[dclusin]

Those sports teams wouldn't be making any money without the talents of the students that play on those teams. The TV contracts the larger teams are negotiating are worth billions of dollars. The subsidies to all players are two digit millions at best. The manner in which these universities are profiting off of these largely minority athletes is obscene. To deny those kids the right to profit from their own labor because of some trivial tax implication while those same universities continue to make billions of dollars is an absurd argument to make. Perhaps if the universities turned down the TV contracts then maybe the scholarship argument might have some merit.

How do you think it would be received if Harvard tried to seize ownership of Facebook because it gave Mark Zuckerberg a scholarship? Or that Harvard should take ownership of Facebook because some kids that didn't goto Harvard won't have the luxury of starting a billion dollar corporation.

[mattrp]

I’m not saying that the current system is fair. What I am saying is that the minute you make a student athlete a professional then it’s a logical outcome that the value of their entire scholarship is taxable - did you consider that in your remarks? I’m not defending the lack of fairness in the current system, I’m saying the policy is a half attempt at reform and not well constructed. In my view, it’s dumb to say a student athlete can’t work hard, can’t be a good student and can’t be a amateur athlete at the same time. Clearly they should be able to be all three... but there’s probably a better way to do it and one that’s fair and doesn’t saddle athletes with unnecessary tax consequences.