College Athletes Can Now Make Money from Their Fame

 

An American college football player makes the winning touchdown in a game watched by millions of people on television.

Suddenly, many people around the United States know his name.

But, unless he becomes a professional athlete in the National Football League, he cannot make any money from being famous.

It was that way for around 100 years, but it changed last week.

New opportunities

On July 1, about 460,000 college and university athletes in all sports were permitted to make money from their fame.

The organization that runs college sports in the U.S. is the National Collegiate Athletic¹ Association², or NCAA.

For years, the NCAA punished athletes who took money from supporters. In fact, some athletes chose not to attend college, or to leave school after a year or two, because they could not earn money from their athletic ability and fame.

Those athletes include basketball player LeBron James and Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky.

The NCAA decided³ it would no longer punish athletes who wanted to make money from their fame on June 30. The decision came one day before 12 states were set to permit college athletes to make money by appearing in advertisements for products, or saying they liked items in social media posts. The states included Alabama, Florida and Texas. They all have well-known college sports teams, especially in the nation's most wealthy sport – American football.

A long-time argument

For many years, when people said college athletes should be able to earn money, the NCAA argued that they already had a good deal: they were given tuition⁴ money in return for the many hours each week spent practicing their sport. At some private universities, four years of tuition can cost well over $100,000.

Then, television began paying millions of dollars to show the games. Coaches became famous and wealthy. The players started to think they were no longer getting a good deal.

One former college basketball player, Ed O'Bannon, brought a legal case against the NCAA and a video game company.

O'Bannon went to the University of California in Los Angeles, known as UCLA, in the 1990s. He argued he should be paid after finding⁵ that a character that looked like him was being used in a video game. Eventually, a court in California said the NCAA was breaking national labor⁶ rules.

All of those events led to the NCAA's decision. However, experts say the NCAA will likely limit the products and services young athletes can support.

Each state will be able to make its own rules. For example, in Texas, students cannot make money by supporting companies that sell alcohol⁷, tobacco or offer people the chance to risk their money by gambling⁸ on sports.

In addition, the NCAA plans to make sure universities do not pay athletes directly or give them money in exchange for choosing their school.

Michael Rueda is a lawyer and an expert in sports and entertainment. He said the new rules will cause "a bit of chaos⁹."

Open season starts

Some businesses are already trying to work with college athletes.

A business called Gopuff operates in 650 cities. It delivers food and other items. Gopuff is offering athletes a chance to make money by making supportive statements on social media.

Rick Karcher is a professor in sports management at Eastern Michigan University. He said it is too early to predict how much money the athletes will make. He warned, however, that the money is "limited" and that athletes will be competing against each other.

Graham Mertz is a well-known football player at the University of Wisconsin. He has created a text image, known as a logo, for himself that he can use on social media.

DePaul University in Chicago said it created a business program to teach athletes about ways to make money from their name.

Athletes, however, will need to be careful about supporting products and companies that compete with those that give money to their universities. For example, it is unlikely¹⁰ that an athlete will be allowed to support Coke if their school gets a lot of money from Pepsi.

For now, it looks as if the chaos Rueda talked about will only last for a short time. Experts think the rules will become stronger over time.

In addition, Karcher said it is unclear if the ability to make money will be worth it for some students. If an athlete can only earn about $500 per year, he wondered, "is it worth all the time and thought and effort trying to get it?"

Words in This Story

touchdown – n. a score that is made by carrying the ball over the opponent's goal line or by catching¹¹ the ball while standing¹² in the end zone

athlete – n. a person who is trained in or good at sports, games, or exercises that require physical skill and strength

tuition – n. money that is paid to a school for the right to study there

coach – n. a person who teaches and trains the members of a sports team and makes decisions about how the team plays during games

character - n. a person who appears in a story, book, play, movie, or television show

gamble¹³ – v. to play a game in which you can win or lose money or possessions : to bet¹⁴ money or other valuable things

chaos – n. complete confusion and disorder : a state in which behavior and events are not controlled by anything

1 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

2 association   

n.联盟，协会，社团；交往，联合；联想

参考例句：

• Our long association with your company has brought great benefits.我方和贵公司的长期合作带来了巨大的利益。
• I broke away from the association ten years ago.我10年前就脱离了那个团体。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 tuition   

n.（某一学科的）教学，讲授，指导，学费

参考例句：

• Students can apply for individual tuition.学生可以申请个别指导。
• Is this money enough for the tuition fee?这些钱交学费够吗？

5 finding   

n.发现，发现物；调查的结果

参考例句：

• The finding makes some sense.该发现具有一定的意义。
• That's an encouraging finding.这是一个鼓舞人心的发现。

6 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

7 alcohol   

n.酒精，乙醇；含酒精的饮料

参考例句：

• The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors.法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。
• The alcohol is industrial.这些酒精是供工业用的。

8 gambling   

n.赌博；投机

参考例句：

• They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
• The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。

9 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

10 unlikely   

adj.未必的，多半不可能的；不大可能发生的

参考例句：

• It was very unlikely that he would do that.他不见得会做那种事。
• It is unlikely that she will come. 她不大可能来了。

11 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

12 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

13 gamble   

n.冒险；v.赌博，孤注一掷

参考例句：

• Setting up this business was a bit of a gamble.开办这样的公司有点冒险。
• Drive carefully and don't gamble with your life.小心驾驶，别拿你的生命冒险。

14 bet   

v.打赌，以(与)...打赌；n.赌注，赌金；打赌

参考例句：

• I bet you can't do this puzzle.我敢说，你解决不了这个难题。
• I offered to bet with him.我提出与他打赌。