THE BOOK--Playing The Percentages In Baseball

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Make pro athletes return their scholarships

By Tangotiger, 12:06 PM

I like the idea. This is along the same lines as that minor league player who sells 4% of his future earnings for a fixed price today. If he makes the big time, you get your cut.

Scholarships (for athletes) could work in a similar spirit. Either you make it a straight refund of the scholarship for any player earning a full year of salary in MLB, NHL, NFL, NBA, MLS. Or, get colleges to bid on athletes. “Hey, Alex, come to college, we’ll give you a scholarship, and since you are so good, we’ll only ask for 1% of your future earnings until you are 25.” Or, also allow the inclusion of payments, like giving him 100,000$ to play for your college team. Something, anything, that shows that NCAA is a business, and not slave owners of athletes under the guise of an educational system. In hockey, junior clubs (filled with high school and college-level players) are not affiliated to any schools.

The floor is yours. What kind of a business system can you create with high school and college players?

• Sabermetrics • Finances • Minors_College

#1 Ryan J. Parker (see all posts) 2008/05/27 (Tue) @ 14:14

I’d prefer a payment system myself, as of now colleges and conferences get off cheap and rake in all the TV money (for basketball and football players, at least).

If that doesn’t work out, having pro players donate to a scholarship fund of some sort might work. That way they’re helping the less-talented get through school.

#2 Richard (see all posts) 2008/05/27 (Tue) @ 21:30

I think the answer would be to allow players to be drafted as soon as they are old enough to work, which I believe is as of 16 years of age. That way they aren’t forced to attend college while they await draft eligibility.

#3 tangotiger (see all posts) 2008/05/28 (Wed) @ 06:15

IIRC, a person cannot sign a legally binding document until he’s at the age of consent (meaning 18 years old).

They have this problem in soccer, where a player is “owned” by a club from the age of 16. But, he signs a “promissory note” at age 16, saying that he will sign a contract within 10 days of turning 18. So, these kids, who get the benefit of the “scholarship” the club provides for 2 years, go into hiding for two weeks, to emerge as a free agent.

We talked about this several months ago here. It’s ridiculous that they can sign them to these “notes”, since they can’t be legally enforceable. And even so, a judge in Europe declared (in one case anyway) where it was enforceable!

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