[jonnyss]

This just proves the label student athlete doesn’t exist anymore… it should be just mercenaries. Good for her for going to the highest bidder and doing what’s best for her, but let’s drop the facade and call a spade a spade.

with all respect, "student athlete never existed." it's a term invented by the ncaa attorneys in the 50s to keep from paying for long-term care for catastrophically injured players. 

further, does anyone really value amateurism any more? i don't know a single person who watches a sporting event because it's amateur.

my observation is that escalating pay to players has not hurt viewship in the nfl and in the nba. the push for fair pay in women's soccer and women's basketball has coincided with (maybe helped) a large increase in viewers. take caitlin clark: has hearing that she landed millions in endorsements while still in college turned fans off? quite the opposite. same with cam. i don't personally know a single fan who was less interested in cam knowing that cam had endorsement money. did allowing pros into the olympics beginning in 1968 turn away viewers? i don't think so! 

i expect that with all the publicity, canady will be more visible next year, not less. same for kiki iriafen.

based on past examples, pay to college players will increase their visibility and popularity.

to my mind what is a problem is not pay; it's unequal pay from one school to another. the nfl, the nba, the wnba all have salary caps. i believe that major league baseball is one of the only major pro sports that doesn't. hello oakland, er...las vegas... A's!

[jonnyss]

This just proves the label student athlete doesn’t exist anymore… it should be just mercenaries. Good for her for going to the highest bidder and doing what’s best for her, but let’s drop the facade and call a spade a spade.

with all respect, "student athlete never existed." it's a term invented by the ncaa attorneys in the 50s to keep from paying for long-term care for catastrophically injured players. 

further, does anyone really value amateurism any more? i don't know a single person who watches a sporting event because it's amateur.

my observation is that escalating pay to players has not hurt viewship in the nfl and in the nba. the push for fair pay in women's soccer and women's basketball has coincided with (maybe helped) a large increase in viewers. take caitlin clark: has hearing that she landed millions in endorsements while still in college turned fans off? quite the opposite. same with cam. i don't personally know a single fan who was less interested in cam knowing that cam had endorsement money. did allowing pros into the olympics beginning in 1968 turn away viewers? i don't think so! 

i expect that with all the publicity, canady will be more visible next year, not less. same for kiki iriafen.

based on past examples, pay to college players will increase their visibility and popularity.

to my mind what is a problem is not pay; it's unequal pay from one school to another. the nfl, the nba, the wnba all have salary caps. i believe that major league baseball is one of the only major pro sports that doesn't. hello oakland, er...las vegas... A's!