REVIEW OF LITERATURE The role of the sports agent is said to have emerged almost a century ago in the mid 1920s when football player Red Grange hired a “personal representative” to negotiate a contract based upon performance. Grange was the first professional athlete whose contract was based upon his performance along with the fans that his celebrity attracted to the games he played in. Since then most professional athletes hire personal representatives known now as sports agents to work out the details of their playing contracts along with securing other forms of income with the agreement that the sports agent will be paid a percentage of the contract that is completed. Though a sports agents primary role is to maximize the value of what …show more content…
Argovitz. In another instance while working for IMG, sports agent Bill Henkel, secured a memorabilia deal for Pro Bowl running back, LaDanian Tomlinson. Henkel received a substantial personal kickback from the company hiring Tomlinson, but did not inform Tomlinson's or IMG (Heitner, 2010). How this presented an issue was that Henkel breached his fiduciary duty in order to secure the deal with his own personal interest in mind. “Some American commentators describe the player agent business as “one of the most deceptive and unethical aspects of the sports industry’ and ‘responsible for much of what is wrong with sports today” (Johnson, 2006 p. 104). In order to understand what makes the lack of professional ethics possible in the sports agent industry one must consider the current regulations for governing professional conduct and each individual agent’s own ethical bases for decision making regarding those …show more content…
Though the requirements are made of the sports agent for disclosure, the UAAA's primary purpose is to protect educational institutions by creating a uniform code of rules and regulations. While student-athletes were a concern for the drafters of the UAAA, their primary goal was to protect educational institutions' financial interests against the practices of unethical agents who will do anything to sign a new client to an agency contract including acts that may jeopardize a student-athlete's NCAA eligibility and/or thereby disrupt the the educational institution's sports programs compliance with NCAA rules. Though the UAAA protects the educational institution it doesn’t serve as an effective deterrent for unethical sports agent behavior. “In essence, the Act only regulates interaction between the agent and the student athlete and does not address the dealings of the sports agent and the professional athlete, which then fails to protect the professional athlete (Neiman,
Through channels of competitive balance, the leagues have put restrictions on free agency. The MLB does this by requiring players to be in the league for six years before declaring free agency, and the NFL puts a restriction on free agency for some players, done by allowing teams to match offers players have received from other teams. Determining a player’s MRP becomes an easier process than in the labor markets of other industries due to the availability of statistics of player’s and their contribution to their team’s success. The difficulty of this process lies in the determination of how revenues for a team are produced.
The focus of professional sports has evolved from one of teamwork and camaraderie to one of avarice and greed. The specific problems in recent years that have stemmed off this overwhelming greed include exorbitant salaries, lockouts (or work stoppages) in professional sports, and the growing disparity among team payrolls. Most recognize these issues as major problems; however, others overlook the greed and see validity in the financial aspect of today's sports world. They argue that professional sports are thriving and should not be modified.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) formed in 1906. When the NCAA was incepted they created strict bylaws requiring student-athletes maintain amateur status (NCAA Amateurism). The NCAA has remained diligent in enforcing and maintaining those laws. Under NCAA law it is illegal for student athletes to enter into contracts with professional teams, receive a salary for participating in athletics, and receive benefits from an agent or prospective agents (NCAA Amateurism). Presently, the NCAA has justified these regulations to “ensure the students’ priority remains on obtaining a quality educational experience and that all of student-athletes are competing equitably” (NCAA Amateurism). These rules however, have been in place since 1...
In the beginning of inter-collegiate competition and even now the governing body the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) wanted athletes to maintain their amateurism. Being an amateur means, to remain unpaid why competing and performing a c. Athletes were to come from the student body and off-campus recruitment of athletes was prohibited. The problem with the many rules and regulations of the NCAA early on was that they expected schools to police themselves and uphold a certain amount of morality, but without checks and balances corruption was sure to take place and did so. From the late 1920’s and into the 1940’s big-time athletes would be “sponsored” by alumni in order to get them to play for that schools team. The alumni would usually just pay the tuition for the athlete and usually it was seen as a loan but rarely got paid back.
College athletes are manipulated every day. Student athletes are working day in and day out to meet academic standards and to keep their level of play competitive. These athletes need to be rewarded and credited for their achievements. Not only are these athletes not being rewarded but they are also living with no money. Because the athletes are living off of no money they are very vulnerable to taking money from boosters and others that are willing to help them out. The problem with this is that the athletes are not only getting themselves in trouble but their athletic departments as well.
Zimbalist, Andrew S. Unpaid Professionals: Commercialism And Conflict In Big-Time College Sports. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1999. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
...ith no choice but to accept illegal money. If the NCAA would just pay these athletes some type of payment then athletes would be less likely to break the rules of the NCAA
First, illegal recruiting in NCAA athletics is tremendously unethical. “The extremely high stakes of recruiting can sometimes compromise the values that coaches need to teach: honesty, integrity, and loyalty” (Spillane). No matter how high the stakes, there is no reason to put all morals and values aside for the sake of a college sport. Whether it is a low level recruit or a superstar, it all has to deal with the same principle, meaning that if the coach doesn’t regard the two recruits equally he isn’t doing his job right. As expectations for the coach begin to rise and job security decreases, it tempts the coaches to go out and attain the recruits no matter what the cost (Spillane). Although a coach may be susceptible to losing his job, it is better to be fired than to give up all of their morals and integrity. If a person is to give up all of their morals for any reason, it truly shows what type of person they are. Also, as explained in Modern Sports Ethics by Angela Lumpkin, there may not be any moral obligation for a coach or recruiter to make the right choice (66). Therefore, the coach’s character becomes ...
The 2012 Heisman Trophy winner, Johnny Manziel, began the 2013 season sitting on the sidelines. Due to a half game suspension handed down by Texas A&M University, Manziel was only allowed to watch as A&M took the field versus the visiting Rice Owls. To “Aggies” fans, this half game suspension came as a huge relief. It had been feared that Manziel may receive a multiple game or year-long ban from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for violating NCAA Bylaw 12.5.2.1. The bylaw prohibits athletes from allowing their name or picture to be used in a commercial matter (Berkes, 2013). Luckily for him, a half-game suspension would be his only punishment. Manziel was put into this predicament after reports surfaced that he had accepted money in return for autographs. No proof of this was ever found, but it was proved that someone, probably a memorabilia collector, profited from his signature (Berkes, 2013). So wait, a man can’t receive money for signing his own autograph? The answer is “no”, if he is a student athlete following the strict rules of the NCAA. The only benefits he can accept are those included in a lucrative scholarship given by universities. As more incidents like Johnny Manziel’s have occurred, it has been debated by sports analysts and the news media whether or not these scholarships are a fair payment. Another Heisman Trophy winner, Cam Newton, was accused of trying to sell his services to Mississippi State University after his decision to transfer from a community college following his junior year. While an NCAA investigation would find that his father had indeed tried to shop Cam to prospective schools, Newton was cleared to play (Wojciechowski, 2010). The 2005 Heisman Trophy winner, Reggie Bush, was ...
The proposal of payment toNCAA student-athletes has begun major conversations and arguments nationwide with people expressing their take on it. “This tension has been going on for years. It has gotten greater now because the magnitude of dollars has gotten really large” (NCAA). I am a student athlete at Nicholls State University and at first thought, I thought it would be a good idea to be able to be paid as a student-athlete.After much research however; I have come to many conclusions why the payment of athletes should not take place at the collegiate level.The payment of athletes is only for athletes at the professional level. They are experts at what they do whether it is Major League Baseball, Pro Basketball, Professional Football, or any other professional sport and they work for that franchise or company as an employee. The payment of NCAA college athletes will deteriorate the value of school to athletes, create contract disputes at both the college and professional level, kill recruiting of athletes, cause chaos over the payment of one sport versus another, and it will alter the principles set by the NCAA’s founder Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. Under Roosevelt and NCAA, athletes were put under the term of a “student-athlete” as an amateur. All student athletes who sign the NCAA papers to play college athletics agree to compete as an amateur athlete. The definition of an amateur is a person who “engages in a sport, study, or other activity for pleasure rather than for financial benefit or professional reasons” (Dictonary.com).
The NCAA prides itself as an organization dedicated to safeguarding the well-being of student-athletes and equipping them with the skills to succeed on the playing field, in the classroom and throughout life. In order to ensure that participants are students first and athletes second the NCAA has specific rules pertaining to athlete amateurism. The requirements prohibit contracts and tryouts with professional teams, salary for participating in athletics, prize money, and representation by an agent. (Amateurism) These rules not only limit the freedom of the player but also put the player at risk of being taken advantage of due to the lack of a players union and illegality of employing an agent. Other aspects of the NCAA’s rule book have been under scrutiny as well. Marc Edelman, Professor of Law at Baruch College, wrote in his treatise: Why the NCAA’s No-Pay Rules Violate Section 1 of the Sherman Act that courts are now beginning to overturn certain rules that are deemed anticompetitive. This development is important because according to the Sherman Act “Every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherw...
According to the NCAA regulations an athlete will lose his/her eligibility if they are paid to play; sign a contract with an agent; receive a salary, incentive payment, award, gratuity educational expenses or allowances; or play on a professional team. The word amateur in sports has stood for positive values compared to professional, which has had just the opposite. The professional sport has meant bad and degrading; while the amateur sport has meant good and elevating. William Geoghegan, Flyer News sports editor writes, “Would paying athletes tarnish the ideal of amateurism? Maybe, but being fair is far more important than upholding an ideal” (Geoghehan 1).
The controversy of athletes being overpaid dates back to 1922, when well-known baseball player George “Babe” Ruth received $50,000 within the first year of his career. Ruth’s extensive wealth was bolstered by dozens of endorsements (Saperecom). As it is shown in figure 1, in the Fortunate 50 Tiger Woods takes the number one spot for highest paid athlete. Tiger’s salary for 2011 is $2,294,116 and like Babe Ruth, his endorsements exceed his salary earning $60,000,000 making his total $62,294,116 (Freedman). It’s crazy to think that 89 years ago professional athletes scarcely made more than the average person today. This is of course not counting the inflation that has occurred since the years which Babe Ruth played baseball.
The United States has an obsession with sports. From little leagues to major leagues, winning is above all and being competitive is important for both coaches and administrators overall success. That is why college recruiting has so many ethical issues today. When universities are able to offer money and other incentives to student-athletes in order to persuade them to enroll with their institution it gives them an advantage some others are not able to offer. Gifting money, cars, clothing, houses, and sometimes even sex take place in order to sway an athlete to one’s school. This issue may not be a problem for all sport managers because there are a few schools that have the money to spend and have no problem offering it to athletes, but most other smaller schools are left in the dust with lower end recruits. Illegal and unethical recruitment affects sport managers and coaches because of the lack of success some may have getting higher end recruits to attend their institution. There is also risk involved for sport managers and coaches through the chance of getting caught doing said illicit acts. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the history of illegal and unethical recruiting as well as my proposed solution to try and limit illegal recruiting.
The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) is an association set up to regulate