Literature Review #3

Citation:

Miller, Anthony. "NCAA Division I Athletics: Amateurism and Exploitation." The Sport Journal. The Sport Journal, 3 Jan. 2012. Web. 09 Mar. 2015.

Summary:

This article discusses how the NCAA might be exploiting the athletes, in particular those in division one athletics. It describes what amateurism is and how in modern sports it is no longer ethical to not compensate the players. The article describes the NCAA as a cartel as it does things such as regulate the means of acquiring athletes and puts a fixed value on them. It describes how a player who can not afford college becomes a victim of exploitation as they must play to stay in school. The article shows how the NCAA and universities exploit athletes for gain. 

About the author:

Anthony Miller is a doctoral candidate at the United States Sports Academy as of 2011. Going to a university which specializes in sports gives the author good insight into the NCAA and any exploitation that may be going on.

Key Terms:

Athletic Scholarship: An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport.

Exploitation: the action or fact of treating someone unfairly in order to benefit from their work.

Quotes:

"The best schools are not available to everyone. Some athletes are only recruited by schools with poor academic records. Although players are not forced to attend one of those schools, some are financially unable to attend college without the help of an athletic scholarship. A student-athlete under such circumstances would be considered a victim of exploitation."

"Researchers and economists who have studied intercollegiate athletics have described today’s NCAA as a cartel. A cartel is defined as a joint group of members who create policies in order to promote the mutual interests of the members."

"The current NCAA Division I intercollegiate sports program has evolved into a multi-billion dollar industry where many of the schools’ annual revenues reach above $260 million."

"But a teenager with no prior experience who receives the equivalent of $120,000 a year is uncommon in other professions. When asked about fair compensation for college athletes, Butler University men's Basketball player Matt Howard replied, 'Forty thousand dollars plus a year to play, that's pretty good salary for an 18-year old who has no college education.'"

Value:

There is a lot of value in this article as it describes different ways that athletes can be exploited. It also gives the reasons for which the NCAA can be considered a cartel which backs the idea that the athletes are treated unfairly. It also does a good job giving the counter-argument that the money generated from high profit sports like basketball and football are used to support sports which make very little money such as lacrosse and swimming. It also points out that athletes receive a lot of different services which value over $100,000.