Article Title:
N.C.A.A. Coaches, Adidas Executive Face Charges; Pitino’s Program Implicated
Article Links:https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/26/sports/ncaa-adidas-bribery.html
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/fix-ncaa-cesspool-after-bribe-scandal-pay-players-experts-say-n805261
Discussion Question(s):
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Do you think this situation would have been avoided if paying players was allowed?
Do you think this happens in other schools besides the ones that were caught? Does it happen in other sports?
I think that this situation wouldn't be an issue if paying players was allowed, since these deals would be perfectly legal. The deals that were made by the sports companies would be factors taken into account when they signed with a school, so there wouldn't be any problem. I definitely think that there are similar situations at other schools besides the ones that were caught since so many have big sponsorship deals and everyone wants to benefit. I'm sure that other people have been constructing deals like so, they just haven't been caught. Although it's possible that these types of bribes could happen in other sports, I don't think it is as nearly as common. Football and Basketball bring in the bulk of the money for the NCAA and lead to professional leagues like the NFL and NBA, which is why there are so many deals happening, because they want their players to make it big. With other sports, they aren't as popular, televised as much, and don't have the moneymaking abilities that football and basketball do. Therefore, although it is possible to make deals, given the nature and path of the sport, it isn't anywhere as near as common as in football and basketball.
ReplyDeleteI feel as though that this situation would not be an issue if paying players was no prohibited. Coaches and players would not have to worry about partaking in illegal actions because it would be legal across the board. I do believe however that paying college athletes is unfair due to the equality between athletes and non-athletes however, if it fixes this problem than they should do it. I do think that it does happen in other schools besides the ones caught because there are so many universities and colleges out there with great sports teams that could be doing the same thing for the same reason. I do believe that it does happen in other sports but mostly football because of the popularity that football holds in the american community.
ReplyDeleteThe college basketball paying players scandal could have been avoided completely if colleges payed their athletes. However, that is currently not the case. College sports have always had the national spotlight, and have reeled in large sums of money. No money is allocated to the players, only the school and the sports programs. In the current case of the scandal, many college coaches have been charged with bribery to recruit players, as much as $150,000 to send to their family. Also, I think other schools are involved, but I think Louisville it the peak of the whole scandal. With Louisville, they offered more money than other colleges and had more severe punishments. However, other schools have definitely done the same as Louisville, but not on the same scale. I'm also not sure that it happens in other sports.
ReplyDeleteI believe that if players were payed, this would not be a problem. This is not just occurring at Louisville, but in many other college programs. The pressure for these kids to make money is very high, and sometimes they believe that the reward is greater than the risk and take the money. I also believe that this definitely occurs not only in other schools, but in other sports. Schools such as Ohio State make tons and tons of money off their football team and other elite sports teams. But, compare that to a team like Trinity College who is a division three school with a football team. They do not have the same resources and publicity as Ohio State, therefore it is less likely for Trinity to get caught if they were funneling money because they are a much smaller scale team and their stakes aren't as high for success, which would end up making more money for the school.
ReplyDeleteI think that it defiantly happens to other schools. In the current case of the scandal, many college coaches have been charged with bribery to recruit players, as much as $150,000 to send to their family. These kids go to these colleges because they are trapped by the NCAA if they want to compete professionally. And athletes should be payed, nether-the-less. Even if they are getting in trouble with companies.
ReplyDeleteDo you think this situation would have been avoided if paying players was allowed?
ReplyDeleteObviously, this situation would have been completely avoided if paying players was allowed. As with anything else, the prohibition of something almost always results in the formation of a black market for that specific good or service. Accordingly, the reason for the creation of this black market is because of the outlawing of player salaries. When we look at just how much money the NCAA March Madness tournament is worth in bets, "about $10.4 billion"(NBC News), we can see that there is also lots of incentive for coaches and executives to illegally deal with players, since it will most definitely mean higher profits for them in the future near and far.
Do you think this happens in other schools besides the ones that were caught? Does it happen in other sports?
It most definitely happens in other schools and with other sports. In the March Madness tournament, many more schools compete than just the 5 that were caught illegally dealing with students. And because of the very large opportunity cost for not dealing with players under the table like some do now, it is easy to see that there is a very high chance that others do partake in this illicit activity. In addition, as we know, the NCAA consists of many other sports and rakes in, "...more than $9 billion in annual revenues, according to USA Today"(NBC News). Because of the vast revenues, the NCAA makes and the fact that there are other sports within the NCAA, it is again easy to see how there is a very good chance the activity occurs in other sports. However, since only college football and college basketball make revenues of this size, other sports are less likely to have the illegal dealings like this going on. College football is the only other sport I would think that has these illegal dealings going on because it again makes very large profits, unlike any other in the NCAA (besides college basketball).
In my personal opinion, it wouldn't be an issue at all because it would be as if this was the players' job, which theoretically sounds okay, but in reality it's against the law. Due to the NCAA regulations, a player can't even recieve the smallest of gifts to join the school, so when it comes to thousands of dollars, I think it's reasonable that it caused a huge argument and negative response against the schools. Players are already being payed in a way when they get scholarships (most of the tuition covered), and giving them money on top of that is like paying them as if it were their job. I don't think that the bribing has spread to other sports, and is only in Basketball and Football right now, but I believe that this is due to the reason that these schools get a lot of revenue from the sports. I definitely think that there are other schools that do this business under the table with a lot of kids, and it possibly has happened to players that we watch now on competitive college teams.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion this would not be an issue if paying players was not prohibited, however this isn't the players job, and they are already getting paid to go to school. The social and economic demand to make money is great, and sometimes they would sacrifice it all in the moment for something that seemed to be a much larger issue at hand. I think one school may have been caught, but just because one person or even one team was caught does not mean that this was the only case. This is not an issue that happens once in one place and never again, its the kind of issue that happens from school to school, and team to team. Overall I believe that this issue is not just in this one school, but world wide.
ReplyDeleteI believe that it defiantly would not have been an issue if paying players was allowed because then it would have been legal and there would not have been so many under the counter transactions to transactions in other ways. I think that this has defiantly happen at other schools now and it will defiantly happen in the butcher of programs. Teams just want the edge and sometimes that involves with bending the rules a little to get what you want no team 100 percent follows the rules just some schools bend them a little more then others. It happens in all kinds of sports defiantly more then others but it still happens football and basketball most likely have it the most because its such a competitive thrill at the NCAA and its very high stakes. But I believe this happens everywhere in every sport just trying to get the edge in the competition.
ReplyDeleteI believe that this issue would not have occurred if the payment to College athletes was permitted. Bribery would be allowed in the sense that the school that wants the athlete the most will offer the highest scholarship, or salary. All of the deals that were illegal in this scandal would have been legal if this simple rule were changed. I do not believe that this is happening in other schools, because it would definitely be caught already. With this arising major scandal that involves many people and many schools, you would think that the FBI would be strictly examining all other schools, as it seems to be very common in a few of them. If this is the case, there should be no other schools that are operating illegally like this without being caught; however this theory may be completely improbable and many schools may possibly have illegal deals such as these. As for other sports, I am unsure about. It is very possible that other sports make deals such as these under the table as well, however I am uniformed about this.
ReplyDeleteI believe that this situation never would have occurred if payment towards college athletes was allowed. Though I believe that college athletes shouldn't be paid, but "scandals" like this will happen regardless of the rules, so why not just change the rules? These schools, such as Louisville are not only breaking the rules, but they are gaining an unfair edge over their opponents. If they are paying players to come to their school, that just isn't fair for other competing schools. By making this legal, now all schools would be able to compete for athletes fairly. I believe that this is not only happening at the schools that were caught, but in many other places across the country. If this rule is not changed, sadly, this will continue to happen.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, this issue would not have happened it is college athletes WERE being paid, but I also don't think college athletes SHOULD be paid. This problem is based on morals, these coaches and athletes knew exactly what they were doing as they were doing it, and therefore they should be punished for it. Maybe not the players, but the coaches at least. I'm sure that this does happen at other schools, its inevitable. I'm also sure that it happens in other sports as well. The college football scene is so huge, and the players are so incredibly good that coaches are going to push harder and harder to get the kids they want, and I'm sure they feel pressured to offer kids more than just a scholarship.
ReplyDeleteI dont think this would be an issue if college athletes were able to be paid. These deals would have been perfectly fine and not had to happen in secret. However, since they arent legal there should be some consequence. I dont believe the players should be punished because they just thought there coach wanted the best for them. Coaches on the other hand should be punished for pushing there players and benefiting financially from it.
ReplyDeleteI believe that even if players were reimbursed, this would still happen to a certain extent. Young people often have greed, so it is hard to believe players won’t take more money if they were given the opportunity. Players are not the ones to be blamed in this situation, but the coaches and advisors are. A career in college sports is not guaranteed so players do deserve some compensation. This was not the first time players have been payed and it won't be the last. It may be 10 years till we hear about another case on this level but it will happen again. This does happen in other sports such as football and baseball but not to this extent. This is probably the worst case the NCAA has ever had.
ReplyDeleteIf Student athletes get paid obviously this scandal would not have happened. However, I believe athletes should not get paid. There is a reason they are called student athletes. Although they are making large sums of money for their schools they are not professionals and don't deserve to make money.
ReplyDeleteI think if players were paid this would still happen. I think colleges would still pay players more money to come to their school and sports companies would still pay players. I think other colleges and sports pay players because they have the same agenda which is to get the best players they can. I think the only way that situations like these can be prevented is to have supervision at all times during recruitment.
ReplyDeleteI dont blame the players for falling into this. young adults will never pass up an easy money opportunity. It is the school and the company that are the issue. I think some collage athletes could use the extra bucks but not in this scandalous way. If it were open to the public and talked about then the scandal could have been avoided.
ReplyDeleteIt would still happen. Teams would still go outside the guidelines to get players to play for them. Making the rules less strict won't stop schools from bending them to get ahead. It might happen less than it does now, but people will definitely still do it. I think athletes should be paid, but not to stop this sort of thing. It definitely happens in other schools, and probably does in other sports too. It's just a really easy way to more players, and to sway top players to come to your school.
ReplyDeleteDo you think this situation would have been avoided if paying players was allowed?
ReplyDeleteNo, I don’t think this wouldn’t have changed anything because in this case, the coach got exotic dancers for the students, which is still unacceptable in any case for a college coach to do. Also if college athletes were getting paid, the coaches would offer other things instead of money, that would influence the players.
Do you think this happens in other schools besides the ones that were caught? Does it happen in other sports?
I do think this happens in other schools because there are so many cases like this, that go under the radar. For example, the Syracuse basketball team. The Syracuse Basketball Boosters were recruiting younger kids at poorer places, telling them to go to Syracuse. I think it definitely happens in other sports, especially in football because they create so much money, and the coaches make a lot of money. So there’s plenty of capital for the players to paid with.
Do you think this situation would have been avoided if paying players was allowed?
ReplyDeleteDo you think this happens in other schools besides the ones that were caught? Does it happen in other sports?
It would be avoided. The players would have the right to take money from organizations like Adidas and Louisville for their play, so there would be nothing illegal about the transaction. So, there would be no scandal. In fact, I think that this kind of transaction would be beneficial to all three parties. Personally, I think this would be fair.
It also probably happens in other schools. The fact that the FBI caught Louisville doing it this time means that there is a underground market for this kind of thing. Louisville probably isn't the only player in this game, they just were the ones that got caught. Other sports are not as lucrative as basketball, but they still bring in a lot of money. Where there is an opportunity to make money, there will be people bending the rules to bring in more of it, especially in unchartered waters like paying college athletes.
If colleges were allowed to pay their athletes and NCAA endorsement restrictions were loosened, I believe that this issue would not have occurred. Schools would be allowed to pay their athletes with a salary and sportswear companies would be allowed to make endorsement deals with the players. If this were the case, all of the deals involved in this scandal would have been considered legal. With the FBI on high alert right now thanks to these crimes, I think that any deals made under the table that are similar to those made at Louisville will subside or be caught. I am not sure if other schools participate in scandals similar to this one; however, with the FBI avidly examining the operations of sports teams from other schools, I wouldn't be surprised if some are uncovered in the near future.
ReplyDelete