I just read a little story about billionaire donor Cody Campbell who thinks he has the solution to the problems in college athletics. I’ve written about corruption in the NCAA so many times I just don’t have the energy to write yet another article on all the problems but the solution offered in this case does dovetail nicely into some other issues involving the super-rich.
In this case, Campbell, a billionaire donor to the Texas Tech athletic program warns if the problem isn’t fixed, athletes will suffer if colleges shutdown their athletic programs. He’s all worried about those talented athletes.
What the Billionaire Donor has to Say
Here is the quote from Campbell about the nature of the problem.
College Sports are broken, and those who first made the mess and profit handsomely from the status quo do not want to fix it. Without meaningful change, opportunities for thousands and thousands of talented student athletes will disappear and women’s and Olympics sports programs will be canceled.
You can see how worried he is about those student athletes. How concerned he is. How he stays up late at night with worry about their future. You can almost see the pain and grief visibly manifest itself in his impassioned plea.
Who Can Fix College Athletics?
The problems in college athletics have everything to do with money, that’s a fact, but it’s not that athletes are finally get to share the revenue. It’s the enormous amount of money and revenue generated for these sports. Billionaire donor Campbell, and his many cohorts and predecessors, are the root of the problem.
I don’t deny that college athletics has big problems. There was a time, long ago, when revenue wasn’t the main factor in amateur sports. It was the spirit of competition. Giving young people the benefit of sport to enhance their lives. There was a time when the head coach at State U. wasn’t the highest paid public official in the state.
There was a time when billionaire donors didn’t sit in luxury boxes to impress clients and purchase, that is to say, entertain politicians.
There was a time when college athletics was about the athlete. That time is no more, in large part to Campbell, the NCAA itself, the court system, and politicians.
Conclusion
I’m not going to get into a long and technical discussion about how to fix the mess that’s been made. I’m just going to make a simple statement. If you’re looking to fix college athletics, the last place you want to look for solutions is billionaire donors. They aren’t interested in fixing the problem, they’re interested in increasing profit.
Loading ...Tom Liberman