Last week, I caught Frontline's twenty-minute segment on the business of March Madness. A story from the obvious files? Perhaps. Yet I had not seen a story that delineated the situation as clearly as this report did. Here's the link.
Watch the full episode. See more FRONTLINE.
90% of the NCAA's revenue comes from March Madness. That comes to about $700 million a year. The money funds other NCAA championships, the folks who work for the NCAA, etc. But the players will see none of that money. Although there's no practical solution offered, the blatant exploitation in that set-up is sickening enough for me to start finding another way to entertain myself between the Super Bowl and the beginning of the NBA playoffs. It's a ridiculous economic arrangement that our culture is way to in love with, especially when we recall that basketball players must attend college for at least one year before they can declare themselves eligible for the NBA.
I've gone from One Shining Moment to One Shining Buzzkill. It's difficult to watch these young man--many of whom will not graduate--run up and down the court, risking injury for the sake of my entertainment and the NCAA president's country club membership. Meanwhile, the NCAA continues to punish recruits and players who receive[d] money from boosters and other sources from colleges wanting them to play basketball for their program. Hypocritical much?
Just something to think about for those of us who watch the tournament.
3 comments:
I hope you never stop blogging about basketball. But if anything helps you kick the college b-ball jones, it's GOT to be last night's Butler/UConn game. All my dad could say about it was: "This game is horrible." He was truly appalled.
I didn't know that players were required to attend college before going to the NBA? What about Kobe and Lebron? Didn't they go straight to the pros from HS? What's the NCAA going to do if more students follow their lead?
The NCAA's plantation mentality is disgusting to me. The only bright light is Shaka Smart at VCU (I just really like his name) but he's just signed a contract to spend eight more years. I don't know whether he's interested in seeing kids graduate or not.
I didn't realize that game enthusiasts have been necessary to show up at university prior to heading for the NBA
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