The Pac-12 implosion is latest example of the farce that is college sports [View all]
The implosion of the Pac-12 is merely the latest example of the farce that has become college sports. For some time now, the athletic-industrial complex has been chipping away at the pretense that student-athletes, at least in revenue-generating sports, attend the college of their choice for any reason other than playing ball. And why should they? The adults who run their programs are utterly transparent about what’s important to them: money. That’s why five Western schools are fleeing, for more lucrative television contracts.
What’s notable, and pathetic, is that the commentary around the death of the Pac-12 isn’t so much lamenting the pernicious impact of money on college sports as sadness for the demise of the status quo. A great regional sports league, long ago tainted by crass commercialism, the Pac-12 didn’t play the money game as well as its Midwestern and Southeastern athletic competitors.
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But forgotten in this discussion are the athletes, also known as the largely unpaid workers who prop up a racket that once was about enriching the bodies and minds of students. Focusing on more fairly compensating the players, while not perfect, presents a partial solution to the debacle.
The erosion in amateur college sports was well underway long before this latest TV-contract-induced reshuffling. Since 2018, the NCAA has operated a “transfer portal” that gives student-athletes the flexibility to switch schools — and teams. That means that during a season, a football coach might send out a squad filled with players other than those recruited from high school. According to the NCAA, there were nearly 10,000 sports transfers in 2021.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/08/07/pac-12-collapse-conference-realignment-ncaa-college-athletics/
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