NCAA Makes Big Bucks By Denying College Athletes A Salary

University of Wisconsin is trying to argue that paying student athletes is gonna destroy their athletic program. Ring of Fire’s Mike Papantonio and Farron Cousins discuss this issue.

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University of Wisconsin is trying to argue that paying student athletes is gonna destroy their athletic program. I am so tired of the NCAA. The NCAA has been able to push themselves around for so long. They start off with this discussion, well, we don't really wanna pay. Listen, these kids are going to college. A lot of them can barely make ends meet. They're practicing every day, they're bringing in millions, hundreds of millions of dollars to the university. Look at the University of Alabama. My God, they're making more money than third world countries. The players on the field are making the money for them. Now, here's the problem. Most of those kids playing are never gonna make it into the big money.

Right, you have maybe four or five from that Alabama team.

Exactly.

One or two from every other school.

Exactly. So, they're never gonna make it into the pros. They're out there fighting through injuries. A lot of them are actually having to get welfare checks just to live. They're having to get loans to live. But, the NCAA created this, well, we really care about these scholar athlete. It was nonsense. There's some great documentaries that have been done on how corrupt the NCAA is. This is always at the top of the story, isn't it?

It is. The argument that the University of Wisconsin's chancellor is trying to make here is that, well, we just can't compete with the big money that other schools could offer so we need to scrap this idea entirely. The way you fix that is that the money should be coming, if you pay student athletes, from the NCAA and it should be standard. A quarterback at Alabama is gonna make the same as a quarterback at UNC.

Exactly.

Make it standard across the board. Don't give anybody a financial advantage to get better players. I solved your problem right there, University of Wisconsin. Solved.

We're not talking about making these athletes rich.

Right.

They're talking about paying them a stipend that is in addition to the scholarship that they might have. I know we're gonna get the this is gonna corrupt athleticism in the university. That is absolutely nonsense, because the answer is, as you say, there's a norm. You're not paid more in Alabama than you are at Topeka University. It all works the same way. But, the NCAA has used this argument for decades now, and they'll always have some front guy. Who's the front guy here? University of Wisconsin chancellor. This is the guy of the day that they're gonna use to pitch this idea that oh, gee whiz.

It'll bankrupt our school. You're making millions every season for ever sport, and you can't give these kids out there who, in the case of many of them, they're risking their future out there, with concussions, CTE permanent leg, knee, arm injuries. And, they get nothing out of it?

Brain damage. We're talking about brain damage that affects them in later years. NCAA has got to be brought under control. This is the best way to do it, to take some of that power away from it. People watching this, we can't cover all the details of this story, but it's an important story because it starts developing every few years. Now, it's back out there. We know exactly what they're gonna do because they do it every three years. Here it is. Gee whiz, we have to really preserve the idea of amateurism. The term amateurs. That's the first argument. The second argument, the argument that you talked about, is it's not fair. This university A can't afford to pay what this university B pays. So what? NCAA is the person that's the equalizer. They're the people that are the equalizer. The problem is that if we start handing out money like that, you're gonna have athletes in one sport that aren't gonna be paid the same as an athlete in another sport. Well, that's reality. That's how life works.