A New York state senator introduced legislation this week that would require college athletic departments in the state to give a 15% share of annual revenue to college athletes. The revenue would be equally divided between all athletes.

Sen. Kevin S. Parker (D-N.Y.) of the 21st District of New York in Brooklyn proposed a bill that would give college athletes the right to profit from their names, images and likenesses. If passed, the bill would make New York the first state to require colleges to pay college athletes directly. ESPN first reported on the legislation Wednesday.

Parker told The Daily Orange on Wednesday that he wanted to propose the bill as the college fall sports season is underway. The state legislature won’t be back in session until January. He wanted to give the state Senate enough time to understand the bill.

“It’s about equity,” Parker told ESPN. “These young people are adding their skill, talent and labor to these universities. You don’t need the shortcuts and the end-arounds because now we’re providing some real support for these student-athletes.”

Parker modeled the bill after California’s Fair Pay to Play Act, which passed unanimously through the state’s Assembly and Senate earlier this month. That bill would allow college athletes to accept endorsement money. Several other states, including Maryland, Colorado and Washington, have mulled similar laws related to college athlete compensation, according to ESPN.

Last week, the NCAA Board of Governors released a statement condemning the California bill, saying it would “erase the critical distinction between college and professional athletics” and give schools in California an unfair competitive advantage. In the past, Syracuse Athletic Director John Wildhack said he is open to considering ideas including allowing players to profit off their likenesses or hire agents earlier.

Sarah Scalese, senior associate vice president for communications at Syracuse University, said it would be “premature” for the university to comment because SU hasn’t yet reviewed the specifics of the proposal. The NCAA could not be reached for comment on Wednesday’s proposed bill.

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Last year on a Bloomberg Podcast, Wildhack publicly opposed compensating college athletes directly, warning that “the ramifications would be extraordinary.” Wildhack defended amateurism and expressed concern on how paying college athletes could impact Olympic sports, which typically generate less revenue than football and basketball.

In 2017, based on financial data provided by the university, Syracuse Athletics generated more than $96 million across all sports.Almost half of that came from football.

Like Wildhack, SU men’s basketball head coach Jim Boeheim supports the status quo. Last year at the Atlantic Coast Conference media day, Boeheim said, “I don’t think we should ever compensate players.” Boeheim instead pointed to meal stipends and athletic scholarships as adequate forms of payment. But he favored allowing players to profit off their likeness, which both the New York and California bills would permit.

“Jim Boeheim makes a lot of money,” Parker said of Boeheim’s $2.6 million dollar salary in 2017. “Let’s see him live with the daily compensation of the scholarship and a meal plan he gives them.”

In 2018, Boeheim rejected the comparison of coaches’ salaries to their players. “Everybody says, ‘The coach makes this and the players [don’t make anything].’ The player is 17 years old. I’ve been working my whole life. There’s a lot of 17-year-old kids that don’t make money. Most of them. These 17-year-old kids are getting a $75,000 scholarship,” Boeheim said.

Parker’s interest in college athlete compensation stems from his experience at Penn State in the late 1980s, he said. Parker met many football players and learned about their struggles with money during college. Penn State, one of Syracuse’s peer institutions, generated more than $165 million in 2017-18, according to data collected by USA Today. That number was No. 9 in the nation.

“There’s more than enough resources to go around,” Parker said.

Published on September 18, 2019 at 11:06 pm

Contact Danny: dremerma@syr.edu | @DannyEmerman