Marshall: Paying players

[Mikey 16,640]

18 hours ago, Brad_ATX said:

At what point has anyone here asked "the rest of us" to pay for these athletes to make extra money?  No one, and I mean no one, is proposing they get a salary from the school and thus tax funds.  Making money off of one's likeness in their spare time isn't asking you to pay for a dang thing.  If you choose to buy an autograph or something, then it's a choice you are making as a consumer.

Here's the problem with that: Derrick Brown could probably make a pretty good bundle selling pictures and autographs. Mike Horton, not so much. Selling stuff would be fine for the stars but the everyday, average players would get no good out of it. Unless, of course, wealthy boosters bought pictures of everybody. Then we're right back to a bidding war. A 3* TE might get promised 30 pictures at $100 each to sign while a 5* QB might be promised 1000 pictures at $500 each. If that's what AU offered before signing, then Stanford could triple it. I don't think an honest, "sell your likeness" provision would stay honest any longer than it would take boosters to pull out their checkbooks.

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

1 hour ago, Mikey said:

Here's the problem with that: Derrick Brown could probably make a pretty good bundle selling pictures and autographs. Mike Horton, not so much. Selling stuff would be fine for the stars but the everyday, average players would get no good out of it. Unless, of course, wealthy boosters bought pictures of everybody. Then we're right back to a bidding war. A 3* TE might get promised 30 pictures at $100 each to sign while a 5* QB might be promised 1000 pictures at $500 each. If that's what AU offered before signing, then Stanford could triple it. I don't think an honest, "sell your likeness" provision would stay honest any longer than it would take boosters to pull out their checkbooks.

Then so be it.  Let people pay for what they want.  At the end of the day, football is entertainment.  If some folks want to pay more for their entertainment than others, let them.  Folks here arguing against fellow citizens getting what their market value says they should earn is beyond me. 

[ToraGirl 5,498]

21 hours ago, Quietmaninthecorner said:

How valuable are these athlete's likeness without a university.   

THAT is powerful.  

[ToraGirl 5,498]

20 hours ago, Quietmaninthecorner said:

Actually it is too "top dollar" for me to attend games now.   Seeing as how I am on the hook for 1/2  of out-of-state tuition the next four years.

 don't want to make a decision based on something I have to imagine.  BUT  The best players go to this new league. WHY?  for money?    . A minor league football at best will pay very little.  at worst will fail miserably.    They all pretty much  have in the past.  cares enough to fork out big bucks   compared to the 1/4 of a million dollar  4 year scholarships offered now.    Not all the players JUST want to go pro.  A large portion would like a degree and secure future a well.   Besides, lots of great players go somewhere other than Auburn now,  and we get along just fine.

Great points, Quietman.  I can remember how impressed I was that even two of the most successful ones to come through Auburn, Bo Jackson and Cam Newton, made it a priority to work toward the finish their degrees even after going pro.    

College costs have risen astronomically...during 84-88 at AU, my years, $435 a quarter (tuition; I lived at home, books not included with this) would get you 15 to 20 hours.  Bargain shopper, I took 20 whenever I could.  We are blessed that our son persevered with ACT scores to merit an AU scholarship that covers a heap, plus stewardship on the part of my parents and grands.  We would be sunk on a preacher/teacher salary when it came to college for our two, were it not for them.  And we would make do if we were in a different situation, for we know we are indescribably blessed to be in this one and we do not take it for granted.

I'm of the camp that this issue has a lot of rabbit trails that better fully be explored before the trigger is pulled.  

[Texan4Auburn 1,626]

On 9/27/2019 at 12:24 PM, oldaufeller said:

The information TigerHorn is referring came from me.  And it is not false.  It is explicitly stated in some scholarships where conflict of interest is a concern.  I happen to have two of those scholarships with each of my children.  That clause is very common in research scholarships where physical or intellectual product is produced.  The scholarship and any associated stipend is considered compensation in the context of "work for hire."  The inherent problem is you working for someone outside the university who may pay you and lay claim for your work under the same intellectual property and work for hire laws that the university has claimed.  Obviously you had a scholarship that did not put at risk university rights, therefore you did not have this clause.  All PhD clauses with stipends that I have seen have it.  My older son had to get a waiver to from the university to be paid $100 for each of two text books he was asked to review for a publisher.  It was very clearly stated that if he accepted payment for any work performed outside of his scholarship that his scholarship would be revoked and he would be at risk for being sued for damages and loss to the university.  The clause was so important that both sons had to initial the section and sign a contract.  Consider it the equivalent of a non-compete clause that is very common. As a genuine question, did your scholarship contract require you to notify the department of your outside job?  

My undergraduate Capstone project we had to sign papers stating that we understood our work was the intellectual property of Auburn University and I was not receiving a scholarship.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

Paying players is nothing new. Alabama has been playing players for many years.

[AUsince72 11,084]

1 hour ago, auburn4ever said:

Paying players is nothing new. Alabama has been playing players for many years.

Okay, now THIS is a solid post!  Nice, A4E. 😂🤣

[Eagle Eye 7 2,535]

Let’s just look truthfully at it. If a college just printed every jersey number for sale then I might not have a problem with the university claiming all rights. But the mere fact that every year they print only the number of the super stars. They also feature those folks in advertising the game and other school functions. So if you are going specifically towards certain stars and using their image for your gain then yes I think you should pay them fairly for it. But that can only come so many years after they leave the university . That way it’s not a pay for play type deal. This isn’t the old college football game, it high money now. Coaches getting close to 10 million to coach and even coordinates reaching over 2 million. So either don’t advertise with their image to make money or pay them for it.