Reblogged:Better Alternatives for Young Athletes

[Gus Van Horn blog]

The sports attorney who represents New England quarterback Tom Brady is delivering a long-overdue challenge to the exploitative and hypocritical business model of college sports, in the form of a developmental football league:

In the same column, which, in retrospect, now stands as a guidebook for his current mission, [Don] Yee called for the development of "football corporations" that would bid on the rights to operate college football programs, rather than the universities doing it. He forecasted the eventual elimination of the NCAA, leaving schools to concentrate on education, while the football companies handled the big-business of college football.

Almost a decade later, Yee and his team are bringing these ideas to life with a semi-professional football league that will offer college-age athletes a choice they've never had before: either go to school, where you are forced to attend class and make grades, all while essentially living life as a minor-pro football player without getting paid; or join this new league, earn a salary and benefits, and learn how they really live and play ball at the NFL level.

"They're being offered a place to go to get better at their craft," Yee told the Daily News. "However, Pacific Pro Football will also encourage them to think about their path in life outside of football." [link added, format edits]

I have long advocated separation of state and economy, and thought in particular that both professional athleticsand higher education would benefit from more capitalistic arrangements. Although Yee is not, to my knowledge, a consistent advocate of capitalism, his proposals would help reduce the institutionalized entanglement of two industries, education and professional sports, with each other and with the government.

It is noteworthy here, too, that, as Yee's column (linked in the excerpt above) and a subsequent piece indicate, this new business model would be in the best interests of all involved, including the players. Indeed, this second piece reminds me of the title of a pamphletby George Reisman, Capitalism: The Cure for Racism, given the large share of black athletes so poorly compensated by the current development system. I hope Yee's idea proves successful, so that there are superior alternatives to the current system for college students and athletes alike in the near future.

-- CAV

P.S. I can't resist noting a happy by-product of Yee's proposal to pay college-aged athletes, from Point Ten of his 2010 editorial, "Finally, this system would end the tiresome sports media discussions of whether this player or that player was paid. [italics in original] Yes. Please! Let's do this!

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