While its president Mark Emmert believes the debate over the possible unionization is one that will proceed through courts and drag on for several years, there is no doubt that the camel’s nose is already under the tent.
When Peter Sung Ohr, the National Labor Relations Board regional director in Chicago, made a stunning ruling that could revolutionize a college sports industry worth billions of dollars, the NCAA suggested that many of the changes spotlighted by Northwestern’s unionization movement have been “under consideration for some time”.
Cynics argue that is a euphemism for ‘fiddling while Rome burns’.
The NCAA and its five dominant conferences are an “unlawful cartel” that has illegally restricted the earning power of football and men’s basketball players while making billions off their labor, according to one federal lawsuit filed last week by Jeff Kessler’s firm – Winston & Strawn – that seeks to paint big-time college athletics as being in blatant violation of antitrust laws.
Kain Colter, Northwestern’s starting quarterback last season, and Ramogi Huma, president of the group that represents the players, are seeking protections such as better oversight of player head injuries, fully guaranteed scholarships and comprehensive medical coverage.
The NCAA response over the union issue has not been particularly clear or vocal, saying merely that it opposes the idea that student-athletes are employees and that they play sports for the love of the game.
And when Kessler gets involved, there is every chance of the anti-trust suit being successful.
It is also clear that change is coming. And not before time, says West Virginia’s Athletic Director Oliver Luck.
“Forget about the law suits – they’re legitimate,” says Luck, West Virginia’s Athletic Director and father of Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck.
The former CEO of NFL Europe, who trained as a lawyer after his NFL career, was in London over the weekend to help run the Luck Skills Camp with his son – an initiative devised by the family to promote the NFL at grassroots level.
Ever the diplomat, it is apparent that Luck is frustrated by the NCAA’s reactionary stance and feels the business model needs a major overhaul.
“I’m a big believer in trying to be pro-active and the NCAA is not a pro-active body,” said Luck.
“There has been a lot of structural change that is being looked at by my industry in terms of how the NCAA operates. I think that needs to be streamlined and be more effective, but ultimately we need to change the amateur model a bit and let some steam off the kettle before it explodes.
“The NCAA never responds until there’s a crisis – but we’re very close to that, I think,” he adds ominously.
The LNRB’s ruling goes to the heart of the definition of what constitutes an employee.
Luck says: “I thought the NLRB wrote a very good opinion in terms of factually laying out how much time these kids spent playing football. Where the legal case goes will be a very interesting episode.
“I’m kind of interested in the second piece in all of this, and that is: What should the NCAA do? “What’s the appropriate thing to do?”
“Is our model of amateurism the appropriate one for this century? Is it outdated?
“I’ve said to a lot of people that the amateur model is the quaint British experiment that the aristocracy sort of enjoyed when they had the time and didn’t have to work a 50 or 60-hour week, and they could dabble in science or gardening or whatever.
“Is that quaint amateur model, abandoned by the Olympics in 1992 – and they’re better off for it – the right one at this point?
“Basically the NCAA is one of the few entities left that clutches on to this amateur model. Is it time for a major re-do?” he asks rhetorically.
Luck’s plan is simple.
“I believe that we should give these kids a stipement – a couple of thousand bucks a year. That has been attempted but always been overruled by the smaller schools who don’t have the money.
“I think we should give them five or 10 years of educational opportunity when they’re done. So, if you’ve played football or basketball or soccer and you’re eligibility has expired, and you still want to continue to get a graduate degree, then we should pay for you, since you’ve given up so much of your time for the college.
“And I think we should provide some kind of medical benefit, so if you are banged up after four years of college sports, you should be provided with some kind of medical benefit.”
It is fair to question exactly how smart the academics that run college sports really are when the NCAA pays for the development of NFL and NBA players and serves as a de facto training ground, yet receives little in return.
But it doesn’t take a genius to work out there is a flip side. A Conference, such as the Big 12 in which West Virginia play their football, is not taxed by on the phenomenal dollars it receives from TV revenue.
Luck explains: “The Big 12 give us a lot of money, which really comes from Fox and EPSN who broadcast the games. That’s tax exempt because we are a tax-exempt institution. That’s the leverage that Congress has.
“If we, all of a sudden, had a big corporate income tax on our TV pay-out… that’s a lot of money that’s leaving college athletics. That’s a lot of money that’s leaving the volleyball team, the swim team of the football team.”
That boat is not one the NCAA wants to rock anytime soon. To some, it would seem Congress has the NCAA in its pocket.
Luck also points out that college athletes should also have every reason to think they should be careful what they wish for.
“In my opinion, they are due a stipement. But I think our system would collapse if they became employees.
“I tell some of my student athletes: Have you heard about that NBA 10-day contract? Guess what, if you unionise, we might decide…”
Luck adds: “My point is it would become professional sports – it would be become minor league and that would ruin the magic that surrounds college sports.
“Now, the players do deserve more benefits, but I think we have to stay away from that employee-employer relationship, because then you’ve got workers’ compensation, you’ve got lockouts, you’ve got strikes, you’ve got equal opportunity employment commission, you’ve got all these other things that would change significantly.”
Change will come to the crazy business model, as the ‘Grand Bargain’ system is completely outdated. Of that there is no doubt.
Right now the NCAA really needs strong leadership and diplomacy, but most of all it needs to speak with one voice.
An NCAA president is always an academic person, a former college president. “That’s like me running a hospital or something,” quips Luck.
“There has always been this idea that you want athletics under the thumb of the university so it doesn’t create its own (monster).
“I do think that college football and college basketball – both of which are big sports – do need a different governing structure and ultimately need one person at the top. It’s hard to govern by report.”
Perhaps Oliver Luck had better be careful what he wishes for – he could wind up as the first Commissioner of the NCAA.