Sell the college programs to the leagues with which they already do business. Sell college football to the NFL and the television networks for $25 billion and a cut of all future revenues. Same with basketball and the NBA. Let the leagues oversee player development and safety and training. Pay players in the same manner as minor league baseball players. As a condition of service, all players get an irrevocable academic scholarship to be applied whenever and wherever they choose, toward any degree from an AA to an MD.
September 22nd, 2011 at 10:00AM
This almost seems to make sense, but…. The NFL and NBA would only be interested in the programs that are making money now, so it’s a “rich get richer” deal, solving no financial problems. It can’t address the university-athletics connection, because that’s where the value of college sports lies. (When was the last time anyone watched a minor league football game on TV?)