The tv ratings are probably more a result of cable and declining ratings for sports events (other than maybe the superbowl) than early entrants. TV ratings for the NBA finals were higher in 1995 than now too. Or compare world series ratings then and now.
The NBA is hitting some real good numbers lately. You pretty much have to take out the Bulls/Jordan years to really get a sense of how the league is doing as a whole. I do believe that the lowering of the college numbers has more to do with the explosion of cable packages and more entertainment options.
The Jordan years were the peak, but the ratings were higher throughout the 80s and 90s than even the last couple of years, and that’s with the Warriors vs Lebron. There were some pretty lean years in the early aughts, which, perhaps coincidentally, was when the most players were going straight from HS to college.
Yes, as expected with all the changes in media. The numbers the NBA are doing right now are phenomenal.
If the NCAA doesn’t like the one and done rule, they could let their players go through the draft without losing any eligibility. The NBA would not be happy drafting players who choose to return to school. That’s really the only leverage I see the NCAA holding.
1 Like
It seems there’s general consensus that top revenue-sport athletes are undercompensated by the NCAA. So then is there any objection to the Olympic model, i.e. giving athletes access to their own NIL? Wouldn’t that let a market-based system solve figuring out proper compensation on an individual level?
I can’t read through all this stuff since I posted yesterday, but if the one and done rule changes it would solve a lot of these issues very easily…
I would guess that they NBA is gonna provide a way for prospects to make signficant money playing in the G-League for a year before getting drafted (G-League salaries are chips currently). I can’t imagine that they would truly remove the one-and-done rule. There were some truly disastrous picks of guys coming out of high school during the early 2000s. GMs need the rule to protect them from themselves.
My guess is they want to run a top level summer league that would compete with the AAU. I don’t think they are willing to pay G-League salaries that would compete with overseas leagues for the top players. I don’t think they want a lot of players bypassing college for the G-League either, since only a small number are going to stick in the NBA.
Their own summer league has some benefits. They can provide better coaching and guidance. Can learn more about prospective players’ character and coachability. Can maybe keep away some unsavory handlers. It helps the college game, while keeping them as a feeder system. All at a relatively low price with little commitment. In fact, they could probably still get shoe company sponsorship if they wanted to.
Underrated aspect of all this lol
2 Likes
allowing the player to return if they went undrafted or even drafted is something NCAA should consider. It happens in hockey and baseball already. No reason it cannot be applied to basketball. One other thing NCAA should allow student athletes taking loans based on their earning potentials, not from agents or individuals, but say a group of NCAA approved large commercial banks.
Interesting concept with the loans, could see that getting really ugly though with kids who don’t make it. With baseball (not as sure on hockey) they can enter after HS and if they want still go to college. Once they do that however they’re locked in until after their junior year. This would have to be something the NBA and NCAA agreed on together to make it work. I also think you’d have to allow teams an extra scholarship or two just to account for the unknown. I do think this would be a smart move.
As for the NBA comments on youth basketball. I’m not surprised at all, and even though it’s been trending that way, if they to through with the academies you’ll see the end of high school basketball as we know it. It won’t go away but it will be like HS hockey is now where none of the best kids in a school or community are playing for the high school.
The NCAA actually had a short-lived rule where undergrads could enter the draft be drafted but then opt to return to college if they wanted to. They could only use this option once as an undergrad, but it was ultimately killed because NBA teams could hold on to a draftee’s rights until the year after their class was due to graduate.
The only player of significance that I can recall having returned to school under this rule was Voshon Lenard at Minnesota. He was drafted by Milwaukee in the 2nd round and instead of signing a rookie minimum offer of $150K he returned to Minnesota.
The Bucks drafted Shawn Respert the next season and chose to cut Lenard in training camp.
I found a pretty good analysis of this old rule. I don’t expect anything like this to be revisted because of the adverse affects to the player and school.
http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1146&context=sportslaw
1 Like
Rather than just allowing extra scholarships, they could let schools oversign by one or two to account for players who declare for the draft. If they ended up with more than 13 players on scholarship, they would have to make it up by going under 13 the next available season. They’ve done this in football for taking transfers from schools facing major penalties.
bankers should be smart enough to figure out. Those athletes already have all their tuition/school expenses covered, so at least they could get a loan at what average students take out for school, say 20-25K a year. Of course, a few high profile players can get a bigger loan, probably capped at 250K total, similar in size to medical school loans. I really don’t see how someone need more than that.
1 Like
The banks would figure it out for sure. What I meant was I could see a lot of kids piling up debt they couldn’t afford. I guess that would just make them like most other college kids.
1 Like
They should sell equity, not debt.
1 Like
There was actually a company that tried this with pro guys. Can’t think of the name off the top of my head but Arian Foster was part of it. Don’t think it ever got off the ground. Would have been a bad investment, think that was right before he got hurt and never really came back.
Giving people loans instead of the money they’re actually worth is silly. They’d have to pay it back, in interest. Which means they’d technically lose money on that deal. Ridiculous.
College athletics (and internships) are one of the only areas in which the workers (and don’t say they aren’t) don’t have the same protections that other laborers do. Arguments that it would be hard, or what about title IX etc aren’t valid reasons to not pay the players. Olympic model is the absolute minimum that should be done. You can’t say there’s no money to do so when coaches and ADs have huge salaries and the facilities at some schools are just as good, if not better, than professional ones.