https://www.cbssports.com/college-f...or-the-power-five-to-break-away-from-the-fbs/
Why we may be reaching a tipping point for the Power Five to break away from the FBS
"The NCAA is becoming less and less relevant," said one Power Five president who did not wish to be identified. "I could see the Power Five conferences creating their own version of the NCAA."
Thompson calls it a "grand reckoning" between the NCAA's amateur ideal (the so-called "collegiate model") and athletic departments' for-profit business model.
"That is the greatest inherent friction of all time," Thompson said. "Those two [things] can't serve the same master mutually."
If the NCAA gets its wish for an antitrust exemption from Congress, it will not only lose a large part of that argument, it will lose part of its identity and power. In some way, the feds will be calling the shots with that much invested in the system.
The setting will not be unlike a pitch on "Shark Tank" where budding companies sell part of their equity to the highest bidder.
Think about it: The same association that defines itself as the benevolent overseer of athletics as a recreational complement to education will soon, grudgingly, watch athletes earn six figures based on their athletic fame. Those players would be "professionalized," which is essentially everything the NCAA is against.
"How they can maintain a position that is simply not justifiable?" said Ellen Staurowsky, professor of Sport Management at Drexel University. "If you look at the roots of amateurism, which has now been incorporated into court rulings, this whole idea of the revered tradition of amateurism [is false]."
More friction: The NCAA has done itself no favors with recent enforcement dealings.
Criticism continues to roil throughout college athletics over the North Carolina case that concluded 2 ½ years ago. The school avoided any major penalties despite what some saw as an 18-year pattern of continued academic fraud.
The NCAA also took no action after the Rice Commission -- assembled to clean up college basketball -- specifically asked for a clearer definition of academic conduct.
Further consternation was caused by the NCAA Board of Directors. It deemed there would be no appeal to rulings made in the new Independent Accountability Resolution Process. Memphis, NC State and Kansas basketball all recently entered that process. The NCAA has drawn strong criticism from NC State and Kansas as their cases continue.
The Supreme Court basically said it out loud for the first time back then: In that space, the NCAA was a monopoly.
Four-and-a-half decades later, the term has been worn out by critics, lawyers and judges. More and more, the question has emerged: How long can a modern monopoly last?
Why we may be reaching a tipping point for the Power Five to break away from the FBS
"The NCAA is becoming less and less relevant," said one Power Five president who did not wish to be identified. "I could see the Power Five conferences creating their own version of the NCAA."
Thompson calls it a "grand reckoning" between the NCAA's amateur ideal (the so-called "collegiate model") and athletic departments' for-profit business model.
"That is the greatest inherent friction of all time," Thompson said. "Those two [things] can't serve the same master mutually."
If the NCAA gets its wish for an antitrust exemption from Congress, it will not only lose a large part of that argument, it will lose part of its identity and power. In some way, the feds will be calling the shots with that much invested in the system.
The setting will not be unlike a pitch on "Shark Tank" where budding companies sell part of their equity to the highest bidder.
Think about it: The same association that defines itself as the benevolent overseer of athletics as a recreational complement to education will soon, grudgingly, watch athletes earn six figures based on their athletic fame. Those players would be "professionalized," which is essentially everything the NCAA is against.
"How they can maintain a position that is simply not justifiable?" said Ellen Staurowsky, professor of Sport Management at Drexel University. "If you look at the roots of amateurism, which has now been incorporated into court rulings, this whole idea of the revered tradition of amateurism [is false]."
More friction: The NCAA has done itself no favors with recent enforcement dealings.
Criticism continues to roil throughout college athletics over the North Carolina case that concluded 2 ½ years ago. The school avoided any major penalties despite what some saw as an 18-year pattern of continued academic fraud.
The NCAA also took no action after the Rice Commission -- assembled to clean up college basketball -- specifically asked for a clearer definition of academic conduct.
Further consternation was caused by the NCAA Board of Directors. It deemed there would be no appeal to rulings made in the new Independent Accountability Resolution Process. Memphis, NC State and Kansas basketball all recently entered that process. The NCAA has drawn strong criticism from NC State and Kansas as their cases continue.
The Supreme Court basically said it out loud for the first time back then: In that space, the NCAA was a monopoly.
Four-and-a-half decades later, the term has been worn out by critics, lawyers and judges. More and more, the question has emerged: How long can a modern monopoly last?