How will college football change if Jeffrey Kessler's antitrust lawsuit succeeds?

Northwestern’s effort to unionize college football players will cause major changes to college football should it succeed. Unionizing will result in the scholarship players becoming employees and will cause financial issues to arise for the NCAA and colleges associated with it.

Many of the changes to college football will stem from the financial issues associated with the new employee status of the players. With the hundreds of football players in the NCAA, there will be a lot of extra money being spent if they become employees; however, it is still unclear how these financial issues will impact college football for the NCAA.

If student-athletes become employees, then the schools will have to pay extra expenses for them. These schools that are going to maintain Division I football teams are going to have to pay 20% in excess of the student’s tuition because of health care, pensions, disability insurance, and unemployment insurance. This is going to lead to a decrease in the amount of money that can be spent to maintain football teams across all divisions in the NCAA.

For the student-athletes, the status change from player to employee will also have its own effects. Colleges can offer its own financial backing plan for each athlete and players can choose which plan is best for them. As a result of that, colleges that have more of a financial backbone can pay for better players than those that do not.

“If you're USC or even Rice, you could say to a recruit, 'I know you're talking to these other two schools, but if you come here we'll pay your medical insurance for five years, plus you can collectively bargain for other things you want, plus if you graduate early you'll get extra dough in a trust fund, and perhaps you can capitalize off marketing value if you become our star quarterback,'” SMU athletic director, Rick Hart, said in a 2014 CbsSports.com article.

Taxes are also another problem that has to be considered. An athlete receives a scholarship to play for a team and study at school as a student. If they are going be employees of the school, the scholarship and wages that they will receive is taxable by the IRS. It would make it increasingly difficult for college football players to pay for and attend college because of the taxes they will be responsible for on both accounts.

"The fact that the players were not considered employees in the past is essentially the reason why their scholarship or parts of it weren't taxed before,” Garret Higgins, a partner of the Exempt Organization Tax and Advisory Services group, said in an ESPN article. ”The IRS may be able to make the argument that the scholarship is really payment for services, and therefore compensation, and is now taxable to the athlete.” 

Financial issues are only part of the reason as to why the changes are coming to college football in the NCAA, but its impact is going to be felt immediately. Smaller universities may not be able to pay as much as larger ones, widening the skill difference across Division 1 athletics. Some student-athletes may find it harder to attend college because of the taxes they are required to pay.  If this lawsuit passes, the NCAA will find their profits cut by a large margin if they want to continue college athletics.

Written by Allan Lee and Sean Santiago

The activities of students versus studnet-athletes

NCAA Logo/ Wikimedia Commons

High school students look forward to college because of all the freedom and choices they get to make, yet collegiate student-athletes do not have this perk. Their commitment to the sport takes up most of their time. They have less freedom than regular students in what they do, eat and study.

College student-athletes have more benefits than regular students regarding scholarships. There are more than 150,000 student-athletes who receive $ 2.7 billion dollars in scholarships every year from NCAA member colleges. They don’t have the burden that regular students face which is to get a job and eventually pay off the debts they accumulated in college.

“The average college student graduates with $35,200 in debt. Athletic scholarships offset these cost for student athletes,” the NCAA said on their website.

The amount of free time that an average student has compared to an athlete is very drastic. A regular student can sleep in and have their first class close to 11:00 AM. They have much more opportunities and can pick almost all of their classes. They choose, when they eat, sleep and go to bed.

The average student-athlete will have to follow a much more strict and exact schedule. An athlete's life will be controlled by the demands of their coach. On an average day, they can have practice starting as early at 6:00 AM. Their whole schedule revolves around games, travel times and practice.

When college students go out at night, they may consume alcohol or drugs. Even though it’s illegal to do recreational drugs and drink if you are underage, they do it anyway. If you are a college athlete, it is a different story.

“The NCAA shares the responsibility of promoting a drug-free athletics environment with its member institutions to protect the health of student-athletes and preserve fair competition,” the NCAA said on their website.

If a student-athlete is found consuming illegal contraband, then their consequence will be very severe, and they could possibly lose their scholarship.

“Testing positive on an NCAA mandated [performance enhancing or recreational] drug test will result in a loss of 25 percent of an athlete’s total eligibility from the day the athlete tests positive, which is one whole year for most.” said Monica Worsley in a 2012 Times-Delphic article.

The meal plan of student costs a lot of money. The plan combined with the cost of housing take up a majority of their expenses. Some colleges are starting to give their athletes free meals.

“This week, the NCAA ... approved a rule to allow schools to provide all Division I student-athletes with unlimited meals and snacks,” said Stefanie Loh in a 2014 U-T San Diego Article. “Previously, schools were allowed to give athletes one snack and one training table meal per day."

Students who have have scholarships may have the cost of college reduced, but they miss out on the liberties that college has to offer. Students who are non-athletes make their own schedule, but they don't get the prestige of playing on a team.  With such a strict schedule to follow, how do student-athletes have any time to relax?

 By Willy Herman and Daniella Smith

Aftermath of employee status

Student-athletes have little to no voice regarding their liberties in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Student-athletes have very strict hours of practice and game-related activities, and are unable to dictate what they do during this time. With the brewing Northwestern unionization case, many questions surround the future for student-athletes if they obtain the status of an employee. The Northwestern players are currently fighting for a union that would allow them to become employees in the eyes of the NCAA and have security from the strict collegiate rules.

The NCAA is liable for multiple important changes if the athletes win this case. As an employee, the players would be entitled to a salary. If players were given salaries, many schools would be losing money since only 10 percent of college sports generate revenue. The NCAA would be required to pay every player at least minimum wage regardless of the sport. Most NCAA sports barely bring in enough money to sustain themselves, sending them into further debt and possibly leading colleges to dropping sports. Although the colleges are losing a lot of money, the players are getting help since they are unable to get jobs with all the sport and educational responsibilities they have.

"All of us have bills. All of us have expenses, just like every other student,” Alabama long snapper Carson Tinker said in a 2013 Huffington Post article. “I don't live with football players. I live with two of my good friends. While I'm at practice every day, they have a job. They're able to pay their bills, buy food, stuff like that."

The major issue behind being a student-athlete is, they do not get reimbursement when they are significantly hurt. 

“Injuries sustained in college athletics that linger or develop into chronic conditions are generally not covered by a university’s or the N.C.A.A.’s medical insurance once an athlete has left college,” Bill Pennington said in a 2013 New York Times article.

Currently, student-athletes who are on scholarship are all at risk of losing their assistance after they are seriously injured.

“There is also no provision in the Division I Manual to prohibit a coach from revoking a scholarship the year after a recruit gets hurt.” Meghan Walsh said in their 2013 Atlantic article.

Players becoming employees would hurt not only many colleges, but also put the NCAA in jeopardy of collegiate sports. The players would have significant more freedoms and the NCAA would have to change their current no wage approach.

Written by Sadeon Martin and Justin Wu