A chance for people to make money, except for most of the players.
It is Selection Sunday where the learned people of college basketball figure out who are the best basketball teams in the nation, slot them and send them off to both near and far away places around the United States in a tournament that brings hundreds of millions of dollars into the college basketball industry. But how does college basketball get away with horrible behavior and remain popular? Betting plays a large role in its popularity and with so many states offering betting, there probably will be a lot of attention on Selection Sunday. March Madness is this time of year where the coach, the athletic director and the players earn their paychecks with the pressure mounting with each game until the ultimate prize. The National Collegiate Championship Final Game which will be played on April 4th in a football stadium in New Orleans, a stadium whose naming rights are owned by a gambling company. The NCAA puts the tournament up for bidding with cities coming in with the best financial packages getting the games.
So, the student-athletes must be getting a big pay day for providing entertainment for people and playing for a title? Most of the players are not although some have marketing deals and get paid through those partners. The coaches are getting big paychecks and television is handing out big money to the NCAA. The athletes get a college scholarship. There is some sort of justification that the players are getting a free education, that is partially true, but they are not getting everything paid and they are on a year-to-year contract. The term “student-athlete” is a cover to get out of paying and providing health care for the talent. Everyone makes money off the basketball tournament except the majority of the stars of the show. The players.
Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com
Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191
