control of those costs.
Adding these additional benefits for athletes could also help the conferences and their member institutions in the public relations department. As revenues from March Madness and the College Football Playoff seem ever-climbing, public sentiment that athletes aren’t being justly compensated for their work has similarly escalated.
Bowlsby has laid out what might be the ideal situation for conferences like the Big 12. Instead of waiting for the courts to declare college athletes either amateurs or professionals, the conferences could take step in and create a new class of athletes that is completely unique to the traditional understanding of sports. If it includes new legitimate benefits for athletes on top of allowing the conferences and schools to remain in control of the system, it could be a win for both sides.