So...why doesn't the NCAA just get rid of the "amateur status/eligibility" thing?

[Ken Burch]

Wouldn't it save them a lot of time and money on the investigations and bogus sermonizing about the ethics of the game and all that to just accept the jocks getting paid openly?

Why do the even bother pretending there's anything "amateur" about college ball anymore? Why not just admit that it's now simply the farm system for the NFL?

Shouldn't they just get real and be done with the bullshit already?

In highly organized, revenue-earning competitive sports, the concept of the "amateur" was never really anything but an indulgence on the part of 19th Century aristocratic types. It means nothing in the sports world of today.

[JonLP24]

1. The NCAA is a business

It is far more profitable for them to compensate the athletes w/ scholarships, small stipends, clothes allowance, etc. than paying the athletes what they would earn in a competitive labor market (such as the way schools compete for the services of coaches).

That is the reason why they won't get rid of "amateur status/eligibility" thing.

[Ken Burch]

2. OK...that makes sense.

I had thought it was about p.r. or something...about the notion that people wouldn't watch the games anymore if they openly admitted it was all for money.