Pay to Play

[NewApp]

There is the answer. You did it yourself. Maybe the real solution is to only let those in who would qualify as students. That way they will not need summer school and can work in the summer.

But I don't pretend that my situation applies to everyone else. I was fortunate to have supportive parents who helped me out financially when I was playing. I was also an honors student in high school and could manage a full course load in season. The real solution is simple: if you expect as much from college athletes as we do, then we should support them with a small stipend.


It's become painfully obvious that people in this thread are operating under the myth that college athletes are coddled and need for nothing because of their scholarships. That couldn't be further from the truth. Take it from somebody who lived it. You have no idea the hours that go in.

What is a small stipend. How much? Does cost of living in various areas come into the debate. Are you prepared to that for all sports, men and women, or do you favor dropping sports? We have upwards of twenty sports.

[TheMackAttack]

There is the answer. You did it yourself. Maybe the real solution is to only let those in who would qualify as students. That way they will not need summer school and can work in the summer.

But I don't pretend that my situation applies to everyone else. I was fortunate to have supportive parents who helped me out financially when I was playing. I was also an honors student in high school and could manage a full course load in season. The real solution is simple: if you expect as much from college athletes as we do, then we should support them with a small stipend.


It's become painfully obvious that people in this thread are operating under the myth that college athletes are coddled and need for nothing because of their scholarships. That couldn't be further from the truth. Take it from somebody who lived it. You have no idea the hours that go in.

What is a small stipend. How much? Does cost of living in various areas come into the debate. Are you prepared to that for all sports, men and women, or do you favor dropping sports? We have upwards of twenty sports.

200-250 per month when enrolled in x number of credit hours and a travel allowance for players to fly home and back over breaks of they live far enough away. An argument could be made for cost of living sure, and I'll admit that I'm not sure how/if to adjust for that. And yes, I think it had to be for all sports. I don't see how that adds up to 7 figures at App. I hope that it doesn't result in us having to cut sports, but if it does then it's an unfortunate consequence of an unfortunate situation.

[GoAppsGo92]

Some of you guys are coming down awfully tough on this - I'm not in Boone so I don't know, but are the APP athletes talking this up? Are the coaches campaigning for this? Is the administration singing its praises? Some seem to be taking this as a personal affront? ---

It's far as AppState is concerned, this is a non-issue. We made this decision when we committed to FBS. People are acting like App had no clue this was happening when we made the commitment to the top tier of college football. We did. We did what we did to remain competitive, and we will pay stipends as well. This accounts for less than 10% of the budget and we get over 1.2 million/year from the CFP.

The SBC will be paying stipends. They are based on federal guidelines so there will be limits to what can be paid, and all conferences will comply with the guidelines. I don't know why we are having this discussion.

[DoubleA]

Here's a thought provoking blog by John Gerdy, All-American basketball player who held the career scoring record at Davidson for 30 years. Those of us around in the late '70's remember Gerdy all too well.

Food for thought.

http://www.johngerdy.com/death-blow-ama ... education/

[appst89]

Here's a thought provoking blog by John Gerdy, All-American basketball player who held the career scoring record at Davidson for 30 years. Those of us around in the late '70's remember Gerdy all too well.

Food for thought.

http://www.johngerdy.com/death-blow-ama ... education/

These decisions are going to have to be made eventually. There is no way this ever-growing financial rat race can continue. It is unsustainable for the vast majority of schools.

[MountainMan]

Outstanding article.

"But here’s the larger issue. If a university is dependant on defining itself as a major institution of higher education based on how “big time” its’ football program is, then it’s no longer in the education business. That school is in the entertainment business. And given the challenges we are facing as a nation and society and higher education’s traditional role in providing leadership in facing those challenges, we need as many as possible of our institutions of higher education in the education business."

[MountainMan]

We did what we did to remain competitive, and we will pay stipends as well. This accounts for less than 10% of the budget and we get over 1.2 million/year from the CFP. The SBC will be paying stipends. They are based on federal guidelines so there will be limits to what can be paid, and all conferences will comply with the guidelines. I don't know why we are having this discussion.

I agree it certainly seems that the SBC will be paying stipends and shouldn't be a huge surprise for us.

Still, I think it's a discussion because there is some point at which at least some non-P5 schools may give up the race. It may or may not be us, but for schools like App State that are on a very tight budget in the first place, and are already utilizing significant student fees and indirect institutional funding to maintain an athletic program, a need to come up with 10% more funds and to maintain that going forward is more than just an insignificant issue. The discussion didn't start yesterday, but it won't end today either.

[AtlAppMan]

Bottomline is App has to Adapt. That is one reason we just brought in a heavy hitter fund raiser/marketing specialist type AD with Gillin. Everts knows that we want to move FORWARD and to do that the solution is to increase our checkbook not sell off the family farm. We have to figure out a way to raise the bar in the future. That is our way forward.

Can you imagine what an additional $5M-$10M in annual revenue could do for App? That could be a huge differentiator for our school. That would put us at the top of the G5 world and put us on equal footing with some P5's. We just needed someone who could be more creative and imaginative with fundraising and marketing for our university. We have a national recognizable brand. Let's capitalize on it. That is possible with the right folks driving the bus. I feel like we now have those folks at the wheel.

[DoubleA]

Bottomline is App has to Adapt

No doubt, we must adapt. Gerdy brings up a good point in that the group of schools in the so called "left behind" tier actually have an opportunity to restore integrity to the student-athlete model while the big boys move further and further down the road of professionalism. We have an opportunity to lead while other institutions continue the denial game and continue to compromise their academic mission.

[Eagle22]

It's a good read, but I wonder if he was espousing those views when he was bringing home a nice paycheck from his days as an associate commissioner with the SEC. I'd suspect not.

Clearly, he has that academic lineage to speak thoughtfully on the subject, but it has a little bit too much of a purist approach for me to buy it fully. Private schools like Davidson are far more likely to gain financial support from their alums if their athletic programs were diminished .... while schools like Appalachian State and Georgia Southern have to battle hard to attract state attention, while to some degree in the shadows of larger, established programs ... thus it is imperative to play the game of keeping up with the Jone's or simply give up the fight.

I say that having been an alumni board member (at different times) of both Georgia Southern and Mercer, where I got my MBA. The money that a school like Mercer attracts outside of athletics is significantly greater than what their sports program generates, though they too have recently become aware of what success in the NCAA tournament can mean (after beating Duke last year).

[appst89]

Bottomline is App has to Adapt. That is one reason we just brought in a heavy hitter fund raiser/marketing specialist type AD with Gillin. Everts knows that we want to move FORWARD and to do that the solution is to increase our checkbook not sell off the family farm. We have to figure out a way to raise the bar in the future. That is our way forward.

Can you imagine what an additional $5M-$10M in annual revenue could do for App? That could be a huge differentiator for our school. That would put us at the top of the G5 world and put us on equal footing with some P5's. We just needed someone who could be more creative and imaginative with fundraising and marketing for our university. We have a national recognizable brand. Let's capitalize on it. That is possible with the right folks driving the bus. I feel like we now have those folks at the wheel.

I want us to play at the highest level for as long as we can. The thing that concerns me, though, is that for every $5 or $10 million we can come up with, the power brokers are going to come up with an additional $50 or $100 million. We are in a race we cannot win. At some point, some difficult decisions are going to have to be made by the majority of the G5 schools. The revenue pool is not bottomless and the current model is unsustainable. I don't know what the landscape is going to look like. I just hope we have people who will make the decisions that are going to have to be made, whatever they may be.