A Critique of the NCAA – A Comparative Analysis of US Federal Law and California State Law in Criticism of NCAA Rules

Abstract

In a day and age where the social influence of sports is extremely high, the payment and salary of employed, professional athletes is a complex process. in essence, these athletes as individuals are attracting and building business and revenue for not only their respective sports organizations or franchises but the secondary institutions, businesses, and companies that sponsor the team, as well. When calculating the total gross revenue that these athletes influence, it is quite understandable as to why such athletes, especially in sports leagues such as the NFL, NBA, MLS, NHL, MLB and various European soccer leagues, get paid an exuberant amount of money. Yet, in the world of sports and payment of high-level athletes in positions of entertainment and revenue, there lays a discrepancy in a certain realm of athletes, who are being exploited: collegiate athletes. To dissect this discrepancy of exploitation it is imperative to define and analyze United States federal law on antitrust law and labor law. Comparatively, it is equally important to analyze the body of law that upholds the National Collegiate Athletic Association, in terms of compensation of players or lack thereof and why that is so. Through such comparison the breach of federal and the issue of gross exploitation will be exposed. The point of this comparative argumentative analysis is not to invoke a debate on philosophical understandings behind the division or separation of college sports from professional sports. Yet it is to enlighten the discrepancy on an array of athletes who are being stripped of their ability to economically benefit from both their own personal actions and the usage of their names, likeness, and image to accrue a revenue for their respective sports programs and universities.