As Ohio69 is pointing out, endorsements would just be a conduit for boosters to pay players. You could be going down the path of eliminating college basketball. Which some would be OK with but the NCAA would kinda/sorta not need to exist anymore.
I certainly understand that's what would happen. I just don't understand what's bad about that.
Hmmmm.... Well.... What's the fun in watching a rich guy buy titles? There's nothing sporting about it. At least in the current set up in the MAC all the teams are mostly on equal footing (# scholarships, budgets, facilites, etc.) and you can truly compete for a title.
Once a rich guy just starts buying MAC titles, what's the point? We are better because billionaire dude spent money? I'm not interested in that at all.
Billionaires already try to buy titles, they just do it by putting hundreds of millions of dollars into new arenas, dorm rooms, training facilities, coaches salaries, coach buyouts, etc. You think that money going directly to players instead of just "the program" is going to suddenly alter the playing field that substantially? Has interest in Oregon athletics decreased since Phil Knight started funding their athletic department?
I'm sympathetic to your point. Maybe college basketball would be less interesting if players could make endorsement money. But even if you believe it might have a negative impact on your interest in the product, that doesn't seem like a compelling enough argument to me. When you boil that down, aren't you basically telling talented people that they can't make money off of their talents because it's more compelling entertainment when they dont?
Last Edited: 3/29/2018 7:30:12 PM by Bobcat Love's Sense of Shame