If NCAA becomes a business, athletes should get a cut

The 2010 NCAA Tournament will be remembered for one thing: defying the odds. From the Butler Bulldogs’ magical run to Indianapolis to Northern Iowa finishing off overall No. 1 seed Kansas, it was the year that showed it can be done without agents, zillion-dollar facilities or endless budgets.

But now, the CEOs of the so-called not-for-profit NCAA are throwing away so much of what we love about this time of year in exchange for a few extra billion.

The $700 million the NCAA receives from CBS, the sole owner of tournament broadcast rights, just doesn’t seem to cut it.

But it’s for the athletes’ sake, right?

Just like the 9 p.m. tipoffs on ESPN and the Big Ten Network, and thus more lucrative television contracts, are for their sake, too?

Remember, this is also the same not-for-profit that recently contracted its own ticket market, where it buys tickets from fans for less than face value but then proceeds to sell them for the stated amount on the ticket.

It’s time for the NCAA to get its priorities straight. If it is going to turn into a business, which by all means has its fair amount of positives, then let’s get the show on the road. But don’t try and sugarcoat transformation from a collegiate organization to a multi-million-dollar firm.

It goes right back to questions such as, “Should collegiate athletes be paid?” With the things such as time commitment, skill and academic adjustments college athletics require, isn’t it a job? Doesn’t the average student get paid for their on- or off-campus job? Why should college athletes be forced to balance, in the summer for instance, an offseason program, a job and summer school?

The problem lies in between. Monetary and other gifts to players are seen as the absolute mortal sin in today’s world of college sports. If that were made into a permissible act, the talk of controversy would decline.

Although with that, there’s no need to go beyond what is reasonable. Save the Escalades, beach houses, spring breaks in Cancun and other material recruiting tools for the next level.

But what’s so bad about spending some cash here and there, especially in the midst of 30-plus hour team routines? It really is an act of hypocrisy when the NCAA campaigns that the model for paying players is professional sports when it shorts fans $100 or so with this new ticket issue.

Wouldn’t that, in fact, be for the athletes’ sake?

The bottom line is college athletes are the employees of the NCAA. Without them, there is no NCAA tournament and thus no $700 million from CBS.

If the NCAA is turning into the next Fortune 500 company, why aren’t its employees getting a share of the cut?