Pursuits
College Athletes Should Be Paid Exactly This Much
How much do college athletes deserve for the enormous windfalls they generate? It’s time to let the free market decide
This article is for subscribers only.
With the college football bowl season ending and the national championship game upon us, it’s time to say goodbye to the much maligned Bowl Championship Series and to welcome its eagerly anticipated successor: the College Football Playoff.
The new system will be better in almost every conceivable way. Regular-season games will matter more. In addition to the title game, we’ll be given two high-stakes semifinals. The national champion will truly be the national champion. And let’s not forget about the money. More games mean more revenue—a lot more revenue—for the schools and the NCAA. The playoff series will generate on the order of $480 million a year, compared with a meager $170 million for the BCS.