The group needs a new president.
The President of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, Dr. Mark Emmert, is leaving that post soon, whether it is by a replacement or by a June 30th, 2023 date as the future of the governing body of college sports in the United States descends into turmoil. Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick threw another log onto the NCAA turmoil fire when he told Sports Illustrated that he believes the breakup of college sports at the NCAA Division I level is “inevitable.” Dr. Emmert’s departure was surprising in that he signed a contract extension in 2021. Dr. Emmert has been on the job since 2010 and he seemed stuck in the Walter Byers mindset as the head of the NCAA. It was Byers in 1955 who came up with the term “student-athlete” as a dodge so college sports programs would not have to pay athletes. Dr. Emmert did not want to pay “student-athletes” and was unable to deal with college players being able to sell their faces to marketing partners.
Meanwhile, Swarbrick gives the NCAA about another decade before it crumbles. Swarbrick wants Congress involved, but Congress has other issues that probably are far more important than college sports. He doesn’t think Washington politicians want to fix what he sees as a broken system. “I was talking to a Republican senator and he said to me, ‘I keep reading that you all say we’ll finally be able to get something done when Republicans get control of the house and the senate and the presidency. But it’s going to be a much more Libertarian Congress. They’re going to be unwilling to participate just on anti-regulatory grounds.” The student-athletes selling their likenesses could lead to athletes just picking the best places to make money. College sports is a big business and it may be breaking apart.
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