7A Testing the Hypothesis

I would like to pursue the Fair Pay to Play Act produce in California.

Lawmakers in California produced a "Fair Pay to Play Act" which will allow NCAA Division I student-athletes to receive sponsorships and endorsement deals through their time at the institution.

-WHO: California Divison I Universities
-WHAT: They want to allow college athletes to receive money for the service they are doing for the nation, university, and NCAA.
-WHY: They believe that creating the opportunity for the student-athletes to have this type of deal then it will make the university more money and the athletes will have more money throughout their college career.

-TESTING THE WHO: Will there be other states that want to produce a bill for their institutions in within the state? Will other NCAA divisions want to do the same?
-TESTING THE WHAT: What are the limitations? What will the sponsorships or endorsement deals contain? Will there be any financial background on how to use the money wisely for the athletes?
-TESTING THE WHY: Why did they only propose this bill for Division I institutions and not Division II or III?

For my interviews, I was able to talk to individuals who have a big impact with college sports whether they have played, coached, or just love to watch in general. I asked these individuals four questions and each of them had a different reply.

Anthony Papley - Defensive Line Coach/Director of Football Operations at Duquesne University

1)    What is your general opinion on the Fair Pay to Play Act?

I believe that the student athlete receives fair compensation (tuition, room & board, cost of attendance) for their role in the collegiate athletics.

2) Being that California is the first state to create a bill like this for college athletes, do you believe that there will be other lawmakers within the nation that will take sides with California and produce their own bill?

Most definitely there will be other lawmakers that try to piggyback off of this model.

3)    Do you believe that the NCAA has the right to allow the institutions to not participate in NCAA competitions? Why or why not?

Yes, the NCAA has a strict guidelines that prohibits student athletes from receiving compensation in addition to room, board, tuition, etc. If California would allow their players to receive compensation that would change the landscape of recruiting and potentially a shift in quality of teams.

4)    Allowing the student-athletes to receive money and sign for their endorsements would put these athletes in the same category as professional athletes. Based on your point of view on the act and the interaction you have with sports and athletes, do you think, in a way, that these athletes will get too much pressure from the sponsorships and eventually try to overrule the act?

There is no question. Once these athletes are signed to sponsorships, it will create a slippery slope. For example say running back A signs a deal for sponsorship then gets suspended due to team rules not only will that individual have to hear from the coaching staff but now the company who is sponsoring him because they are not holding their part of their agreement.

Camary Williams - European Professional Basketball Player/Cape Coral Girl's Basketball Coach

1)    What is your general opinion on the Fair Pay to Play Act?

     I believe this act should be put in place in state. The student athletes bring the university a lot of money and I think they deserve those incentives if they are good enough. I don't think they shouldn't be allowed to compete because of the new bill. 

2)    Being that California is the first state to create a bill like this for college athletes, do you believe that there will be other lawmakers within the nation that will take sides with California and produce their own bill?

            I think there will be other lawmakers who follow suit, but I also believe some lawmakers will                tweak this bill and add their own touches to it. 

3)    Do you believe that the NCAA has the right to allow the institutions to not participate in NCAA competitions? Why or why not?

      I don't think the NCAA should be able to control whether they compete or not when it comes to this bill because the law was passed in the whole state and the university should follow suit. If they are not allowed to compete within the NCAA then who will the schools compete against? The teams deserve to compete and still receive the benefits that the state has allowed them to reap. 

4)    Allowing the student-athletes to receive money and sign for their endorsements would put these athletes in the same category as professional athletes. Based on your point of view on the act and the interaction you have with sports and athletes, do you think, in a way, that these athletes will get too much pressure from the sponsorships and eventually try to overrule the act?

            I don't think the athletes will try to overrule the act unless they aren't allowed to compete. If               that part of the deal follows through I believe some teams will be against this law. Athletes                 will be under more pressure than normal and I feel as though there will be some players who             overdo it because they want to gain sponsorship or more money and that may hurt the team               altogether. 

Robert Zientek - Manager at Ford's Garage/Former college volleyball coach

1)    What is your general opinion on the Fair Pay to Play Act?

      I don't believe this act should be put into place because it will cause an even bigger difference between the NCAA divisions.

2)    Being that California is the first state to create a bill like this for college athletes, do you believe that there will be other lawmakers within the nation that will take sides with California and produce their own bill?

      Yes I believe that they will try to but most might not succeed due to the fact that not every state has a big amount of Division I colleges and that good at sports. For an example, New York. They don't have many Division I programs that are even well known other than Syracuse and Buffalo.

3)    Do you believe that the NCAA has the right to allow the institutions to not participate in NCAA competitions? Why or why not?

     No because if they don't compete then there's no competition. Southern California has some of the best athletes that come out of there after college. They will be taking away from the students.

4)    Allowing the student-athletes to receive money and sign for their endorsements would put these athletes in the same category as professional athletes. Based on your point of view on the act and the interaction you have with sports and athletes, do you think, in a way, that these athletes will get too much pressure from the sponsorships and eventually try to overrule the act?

     I don't think so because in all honesty, these students that are receiving this type of deal will be the top of the top in the nation so they are already having millions of eyes watch them wherever they go.They will be used to it.

Ralph Coleman - Current basketball player at Ave Maria University

1)    What is your general opinion on the Fair Pay to Play Act?

      I don't disagree on it. I think with the way athletes get paid now with refunds, it will help them throughout their college career.

2)    Being that California is the first state to create a bill like this for college athletes, do you believe that there will be other lawmakers within the nation that will take sides with California and produce their own bill?

      I think other states will follow California. I don't know how many but I believe some will.

     3)    Do you believe that the NCAA has the right to allow the institutions to not participate               in NCAA competitions? Why or why not?

            I think of they got enough states to change the way how the NCAA views it, then i                  don't believe they have a right to do that. But with one state, I can see why they                    would do it. If that's the case, then incoming freshman or transfers should just go                  overseas for sports and earn the money that way.

4)    Allowing the student-athletes to receive money and sign for their endorsements would put these athletes in the same category as professional athletes. Based on your point of view on the act and the interaction you have with sports and athletes, do you think, in a way, that these athletes will get too much pressure from the sponsorships and eventually try to overrule the act?

       I can see that happening. It goes back to how they will break up the endorsements that could effect the athletes.

Brittney Garner - Former Island Coast Coach/State College of Jacksonville Assistant (I was only able to get two questions out of her due to an emergency at work)

1)  What is your general opinion on the Fair Pay to Play Act?

             I think it takes away the value and true meaning of being a college athlete. Being a college                   athlete teaches you so many things about life and how to survive. Being a college athlete                     means being apart of a team and working together to achieve goals as a TEAM. The Fair Pay               to Play Act takes all that away. It becomes more of a "ME" and not an "US". It will become                 more about the image and the name instead of watching true raw talent and true competition.               Takes away RESPECT from the game. Respect is earned! The act just gives respect easily                   without any work required. I feel like that's the issue in today's athletes. Everything is given,               nothing is earned anymore.

4)    Allowing the student-athletes to receive money and sign for their endorsements would put these athletes in the same category as professional athletes. Based on your point of view on the act and the interaction you have with sports and athletes, do you think, in a way, that these athletes will get too much pressure from the sponsorships and eventually try to overrule the act?
 I think that the biggest issues is going to be making the markets fair no matter what school you go for. For an example, the Nike factory is housed out of Oregon so athletes may be more likely to go to some school who have markets that can allow them to get sponsorships easier. I think that as an athlete, how are they going to make it fair all the way across the board? I don't think the athletes have built a plan on how they are going to determine who gets paid and who doesn't. How many sponsorships can one athlete get? I think those are the questions that are going to overwhelm the athletes. I think it will end up being too much because adding with classes and practices and they would now be adding PR events and charity events for the brand. I think that may be a little too much to add to their already full plate.