HBO Real Sports to Expose the NCAA
A very controversial topic over the years, regarding the NCAA, has been whether or not they should be paying the same student-athletes that have brought in billions of dollars of revenue into their pockets. The NCAA takes in annual revenues of more than $757,000,000, according to Real Sports. The overall college sports industry generates billions annually. From TV rights fees, to merchandising and ticket sales, big-time football and basketball programs and everyone else involved in the business are cashing in on the star players, except the main attractions themselves.
And so Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel will be airing a one-hour special tonight covering the state of college sports in America. Winners of 21 Sports Emmys in 15 years, the show will feature a roundtable panel with Billy Packer, Rich Rodriguez, Jason Whitlock and Jeff Orleans.
Aside from the roundtable, the program will also document a few former student-athletes and their whereabouts, analyzing how they got to their currents jobs and their feeling about not receiving a single dime from the millions they made for their programs.
Our friends at HBO sent us a copy of this very intriguing and controversial one-hour special. And without giving away too much, we thought it would be cool to give our readers a sneak peak of some of the ways in which this must-see broadcast journalism flick exposes the NCAA:
There are two segments that will lead to the roundtable discussion. The segments feature Tyrone Prothro, a former wide receiver at the University of Alabama, Ed O’Bannon – former UCLA basketball star, and Rigo Nunez – former UMass basketball standout.
Prothro suffered fractures on both major bones as a junior in 2005, and is now working as a bank teller just down the block from the same stadium where he once starred. According to the show, the University of Alabama’s football program made $125 million in his three years with the Crimson Tide. But not a penny was or has ever been given to him.
Ed O’Bannon starred at UCLA, and in 1995 he was named the country’s college basketball player of the year and the NCAA’s Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player. He even played in the NBA for a couple of seasons. But he now works at Findlay Toyota in Las Vegas as a car-dealer. Looking back and feeling “short-changed” by the NCAA, he has decided to take matters into his own hand and filed a lawsuit against the NCAA. He states that if the NCAA could make money off him, then he should also be getting compensated. Two-dozen other former student-athletes have joined in on the fight against the NCAA since.
Aside from digging into the former player’s lives, the documentary goes on to examine the NCAA’s 2009 Tax filings. In it, they discovered that fourteen top-tier executives made an average salary of $425,000. The top official for the Sugar Bowl made over $645,000. The University of Georgia, who won that year, was awarded over 18 million dollars.
According to the findings by Real Sports, after reviewing some of the scholarship contracts student-athletes must sign, students must waive their rights. At some schools, the contracts clearly states “forever and throughout the universe,” speaking of the length they’ve waived their rights.
So in other words, the sneaker companies, the athletic programs, the coaches, the media companies, the NCAA executives and all the corporate sponsors are cashing in, but what about the players?
That’s exactly where the Real Sports roundtable discussion comes in and some answers and solutions are sought. Don’t miss it tonight, exclusively on HBO, at 10:00 p.m. (ET). A can’t-miss special for any sports fan. For more information, you can visit their official website.
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also, i wish i had HBO. damn it.
My bad y’all, just came from that Boozer/Prince post where everyone was dropping Chapelle Show quotes.
but as much hard work there is in putting into your basketball game, others could put the same effort in hitting the books. odds are against a lot of them either way
but thats a whole other can of worms i don’t really wanna open
sports is a business, and that should say it all.
Check out the flak Myron Rolle got from FSU when he decided to be pre-med and when he decided to try to become a Rhodes Scholar. His commmittment to the “program” was promptly questioned, and that partially led to him slipping in the draft.
The schedule big time recruits have creates some serious difficulties when it comes to getting a degree. It doesn’t make it impossible, but it makes it mightly tough.
And, if players don’t perform on the court, their one-year contract, which are what scholarships actually are, won’t get renewed.
I know cats that it happened too.’
No, the NCAA, or NFL or NBA are not as heinous as plantations. Yes, the athletes get benefits and their participation is voluntary.
But that doesn’t mean that the same sort of explotative power dynamic doesn’t exist.
People are either trying to remove slavery completely from the discussion, or whitewashing what it actually entailed to make it more palatable.
THE POWER OF THE CAPS LOCK KEY COMPELS YOU!
With college football and basketball players, at least they get the opportunity to study something useful and worthwhile in college, so that the majority of them can find a career outside of sports–it doesn’t always happen, but the opportunity is THERE at least.
The college athletes who suffer most from the NCAA’s restrictions are the ones who won’t make the pros–the ones who know they aren’t going to make the NBA, and STILL aren’t allowed to make some money on the side to support either themselves or their families. These players are the ones we should be paying more attention to–not the guys who go on to make millions of dollars in the NBA.
Completely different discussions here, X. Also, have you ever thought of the consequences of an athlete (for instance, a hockey player) playing in the minor leagues without a college education, and NOT making the pros?
But let’s not forget that most of us got into a game for the love of it. We should be happy given a chance to play at an elite level and at the same time be supported in educational pursuits. Peoples minds bet muddy when money comes into the equation. Not many if any country supports sporting excellence in an academic environment. Plus these student athletes have wasted only 3-4 years in their working lives doing what they love when they should be studying. Student athletes who want money you’ve got no sympathy from me.
If said player(s) is/are to be paid by the NCAA, then they shall be paid accordingly. But they shall also pay for all of their own expenses, as well. If they falter, then they shall be exposed to the real world, in my opinion.
D1 athletes get a living expense check every month. Scholarship check covers living and housing. Then the athletes get tuition and books paid for as well. FYI. Thank you Nicole. Y’all have no idea what you’re talking about. Student-athletes are well compensated. There is also a student-athlete assistance fund distributed to all institutions and conference. In addition to post-graduate funds and scholarships, of which I benefited. Nobody wants to put responsibility on the students to take advantage of the opportunities they’re presented with. Slaves? Goodness. I guess if we pay all the DI, BCS FB and MBB players, we can just get rid of all women’s sports association-wide and all of D2 and D3 sports. Many of you are speaking about the BCS Fb and Men’s BB players…ever consider how these asinine suggestion would affect the 395,000 other NCAA athletes? The NCAA blame game is getting old. Is anyone going to check who is really making the decisions – the college Presidents of YOUR Alma Maters?
MANY OF THEM GET A FREE EDUCATION, THAT SEEMS LIKE COMPENSATION ENOUGH. “Maybe if student athletes took their education seriously they wouldn’t end up, for example, working at a Toyota dealership.”
x_________ cosign
I don’t know what the solution is, but the NCAA has got to get this figured out before all American basketball players skip their 1 or 2 years of college and head overseas…
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