Syracuse University Professor Says March Madness Robs Athlete Families

commentary by Dr. Boyce Watkins
website: http://www.boycewatkins.com/


Palo Alto, CA- Dr. Boyce Watkins, a prominent Finance Professor at Syracuse University, is appearing with the Stanford University NAACP to talk about whether or not college athletes should be paid. Dr. Watkins is the founder of ALARM, The Athlete Liberation Academic Reform Movement, and advocates that the NCAA should consider allowing college athletes to have the same labor rights as coaches.

“I am not sure why it’s ok for a superstar athlete to earn $20 million dollars for his university and $5 million per year for his coach, while his mother is at home living in the projects,” says Dr. Watkins, who does a weekly segment on the Al Sharpton Radio Show.

Dr. Watkins explains that the abuse of collegiate athlete labor starts at the top with Congress. Watkins argues that Congressional leaders allow the NCAA to consistently violate anti-trust law in order to keep athlete’s wages artificially low. By forcing all universities to act as one coalition, they are allowed to form cartels that would be illegal in nearly any other industry in America.

“We have criminalized the idea of justifiable compensation and outlawed fair labor practices when it comes to college athletes in football and basketball,” says Watkins, who has taught at the college level for the last 17 years. “It’s interesting that the NCAA becomes socialist when athletes want their share, but they are hardcore capitalists when interrupting the lives of the student-athletes to force them onto national television to make money like circus animals.”

The NCAA earns revenues that are in line with professional sports leagues. March Madness, one of the NCAA’s primary events, earns more in total revenue than the Super Bowl, and the NCAA signed an 11-year, $6 billion dollar television rights deal with CBS sports. While coaches are allowed to benefit from these lucrative deals, athletes and their families are only given a scholarship. Dr. Watkins, who is working with The Rev. Al Sharpton and others to complete an agenda for Black America, argues that the NCAA robs black families of over $1 billion dollars per year.

“The NCAA is one of the worst scams in Black America, ranked right below the prison system,” says Watkins. “The prison system is modern day slavery. The NCAA is a sweat shop unlike any other. It’s time to stop the madness and quit trying to argue that the $10 million dollar asset on the court doesn’t deserve a share of the massive profits he is earning for others.”

Dr. Watkins will appear on a panel at Stanford University on Wednesday, March 3, at 6 pm.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and a faculty affiliate at The College Sport Research Institute at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. For interviews, please call Jazelle Reed at (901) 413-0203 or email assistant@boycewatkins.com.