Harbaugh is looking into compensating players after they graduate

Submitted by mgogobermouch on
There’s an ESPN article that’s worth a read: http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/23467054/jim-harbaugh-c… Harbaugh is looking for ways to compensate players, for instance giving them a deferred cut of the revenue from the Amazon series. (The article doesn’t say it would be after graduation — that’s my assumption. )

ZooWolverine

May 11th, 2018 at 12:42 AM ^

How about we round up a couple of donors and they give everyone who finishes 4 years of Michigan football $100,000? I mean, it's not promised--that would be against the rules I'm sure--the donors just happen to do it each year. Would only cost a couple of million per year.

UM Fan from Sydney

May 11th, 2018 at 7:23 AM ^

I was browsing airplane suits the other day, just out of curiosity, and wow - there are some great looking suits. You’re right, some of them are essentially small hotel rooms with beds and mounted televisions.

RobM_24

May 11th, 2018 at 2:49 PM ^

That's what it cost the University, but how much would it cost to take 5 separate trips to Europe on your own after college? All travel, hotels, food, activities, and so on completely paid for. If a game show told you that you won all-expenses paid vacations to Rome, Paris, and three other European destinations, I'm guessing that wouldn't be viewed as a weak prize ...

BlockM

May 11th, 2018 at 10:52 AM ^

"Someone else is already getting a lot of perks for being incredibly good at what they do, and this makes me angry" is the lamest possible position to take.

You can have those perks too by being in the top tenth of a percent of whatever it is you do.

micheal honcho

May 11th, 2018 at 12:02 PM ^

"You can have those perks too by being in the top tenth of a percent of whatever it is you do"

 

Really?? Waitress?, Welder?, Machinist?, Seamstress? How many others should I list where there is ZERO chance of getting those kind of "perks" or even being recognized as being among the best at what you do?

Nope, we love to reward CEO's because they create the perception that they are just that special. Is there an objective way to actually measure their value? No. They create the measureables that best suit them and wave them around as "evidence" of their incredible value. Reality is there are literally thousands of professions where you could be THE best in the world at what you do and nobody will ever know it or recognize it. Much less reward you for it.

L'Carpetron Do…

May 11th, 2018 at 9:48 AM ^

Exactly, the value of those trips is not fungible and the players don't really have much say in the matter - while it's a great experience, I imagine they pretty much have to go. Would they rather have the cash equivalent of that trip?  I would say so. And I bet they wouldn't spend it on trips to Europe.

Calculations like that make my head spin - there is SO much money going into these programs but the NCAA and defenders of the status quo say there's no money to pay the players. There absolutely is.  I am aware that so much of the revenue goes back into supporting other sports,  and other schools lose money on their athletic departments, blah blah blah but come on.  

There are definitely ways to cut costs.  It's not unreasonable to think that there must be a way to compensate football and basketball players (even through a fair stipend) while also supporting others. Maybe let's start by not paying Jim Delany $20 million?  Something tells me he's not worth that much.  

ijohnb

May 11th, 2018 at 10:17 AM ^

looks like there are two seperate things here:

1) The players are not being compensated enough

2) The coaches, commissioners, corporate brass are compensated too much

I wonder if Number 1 would still be true if Number 2 wasn't?  Could it be that the players are being compensated fairly (UM Education about $150,000, stipends, European trips, outstanding training and conditioning), but that the real issue lies in how much money the others involved are pocketing and how much impact the bottom line has on the sport? 

It is clear that something about college athletics, and college football specifically, is out of balance right now.  Was it ever in balance, I wonder?  Put another way, could it be that paying student athletes feels like a "solution" to a problem that does exist but would really only be feeding the problem more? 

In reply to by ijohnb

Maize_Nation

May 11th, 2018 at 12:15 PM ^

All the NCAA has to do is let the players get paid by anybody who wants to pay them. If somebody wants to give a player $500 to sign autographs, let them. If a local business wants to pay a player to be in a commercial, let them. If a rich booster wants to give a player 10 grand, let them. If an agent or apparel company wants to pay a player, let them.

All they have to do is let the players earn money just like every other college student is allowed to. The argument that paying the players will kill off the non-revenue sports is completely invalid. Restricting the players ability to profit off their name and likeness is amoral.

ijohnb

May 11th, 2018 at 12:25 PM ^

them and allowing them to get paid are two seperate things.

I don't think the players should be paid for playing any more than they are by the school, the conference, or the NCAA.  I do think that prohibiting them from making money off their own name and likeness is an overreach.

Kevin13

May 11th, 2018 at 10:25 AM ^

these players are compensated just fine for what they do. You throw in education, room, board, books, stipens, clothes now travel, plus all the extra meals they are fed. They have a building solely for athletes to study and get free tutors. They have a football building only for football players. They get the best coaches, trainers and doctors to take care of them.  Now people think they should be paid also...... NO.......

Look if that is not enough because football takes a lot of time. Then quit and be a regular student and see what it's like to cover the cost of everything listed above. I would estimate it in the 75-100K a year to have all of that. You start paying players and they are now professionals.

JeepinBen

May 11th, 2018 at 10:50 AM ^

"These players are compensated just fine"

"You start paying players they're professionals".

The issue isn't if players are  paid. They already are. You said it. They're not paid enough. The comment above has it right - they generate a TON of revenue and see a tiny, tiny, tiny slice of it.

Elite students get everything football players get and bigger stipends. And their reseach generates a lot less for universities than football.

Kevin13

May 11th, 2018 at 11:32 AM ^

they are compensated just fine for what they do. You don't need to give them money on top of everything else they get. You start giving them a pay check also and now it's a professional job. That is what the NFL is for.

Elite student do not get a fraction of what football players get and can't believe you would even suggest they do.  How many elite students are out fitted in Nike gear head to toe, so they don't need to purchase clothing while at the university? How many receive living stipens, if they are off campus? How many are getting yearly trips to Europe? How many have a building dedicated to their studyng and get free tutors? How many have training tables for them to eat at while they are doing anything related to their field. How many have access to the UM football building and their trainers, weight room, doctors?

Their research is much more important to society then football and the research can generate billions in research funds for the university, much more then football.

People like to argue that football makes a ton of money, so it must be lining peoples pockets other then athletes. But, do people take into account how much is needed to run a program like UM? The stadium, football buildings take a large amount of money to maintain on a yearly basis. All the employees working there from maintenance to coaches, doctors, trainers, advisors, don't do it for free. Take on 85 players getting tuition, books, housing, food, travel, tutors that all adds up. They also want to make some profit that you can bank for unforseen expenses.

People also don't realize that something like 90% of athletic departments are in the red, but now we should start paying student/athletes..... No... once again they get plenty for playing a sport.  UM is a place for getting an education first and plenty of other students have to work on the side and take loans to get through schools. Football players should be thankful they have the athletic ability to get a free education, which costs most students an arm and a leg.

L'Carpetron Do…

May 11th, 2018 at 11:54 AM ^

HA! 

 "All the employees working there from maintenance to coaches, doctors, trainers, advisors, don't do it for free." 

That's exactly the point! So, all those other people should be paid, with actual money, but the athletes don't deserve to get paid?  They don't throw a pass, make a block or a tackle or dunk a basketball but they should get paid in salaries and bonuses? Why don't we pay them like the athletes?  

All that stuff the athletes get isn't really compensation - these kids are essentially the property of the university and athletic department.  

And yes, we know that the top students will have a much larger impact on society in the long run. But most of that won't be realized until well after they graduate. And not all the benefits will go to the university. And in the meantime, neither you nor I nor anybody else on here have ever paid to watch a nerd study.

L'Carpetron Do…

May 11th, 2018 at 4:47 PM ^

I wasn't aware that they get health care, I don't know how accurate that is.  And boy its pretty easy these days for these coaches to cut these kids loose.  They often find themselves without a scholarship with little notice or explanation. 

Also, not every kid on these teams is on scholarship.  And the NCAA had to clean up its act pretty quickly a few years ago when Shabazz Napier shamed them after the championship game when he said he often went to bed hungry because the scholarship didn't cover all his meals.  They changed the rules immediately after that.  

Also - if scholarship, room and board, meals and a pair of free sweatpants now and then  is good enough for the players why not for the coaches, trainers, administrators, etc.?

L'Carpetron Do…

May 11th, 2018 at 11:15 AM ^

So, I don't know what you do for a living but lets say you're a software engineer and you make roughly $150K/year (but you're probably actually worth a lot more than that to your employer - roughly $500K/year). 

Let's also say that all software companies are going to a new compensation structure in which you will be paid in room and board, books and supplies for your job and an expensive scholarship for training. However, most of the training is forced and may not necessarily apply to your job or future career and comes with stringent rules. You also have basically no time off, especially during certain times of year. Nearly all the travel and meals you receive are to further the work you do for the company. Also, all the access to the facilities and personnel is also only connected to your job.  And there is an automatic termination of your contract after a maximum of five years.

Also, let's imagine that the company is doing extremely well and revenues are increasing. But the executives and managers get paid salaries, cash bonuses and stock options.  

Soon you'd realize that you don't have much of that $150K and it's not really worth it. Doesn't sound so good, does it?

Kevin13

May 11th, 2018 at 11:41 AM ^

your really stretching. There is a huge difference between college and lfe after college especially when your talking about 18-22 year olds, but even though your scenario is ridiculous I will play along.

That job sounds great especially if most people in society would do the same thing, but pay the company 100K a year to do it and take out loans that they will pay off for 20 years so they could be at that company for 5 years to get training that they could then apply to another job once their 5 years are up. Those same people would probably also have to work at another job on the side to help pay for the privilage at working for that company.

So if that was the case then yes I would take that deal in a heart beat!

L'Carpetron Do…

May 11th, 2018 at 1:07 PM ^

Then you're a fool. So you'd be underpaid for a job that doesn't even pay real money for a shaky promise of future job prospects? Even though the people at the top are raking it in? 

Once you leave, you have no cash and roughly nothing to show for all your work  - except the 'scholarship' - the value of which is hard to put a price on. And the education is sometimes insufficient. A lot of these athletes are pushed through the system; these athletic departments often have little regard for the quality of education the players are receiving.

Also  - 'pay[ing] for the the privilege' to work at a company doesn't make any sense in any context. You basically just got Tom Sawyered by the NCAA and agreed to paint their fence and think its great.

 

RobM_24

May 11th, 2018 at 2:53 PM ^

I'm not saying the trips should be viewed as payment. I'm saying that the trips are something that Harbaugh figured out to legally (by NCAA means) add value to his players college experience, that other players at other schools are not enoying. It's not direct compensation, but it's definitely a great benefit.

Denard P. Woodson

May 11th, 2018 at 9:46 AM ^

If 100 football players each got paid $50,000 a year at Alabama and it all came out of Nick's pocket, he would still live in a free house, get all of his meals and other perks, get his endorsement deals and speaking fees, and would still make $40,000 PER WEEK ($2MM/year) from his salary.

There is so much money in CFB that the coaches and administrators are simply hoarding it, as there is nowhere else for it to go.

I understand that Nick being at Alabama is probably worth $30MM a year to the university, but that's because tickets cost a fortune and those elite players at Alabama who's bodies generate the product on the field get roughly the same compensation as those players at the University of Toledo.

I hope someone figures out a way to give a larger portion of this power 5 money to the players.  Also, the universities could cut down on seat licenses which only hurt their most loyal fans or maybe they could charge half price seats for kids under 12 to allow more working families to join the experience.

Let's get CFB (and all of sports) back to the public, rather than taking every penny we can from the consumer to give to the power structure who run the system.

Robin Hood out

ldevon1

May 11th, 2018 at 8:07 AM ^

But can you imagine if this is somehow approved. He might be cutting the throats of any program that doesn't cheat. The south would have those football crazy donors setting up retirement funds that would make it impossible for a northern team to get a high 4 or 5 star to even visit. They already have the system in place to get those kids what they want, imagine if it is somehow legalized.

Denard P. Woodson

May 11th, 2018 at 9:33 AM ^

Does anyone know how teams get around giving valuble gifts like "Gold Pants" or championship rings to players?

Seriously, can you simply give a "Gold Brick" to every player for each and every win against a D1 team? 

It's hyperbole of course, but it seems like an easy road some team down south would use to gain a recruitng advantage over their brethren.

I mean, even if it's limited to 1 gift a year, how about giving out a $10,000 gold chain everytime we beat on of our biggest rivals.  (Which is a tie between Rutgers and Illinois, of course).

Anyone know how these gifts are legal?

ZooWolverine

May 11th, 2018 at 10:43 AM ^

Hadn’t thought it through since the donor’s welcome to make whatever choices they want. Let’s say sure, you get money, just maybe dock it by a quarter. If you leave early for the NFL, no need, the money won’t mean much anyways. If you graduate you get $25k per year, so a grad transfer into Michigan could still get paid some, too.

Arinix

May 11th, 2018 at 12:43 AM ^

Let’s just pay them while they are here. Not in money, but in something like free tatoos or a nice new car. It’s legal then

goblue16

May 11th, 2018 at 12:47 AM ^

Let’s focus on winning games first then after we win our 4th national championship in 5 years we can discuss this

LabattsBleu

May 11th, 2018 at 1:17 AM ^

i'm of the beilef that a higher stipend and/or compensation based on the use of your likeness should happen.

IMO if would help level the playing field.... would it prevent crooked boosters from happening? no, but the sums they would need to pay out increases if it needs to be significantly higer than gauranteed stipends.

 

Tuebor

May 11th, 2018 at 10:46 AM ^

Allow them to sell their likeness as they please but the revenues have to be put in escrow until they are no longer eligible to play NCAA football.

If teams want to share revenues from amazon shows, or even bowl revenue (hey thats an incentive to win right?) Im fine with that.