A Threat to Unionize, and Then Benefits Trickle In for Players

[Omaha Steve]

Oregon Coach Mark Helfrich, left, and Ohio State Coach Urban Meyer make millions of dollars, but their players receive no compensation beyond their scholarships for sometimes 60-hour work weeks. Credit David J. Phillip/Associated Press

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/13/sports/ncaafootball/with-threat-of-union-comes-a-trickle-of-benefits-to-college-football-players.html?_r=0

Hosts this is a labor story, not a sports story.

JAN. 12, 2015

By MICHAEL POWELL

BOULDER, Colo. — College football has gone on a roll that would bring a giggle to the lips of King Midas.

On New Year’s Day, more than 28 million Americans watched the playoffs, and more still probably watched Ohio State’s 42-20 victory over Oregon in the championship matchup on Monday night. And, good God, that glorious cascade of cash: College conferences expect to pull in hundreds of millions of dollars; ESPN executives take daily baths in their riches; professional gamblers are beside themselves.

The coaches, those fellows in sweatpants and headsets, are experiencing a hedge fund moment as their salaries make joyful, geometric leaps upward. Jim Harbaugh experienced a down year in the N.F.L., but no worries: The University of Michigan, a public institution wrestling with budget cuts in a fiscally straitened state, recently agreed to pay him $5 million next year, with millions of dollars of incentives.

Athletic directors are paid like potentates. University presidential suites at stadiums serve lamb roast and Cristal.

FULL story at link.

[daleanime]

1. This is a perfect example....

of what's wrong with the US.

[Starry Messenger]

2. k&r