Blue and Gold Illustrated

January 2015

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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UPON FURTHER REVIEW TODD D. BURLAGE Swarbrick said of the earning power enjoyed by students not involved in sports. In other words, if a student-musi- cian can make money off a recording or a concert while enrolled in school, why shouldn't a student-athlete enjoy that same opportunity? "I don't find it inconsistent at all to say we need to get ourselves grounded back in that," Swarbrick added. "I think it would contribute to reduc- ing so many of the problems we have which really spring from this situation we created when we say [athletes] are not going to be the same as other stu- dents." It's understood that a full scholar- ship to Notre Dame or any other uni- versity is a handsome payment to a student-athlete in and of itself. But with universities making money off of their athletes' personalities, products and performances, Swarbrick is right- fully leading the charge to improve the quality of life for these unique stu- dents. Another important development in this era of impending change also came in August when the NCAA Board of Governors voted to grant "autonomy" to Notre Dame and the Power Five conference member schools. Autonomy essentially gives the 65 richest schools in the country — the ones with the massive television deals — the power to make their own rules with limited meddling from the NCAA. Through autonomy, fair com- pensation for student-athletes will be an important talking point during the NCAA Convention in January. In addition to negotiating payments for a player's name and time (it's esti- mated premier student-athletes spend more than 40 hours a week working on their sport), the big conference schools will also discuss extra benefits to the scholarship packages to cover expenses beyond tuition, room, books and board, which could even include long-term health care. Of course, all student-athletes are not created equally when it comes to earning power. And Swarbrick said determining a program and player 's worth are just two details needed to be worked out, right down to pay- ments for video game likenesses. "You could have a group-licensing approach and say, 'Okay, this group licensee can do a deal with [gaming company] EA Sports for student-ath- lete image and likeness," Swarbrick explained. "And we'll go to EA Sports and negotiate for all of the student- athletes. 'Here's what it's worth if you wear the jersey in the EA Sports video and here's what it's worth if you don't.'" Be it through video games or actual games, changes are a comin' to college athletics. And any initiative that gives the stu- dent-athletes the same earning rights as the rest of the student body needs to be both studied carefully and cel- ebrated greatly. ✦ Todd D. Burlage has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 2005. He can be reached at tburlage@blueandgold.com

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