I was employed by The North Texas Daily as a student. Even if I had been going to school on scholarship, I would still have been an employee or independent contractor because UNT was paying me to do a job.
The requirements to be a college football or basketball player are much higher than a job like mine. They should be paid directly by schools and treated like employees even if that word isn't used to describe the relationship.
The argument that athletes are amateurs and scholarships are damn well enough compensation is past its sell-by date. Colleges, TV networks, coaches and boosters made the sports too lucrative to keep the actual product -- the players on the field -- from making any of the revenue.
I really look forward to the DATCU NT University playing in the American Airlines Conference. Maybe they can sell naming rights for each and every yard line too, to be referenced only by the sponsor, not numerically. “It’s second down from the Dr. Pepper Snapple line; they have to get to Toyota.” The field will look like a Monopoly board. Maybe they can sell all the downs too; I think some places already do it for third downs.
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