Tuition (Hut Hut) Hike
Big time college sports have always been pretty divorced from big time colleges as academic institutions. But at least the TV deals and massive attendance numbers drove much needed money from sports back into learning. Well, sort of. Times are changing. Clemson just became the latest university to adopt an “athletics fee” for students. All students will see their tuition hiked $300 to be directed to sports programs because “athletics is a key component to delivering the No. 1 student experience.” If anything, Clemson is probably late to this party and it’s true that sports can drive a lot of student enjoyment and school spirit. But it’s notable when colleges increase academic fees to pay for sports as opposed to using sports to raise money for academics. Of course, a few hundred bucks here and there is a drop in the bucket compared to the real shift in college sports, where Name Image Likeness (NIL) deals have basically turned some college athletes into pros. It beats the former system where student/athletes were fully exploited by universities, but it begs the question of what college sports are becoming, and just how much connection they have with colleges at all. Exactly how much athletes are making and who is getting paid is somewhat of a mystery because of the lack of transparency in the industry (it is the NCAA after all). But WaPo (Gift Article) has managed to collect some data from the million dollar plus deals scored by top players to ten dollar appearance fees earned by those in less popular sports. Maybe the most interesting (though predictable) part of the story is how hesitant most universities were to share the data. The hidden NIL economy of college sports. “The secrecy veiling NIL collective deals, which sometimes include language barring athletes from sharing financial details, leaves players at the whims of boosters, often with no contracts to enforce their promises.” (This all just makes me feel even virtuous about being a Cal alumnus and lifelong Cal football fan. We’re definitely not a pro team and the only added fees go to our psychotherapists.)
