NATION

THE COLLEGE
SPORTS SHAM
By Sean Gregory

On election night, when

much of the nation anxiously
awaits the returns, college-
basketball fans will be glued
to a blockbuster matchup of a
different sort: a season-opening
doubleheader featuring
Michigan State vs. Kansas,
followed by Duke-Kentucky in
the nightcap. ESPN is airing the
entire thing in prime time. ▶
INSIDE

THINK TWICE BEFORE A NEW LEVEL OF PARTISANSHIP: A DATA-DRIVEN SUGGESTION

COUNTING ON BLOCKCHAIN WE CAN’T AGREE ON THE FOR FIXING THE HOUSE OF
TO HELP THE POOR MEANING OF A WORD REPRESENTATIVES

19
TheView Opener
This early-season clash of the sport’s blue- tively little above the value of a scholarship.
blood programs will likely make for great “The federal government has now proven
viewing. But it should also serve as a reminder itself ready to sink its teeth into college basket- SHORT
READS
of all that’s rotten at the core of America’s col- ball,” says Marc Edelman, law professor at Ba-
▶ Highlights
lege sports industrial complex. ruch College’s Zicklin School of Business. “But from stories on
Consider, for example, that the four head the prosecutors missed the big issue here.” time.com/ideas
coaches in these games—all of whom are That issue is being addressed in civil cases
members of the Basketball Hall of Fame— challenging the prohibition on payments to Testing gender
took home a combined $26.4 million in total college athletes. One of the NCAA’s core argu-
pay in 2018, according to a salary database ments in support of amateurism is that paying Responding to news
compiled by USA players would turn that the Trump
Administration may
Today. Yet NCAA off fans and hurt define gender as a
regulations dis- the bottom line fixed biological trait—
allow the players of NCAA schools. effectively rolling
they coach—the The criminal trial, back protections
ones millions will however, showed for transgender
Americans—TIME
be cheering and the opposite. In tes- editor at large
jeering on national timony exposing Jeffrey Kluger offers
television—from college basketball’s a scientific reality
making a market black-market econ- check: there is no
wage. This hypoc- omy, former Adidas genetic test that
can definitively
risy was thrown associate T.J. Gass- show gender.
into fresh relief An Oct. 24 verdict could reshape college sports nola said he paid
on Oct. 24, when a the family of for-
jury in a New York mer Kansas player
City courthouse found that paying players Billy Preston $89,000 and the guardian of cur- Blockchain’s
isn’t just a violation of the NCAA’s bureau- rent Kansas forward Silvio De Sousa $2,500 limitations
cratic rules—it now can be a federal crime. for online classes. Money is already flowing Blockchain, the
The verdict stems from a two-year federal to players; business is booming and will con- technology behind
investigation into corruption in college bas- tinue to thrive. cryptocurrencies like
ketball. Not surprisingly to anyone even pass- Bitcoin, allows for the
ingly acquainted with the seedy underbelly THE CRIMINAL CASE was a head-scratcher exchange of currency
without banks—which
of big-time college recruiting, federal officials from the start. Federal prosecutors argued that has inspired optimism
found a cesspool of illicit payments and kick- the defendants defrauded colleges by paying about its ability to
backs designed to attract players to certain players, since those payments violated NCAA empower unbanked
schools. Assistant coaches, industry insiders rules and would make them ineligible to suit people around the
and hangers-on were arrested. After a three- up for their schools. In effect, the defendants world. But, financial
inclusion expert Alice
week trial, a jury found three defendants—an denied the schools the services of these ath- Merry argues, such
ex–Adidas marketing exec, a former Adidas letes. So lawyers framed schools as the vic- systems distract
consultant and an aspiring sports agent— tims. The jury, by handing down the guilty from proven means of
guilty of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit verdict, agreed with this reasoning. But at the improving inclusion.
wire fraud. Sentencing for James Gatto, Merl same time, the NCAA can use evidence from
Code Jr. and Christian Dawkins is scheduled the trial to punish the institutions supposedly
for March. (Gatto will likely appeal the case.) wronged here. For example, the NCAA could Politicalspeak
But as in a bracket-busting upset in the sanction Kansas for suiting up De Sousa a sea-
March Madness tournament, there’s a twist. son ago, when he played in 20 games. Only in Partisanship has
seeped into our
(That tournament, by the way, will bring the the twisted world of college sports would the vocabulary, writes
NCAA $879 million in broadcast payments enterprise’s governing body—the NCAA—pe- pollster Frank Luntz.
and licensing rights this season.) The verdict is nalize the so-called victims of a federal crime. In a focus group,
a chance to force college sports to operate in a The government should be encouraging many Republicans
more honest manner. That includes major col- payments for players rather than prosecuting and Democrats
R O N A L D M A R T I N E Z— G E T T Y I M A G E S

agreed that America

lege football, which suffers from similar short- those who tried to make that happen. There’s is “exceptional” but
comings. ESPN, for example, paid $7.3 bil- robust economic demand for college athletic didn’t agree on what
lion for the rights to air that sport’s four-team talent. Why not acknowledge this reality, allow that means—just one
playoff for a dozen years; Alabama coach Nick and regulate a market and move on? Why force example of how politics
Saban is the state’s highest-paid public em- the money into the dark? Money needs to flow is informing our shared
language and values.
ployee, at $8.3 million this season. Meanwhile, to the players who deserve it. No matter what a
the kids playing the games are entitled to rela- jury says. □
20 TIME November 12, 2018
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