Football Solutions

A Win-Win Plan for College Football
Nicholas Johnson
The Gazette, September 12, 2023, p. A6
College football began with problems. Excessive injuries prompted President Teddy Roosevelt to insist coaches require helmets – and the NCAA was born.

By 1939, University of Chicago President Robert Hutchins abolished football. Another university president told me: “I have always considered football an anomaly.”

The Hawkeyes have had their share of football-related challenges. Senator Chuck Grassley thought football shouldn’t have a non-profit charity’s tax-exempt status. A strength assistant coach overdid it and players were hospitalized. Suggesting Iowa’s taxpayers pay half the settlement to Black players alleging coaches’ racism. Letting nepotism send the Hawkeye’s offensive team to the national basement. Early ties to the gambling casino in Riverside. This year’s players betting on sports and the Big Ten roster going to 18, as teams share $7 billion from TV. [Photo credit: Nicholas Johnson. Electronic "billboard" inside Kinnick Stadium advertising/promoting the Riverside gambling casino.]

Football coaches are the highest paid public employees in 40 states. The total for Iowa’s top six assistant coaches’ salaries is $5,075,000. Second highest is the head coach’s son. Dad gets $7 million. Academic salaries? Name me a UI college where the dean gets $7 million and the department heads earn between $500,000 and one million plus. Which academic among them can walk into the UI president’s office, ask for a loan, and walk out with $50 million?

Conflicts of interest abound. University presidents weigh courage against capitulation. Athletic directors must consider both profits and propriety when offered alcohol or gambling industry dollars. Coaches must encourage players’ academics while coaches’ salaries reflect players’ on-field performance. Non-tenured professors fear retribution for flunking players. Players who do seek education may have to choose between lab time or scheduled practice.

No, the reality is college football has become a multi-billion-dollar industry, the NFL’s farm clubs. Some players dream of a big-bucks future, though only 1.6 percent will make the NFL -- while suppressing the nightmares of an average 3.3-year career and lifetime injuries.

So long as parents and players accept the injury risks, and fans accept football’s cost in time and money, there will be football. Like the pig in the parlor, it just needs to be moved. [Photo source unknown.]

Here is a win-win solution. Recognize football as the big money entertainment industry it is. Let "Hawkeyes" lease the Kinnick Stadium, related land and structures, housing, the “Hawkeyes” name, and associated assets at going commercial rates.

The university would be freed of conflicts of interest and embarrassments, and the for-profit team would be freed of academic restrictions. Its board of directors could hire and pay its coaches and players whatever they negotiated.

Stop insisting players pretend to be students. Offer a spring-semester-only option.

Would the University need more money? Maybe. But “revenue is needed” should never rule decisions. It’s a sign your moral compass is spinning as if at the North Pole.

Iowa’s not the only football-challenged school. Now that college conferences are expanding nationally other schools may consider this move.

Any lesser separation of academy and football will only perpetuate the frustrations, conflicts, restrictions and embarrassments for teams and schools alike.

Nicholas Johnson watches football games and formerly taught sports law. Contact: mailbox@nicholasjohnson.org

SOURCES President Teddy Roosevelt. Weiler, et al, Sports and the Law, 4th ed., 1993, p. 747. (“The NCAA was formed in 1906, when a former Harvard college football player, President Theodore Roosevelt, summoned leading university presidents to the White House and told them that unless they made that game safe – it was annually killing 15 to 20 players and permanently disabling another 150 or so – he was going to have to use the law to shut the game down. The schools reluctantly agreed to create a forum to reshape football, by placing helmets on the players and eliminating such dangerous tactics as the ‘flying wedge.’ The organization they formed became the NCAA.”)

Robert Hutchins. “Robert Maynard Hutchins, 1929-1951,” University of Chicago, https://president.uchicago.edu/about-the-office/history/robert-maynard-hutchins (“The one thing which drew more attention than any other, of course, was his [Hutchins’] elimination of varsity football. Hutchins heaped scorn upon schools which received more press coverage for their sports teams than for their educational programs, and a run of disastrous seasons gave him the trustee support he needed to drop football in 1939. The decision was hailed by many, but few other schools followed Chicago's lead.)

Senator Grassley. Dean Treftz, “Sports Donors Under Review,” The Daily Iowan, Jan. 29, 2007, https://www.nicholasjohnson.org/BlogStuf/regents/dtdi0129.html (“Prompted by high-profile stories of lucrative salaries for collegiate coaches as tuition continues to rise nationwide, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, is investigating the role that tax-deductible contributions play in university athletics.

Specifically, Grassley - the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee - is taking a look at tax-exempt donations that give donors higher priority for such perks as luxury seats and game-day parking spots.

‘I worry that these tax breaks may be eaten away by universities that raise tuition all the time,’ he told The Daily Iowan. ‘I want to know, what does it contribute to the educational purposes of the university?’

For instance, he pointed to new Alabama football coach Nick Saban, who is slated to earn $32 million over the next eight years. Those salaries, Grassley said, concerned him that universities and their athletics departments were losing sight of their scholastic mission.”)

Hospitalized players. Danielle Parenteau, “Iowa Football: What Landed 13 Players in the Hospital?” Bleacher Report, Jan. 27, 2011, https://bleacherreport.com/articles/586596-iowa-football-what-landed-13-players-in-the-hospital (“Thirteen University of Iowa football players were recently hospitalized with rhabdomyolysis, a muscle disorder. . . . The cause is reportedly strenuous exercise, though this has not been officially confirmed. …

Most of the players have not been identified. One who has been named is Jim Poggi, a first-year linebacker.

Before Poggi's problems started, he had undergone a workout ‘that involved performing 100 squats in a certain amount of time and pulling a sled 100 yards,’ writes Foley.

Another hospitalized player, Shane DiBona, described his workout and reaction on Facebook, according to a report on ESPN.com.

‘I had to squat 240 pounds 100 times and it was timed. I can't walk and I fell down the stairs...’”)

Racial discrimination settlement. Stephen Gruber-Miller, “University of Iowa athletics will repay state $2M for football discrimination settlement,” Des Moines Register, March 9, 2023, https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2023/03/09/university-of-iowa-reimburse-state-2-million-football-discrimination-lawsuit-settlement/69989184007 (“The University of Iowa athletics department will repay $2 million to the state to cover the costs of a recent legal settlement over racial discrimination in the university's football program.

The $4.2 million settlement was announced Monday between 12 Black former football players and the university. As part of the agreement, it was negotiated that the Iowa athletics department would pay $2.175 million of the costs, with the state paying the remaining $2 million.

The agreement drew immediate criticism, with State Auditor Rob Sand, a Democrat, saying he did not support using taxpayer funds for the deal unless Iowa athletics director Gary Barta was ousted.”)

Nepotism results. Mike Hlas, “Catastrophic Offensive Repair Needs? Everyone’s eyeballing Brian-O-Meter; The quest for Brian Ferentz’s offense to average 25 points a game got off to a slow start, which hasn’t gone unnoticed far beyond River City,” The Gazette, Aug. 6, 2023, https://www.thegazette.com/iowa-football/catastrophic-offensive-repair-needs-everyones-eyeballing-brian-o-meter/ (“The most-famous stipulation in College Sports 2023 is Iowa needing to win seven games and average 25 points this season or Ferentz’s contract will “terminate” on June 30, 2024. Many assume that would mean getting fired, but it’s also possible a new contract or position would be negotiated.”)

Max Laughton, “‘Scandal unfolding in plain sight’: A bad coach, an ‘insane’ contract and why he’ll never be sacked,” Fox Sports, Feb. 8, 2023, https://www.foxsports.com.au/nfl/college-football-2023-brian-ferentz-bizarre-contract-extenson-iowa-hawkeyes-problems-nepotism-dad-kirk-ferentz-wont-fire-him/news-story/fb099a664151d099a165352480c886f9 (“The bizarre new contract handed to Iowa offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz has shone a spotlight on perhaps the strangest - and worst - coaching situation in college football. . . .

Iowa had an absolutely incredible defense in 2022; according to ESPN’s respected SP+ metric, the best in the entire country . . .. Oh, and they had the fifth-best special teams, to boot. . . .

[Head coach’s son, Brian] Ferentz’s offence was a simply horrendous 118th out of 131 schools in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). . . . They averaged 251.6 yards per game, 130st in the country and the lowest for a Big Ten conference team this century. . . . But the concerns around Ferentz aren’t purely surrounding his coaching ability. In 2020, he was cited in complaints by multiple former players, when Iowa dealt with a racial reckoning of sorts. . . .

The University of Iowa has rules around nepotism - understandably, because a situation like this one can easily develop - except they’re not exactly watertight.

When Ferentz was elevated from offensive line coach to offensive coordinator in 2012, it was claimed his father did not hire him . . .. Instead Iowa athletic director Gary Barta officially said he hired Ferentz, and that Ferentz reports directly to him . . .. College football writer and podcaster Alex Kirshner put it best in response to the latest twist in the Ferentz tale. ‘This is just an insane situation. Iowa football doesn’t belong to Iowa anymore. It’s a family small business,’ he tweeted.”)

Chad Leistikow and Steve Berkowitz, “Iowa football coaches' salaries for 2023 season: Phil Parker's pay bumps to $1.4 million,” Hawk Central, Des Moines Register, July 13, 2023, https://www.hawkcentral.com/story/sports/college/iowa/football/2023/07/13/iowa-football-coach-salaries-revealed-for-2023-phil-parker-levar-woods-brian-ferentz/70409682007/ (“Meanwhile, Iowa offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz – the head coach’s oldest son – had his $50,000 pay cut reflected in the public-records request. Ferentz’s contract was amended this offseason by outgoing athletics director Gary Barta, his direct supervisor, after Iowa compiled the worst yards-per-game output of any Power Five school since Wake Forest in 2014 and the Hawkeye program's lowest since 1978. Brian Ferentz’s offense must average at least 25 points in 2023 and Iowa must win seven games for him to earn a raise and a two-year contract extension; otherwise, his contract is unlikely to be renewed.”)

Football’s promotion of Riverside gambling casino. See lengthy list of items, discussion and itemization of sources, in Nicholas Johnson, “Does Herky Have a Gambling Problem,” Jan. 25, 2012, first entry, https://fromdc2iowa.blogspot.com/2012/01/

Alcohol. Although omitted for space reasons, the ties between the athletic program and students’ alcohol consumption are also relevant. Here is a passage from an earlier blog post:

“Football Trash Talk” (a little over half-way into the post), FromDC2Iowa, Sept. 12, 2012, https://fromdc2iowa.blogspot.com/2012/09/football-trash-talk.html (“In fairness, it's tough for a university administration to simultaneously try to (1) carry out programs designed to discourage college students from binge drinking and other forms of alcohol abuse and its consequences, while (2) (a) engaging in a lucrative joint-marketing agreement designed to increase the sale of Anheuser-Busch products, and (b) engaging in a gambling bet between the presidents of Iowa and Iowa State in which the winner gets -- that's right, a bottle of booze. (The UI administration has reassured critics of this last seeming conflict by noting that it advises that hard liquor as well as beer should also be consumed "responsibly.")

“Iowa State, Iowa university presidents settle up on college football bet," Des Moines Register/Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 13, 2012 ("On the line was a bottle of Templeton Rye, a drink sold by an Iowa-based company and billed as 'Prohibition-era whiskey.' . . . [D]oes wagering alcohol while the university works to curb problem drinking send a mixed message? University officials say no.")

Iowa football student athletes’ sports betting. John Steppe, “ Records: Iowa players bet on 14 of their own football games; Regulators reiterate they have no evidence Hawkeye games compromised,” The Gazette, Aug. 11, 2023, https://www.thegazette.com/iowa-football/which-iowa-football-games-did-players-allegedly-bet-on-during-2021-2022-seasons/ (“Hawkeye football players made illegal wagers on at least 14 of their 27 games over the last two seasons, court documents show, . . .. The list of 14 Hawkeye games — seven in 2021 and seven in 2022 — that court records show were involved could potentially grow as the investigation from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation into sports betting . . . continues. . . . In the last two weeks, 15 people affiliated with the campus’ [Iowa and Iowa State athletic] departments have been charged with tampering with records, an aggravated misdemeanor punished by up to two years in prison.

When the investigation was first announced, the UI indicated that 26 current athletes could be involved . . .. Court records allege all five used sports wagering accounts set up by adults even though they were too young to bet under Iowa law — not only a crime, but a violation of NCAA rules against student athletes gambling on sports. . . . [If] the allegations are proven true, the athletes charged may have played their last snap of college football. The NCAA's reinstatement guidelines suggest athletes who bet on their own team ‘will potentially face permanent loss of collegiate eligibility in all sports.’”)

Erin Murphy, “5 charged in Iowa sports betting probe plead guilty to lesser charges; The 5 current and former Iowa and Iowa State athletes have pleaded guilty to underage betting, which carries only a fine and no jail time,” The Gazette, Aug. 6, 2023, https://www.thegazette.com/state-government/5-charged-in-iowa-sports-betting-probe-plead-guilty-to-lesser-charges/ (“Under NCAA rules, student-athletes who wager on a game in which they compete or on any competition involving their school could potentially face permanent loss of collegiate eligibility in all sports. Dekkers, Sauser and Blom each placed bets on their respective teams, and Christensen placed bets on other Iowa athletics events, according to court documents.”)

See also: https://www.thegazette.com/sports/what-you-need-to-know-about-sports-betting-in-iowa/
https://www.thegazette.com/state-government/hawkeye-and-cyclone-sports-bets-leave-question-mark-on-integrity/
https://www.thegazette.com/news/competitiveness-may-drive-players-to-bet-on-own-teams/ (AP)
https://www.thegazette.com/iowa-football/why-iowa-seems-to-be-chosen-ones-in-ncaas-enforcement-of-sports-wagering-rules/
https://www.thegazette.com/iowa-basketball/iowa-mens-basketball-manager-evan-schuster-accused-of-betting-on-own-teams-games/

The “Big 18.” Andy Patton, “The Big Ten is now up to 18 schools, so now what? Locked on Big 10; The Big Ten stopped at 18 schools, leaving out Cal and Stanford. Are they waiting for something bigger?” CBS, Aug. 7, 2023, https://www.cbs8.com/article/sports/locked-on/lo-national/big-10-show/big-ten-now-up-18-schools-now-what-pac-12-conference-realignment/535-df4bdd79-1b33-4100-be16-3d2a540f1333 (“The Big Ten is now the Big 18 after adding Oregon and Washington on top of USC and UCLA to create another mega conference, which gutted the Pac-12 and eliminated a Power-5 conference from the sport.

The moves helped ensure the conference stays among the top dogs after the SEC added Texas and Oklahoma from the Big 12 and the Big 12 responded by adding Houston, BYU, Cincinnati, and Central Florida for 2023-24 and then Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah for 2024 and onward.”)

$7 billion TV revenue. Josh Helmer, “What will every Iowa football coach earn in 2023?” Hawkeyes Wire, July 15, 2023, https://hawkeyeswire.
AP, “Big Ten lands $7 billion, NFL-style TV contracts,” The Gazette, Aug. 18, 2022, https://www.thegazette.com/iowa-football/big-ten-lands-7-billion-nfl-style-tv-contracts/ (“The Big Ten's new $7 billion media rights deal will string the conference's top football games across three major networks each week, creating an NFL-style television schedule on Saturdays.

The Big Ten announced Thursday it has reached seven-year agreements with Fox, CBS and NBC to share the rights to the conference's football and basketball games.

The deals go into effect in 2023, expire in 2030 and eventually will allow the conference's soon-to-be 16 member universities to share more than $1 billion per year, a person familiar with the terms told The Associated Press.”)

Coaches highest paid in 40 states. David Evans, “Complete List Of The Highest-Paid State Employees: College Coaches Dominate Top Earning Public Sector Workers,” The Sports Daily, July 20, 2023, https://thesportsdaily.com/news/complete-list-of-the-highest-paid-state-employees-college-coaches-dominate-top-earning-public-sector-workers/ (“. . . the highest-earning state employees. The list is dominated by college coaches with 40 of the 50 states’ top-earners in the public sector holding the job title of ‘College Football Head Coach’ or ‘College Basketball Head Coach.’”)

Iowa coaches’ salaries. Adam Wells, “Kirk Ferentz, Iowa Agree to New Contract Through 2029 Valued at $7M per Year,” BleacherReport, Jan 14, 2022, https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10023859-kirk-ferentz-iowa-agree-to-new-contract-through-2029-valued-at-7m-per-year

Josh Helmer, “What will every Iowa football coach earn in 2023?” Hawkeyes Wire, July 15, 2023, https://hawkeyeswire.usatoday.com/lists/iowa-hawkeyes-2023-college-football-coaching-salaries-kirk-ferentz-brian-phil-parker-levar-woods-seth-wallace/ (“The Big Ten had reportedly signed a $7 billion TV deal in August of 2022 . . .. Kirk Ferentz, Head Coach 2023 salary: $7 million”)

Chad Leistikow and Steve Berkowitz, “Iowa football coaches' salaries for 2023 season: Phil Parker's pay bumps to $1.4 million,” Hawk Central, Des Moines Register, July 13, 2023, https://www.hawkcentral.com/story/sports/college/iowa/football/2023/07/13/iowa-football-coach-salaries-revealed-for-2023-phil-parker-levar-woods-brian-ferentz/70409682007/ (“Here is the summary of the 11 new salaries for Iowa football in 2023, sorted by dollar amount, before performance bonuses:

Phil Parker, defensive coordinator/defensive backs, $1.4 million (up from $1.3 million, a 7.7% increase)

Brian Ferentz, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks, $850,000 (down from $900,000, a 5.6% decrease)

Seth Wallace, assistant defensive coordinator/linebackers, $755,000 (up from $700,000, a 7.9% increase)

Raimond Braithwaite, strength and conditioning, $725,000 (up from $675,000, a 7.4% increase)

LeVar Woods, special teams coordinator, $700,000 (up from $625,000, a 12% increase)

George Barnett, offensive line, $645,000 (up from $600,000, a 7.5% increase)

Kelvin Bell, defensive line, $620,000 (up from $575,000, a 7.8% increase)

Kelton Copeland, wide receivers, $495,000 (up from $460,000, a 7.6% increase) Jay Niemann, assistant defensive line/recruiting, $495,000 (up from $460,000, a 7.6% increase) Ladell Betts, running backs/recruiting, $410,000 (up from $380,000, a 7.9% increase) Abdul Hodge, tight ends, $325,000 (up from $275,000, a 15.4% increase”)

$50 million loan. Vanessa Miller, “University of Iowa gives athletics $50 million ’loan’” The Gazette, April 5, 2021, https://www.thegazette.com/education/university-of-iowa-gives-athletics-50-million-loan/ (“[O]utgoing UI President Bruce Harreld has agreed to permanently end an earlier deal requiring athletics to contribute $2 million a year in direct support to the main campus.

Additionally, the UI main campus — facing budget cuts and tens of millions in pandemic-propelled losses of its own — is nonetheless shipping $50 million to the typically self-sustaining athletics department this budget year.

That money, according to UI spokeswoman Anne Bassett, will come from the university's cash reserves and come 'in the form of an internal loan that will be repaid over the next 10 to 15 years.’”)

Conflicts of interest abound. Sources for this paragraph come from multiple sources: other sources listed here, personal experiences, confirmed conversations with participants, coaches’ contracts.

College football revenue. Whatever one counts, it’s millions and billions; it’s a big industry. There are numbers for top teams, conferences, some total revenue, some revenue less expenses, some for a year, some for length of contract, some for total athletic program, some just for football, some including TV revenue, others not. While a “national annual total” is hard to find, here are some statistics.

Doug Robinson, “College football: The business that’s like no other; When it comes to the bottom line, college football seems to have it all figured out,” Deseret News, July 29, 2023, https://www.deseret.com/2023/7/29/23801644/college-football-the-business-thats-like-no-other (“Imagine you have been offered the opportunity to buy a business that offers the following inducements:

• The business generates billions of dollars annually — an average of more than $30 million in revenues per franchise, according to Business Insider, with some reaching more than $200 million. There are 131 major franchises nationally. According to Forbes, 25 of them combined to earn an average of $1.5 billion in profit on annual revenues of $2.7 billion.

• The business is recession proof. There is no downturn in the economy that is so bad that people won’t pay for your product. And it never ever goes out of style. The only thing that can slow it down is a once-in-century pandemic.

• The business receives endless, nationwide advertising — and it’s all FREE!! Someone else does it for you. Some businesses actually pay you for the privilege! TV outlets pay zillions just to show your business on their screens almost every day of the week. It’s a seasonal business, and yet newspapers, radio programs, magazines and TV shows devote hours and hours to discussing your product day and night, year-round, which is just another free marketing/advertising tool, as far as you’re concerned. And it just keeps coming. There are entire businesses devoted to betting on the outcome of your business each week, and there are video games that mimic what your business does every Saturday in the fall.

• The business has more than 100 young, physically fit employees at the various franchises to provide a highly valued form of entertainment for the public. Sounds expensive? Well, the average employee works for peanuts — expenses, tuition waivers, free shoes, food, etc. Most of them would do it for nothing. The stars of the business can demand money these days, but, guess what! A third party pays for them under a program called NIL — name, image and likeness!

• There is some overhead, but much of the equipment is provided free by companies eager to have your business market their uniforms, other apparel, shoes, equipment and other products. And — get this — most states kick in tax money and student fees to subsidize the business.

• There is an unlimited supply of customers who will patronize your business. The customer base grows every year. It’s like compounding interest, with customers as the currency. Every year, a new graduating class emerges from universities and they instantly become paying customers, and they marry and produce offspring/future customers. Last year a near-record 37.3 million customers bought tickets to patronize your business, making it the largest year-over-year increase since 1982.

• This business has major, highly recognizable brands all over the country that bring in millions from people wanting to buy merchandise with your name and logos emblazoned on them — hats, apparel, mugs — which of course also means more free advertising.

• The “CEO” of each franchise is often the highest paid employee in the state. That’s how valuable your business is. And part of his salary is paid for by equipment companies and radio/TV stations and a group called boosters, who donate hundreds of millions of dollars to help pay the boss and support the company he oversees.

Universities used to be in the business of education with a side interest in football; now they are football franchises with a side interest in education. If the top 32 college football teams decided to do it, they could form a professional league that could challenge the NFL for revenues and customers, all under the guise of — try not to laugh — institutions of higher learning.”)

Dean Straka, “Big Ten leads Power Five conferences with $845.6 million in revenue in 2022 fiscal year, per report; Power Five conferences combined to bring in $3.3 billion in revenue last year,” CBS, May 19, 2023, https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/big-ten-leads-power-five-conferences-with-845-6-million-in-revenue-in-2022-fiscal-year-per-report/ (“Power Five conferences combined for more than $3.3 billion in total revenue during the 2022 fiscal year, according to USA Today. The Big Ten led the pack at $845.6 million.

Big Ten $845.6 million SEC $802 million ACC $617 million Pac-12 $580.9 million Big 12 $480.6 million)

“Top 20 Most Profitable College Football Programs,” Athnet, https://www.athleticscholarships.net/profitable-college-football-programs.htm (“The 20 most profitable college football programs made an eye-popping $925 million combined after expenses. The SEC is the leading conference on the field and on the balance sheet, as it has nine schools in the top 20. Of the remaining 11 most profitable programs, there are four from the Big Ten, three from Pac-12, two from the Big-12 and one from the ACC. Here’s the complete list:”)

Christina Gough, “Revenue of the NCAA from television broadcast payments and licensing rights from 2012 to 2027(in million U.S. dollars),” Statista, March 23, 2023, https://www.statista.com/statistics/219608/ncaa-revenue-from-television-rights-agreement/ (“In its 2022 fiscal year, the NCAA generated 870 million U.S. dollars in revenue from television broadcast payments and licensing rights. Over the term of the contract the multimedia and marketing rights payments will reach a total of almost 10.55 billion U.S. dollars.”)

College players percentage in NFL. Kern Campbell, “How Many College Football Players Make It To The NFL?” Gameday Culture, Aug. 16, 2023, https://gamedayculture.com/how-many-college-football-players-make-it-to-the-nfl/ (“The percentage of college football players that make it to the NFL is 1.6 percent. . . . Just to put it into perspective, only the top 8% of the top 1% of the top 1% of high school football players will make it into the NFL.”)

Career of NFL player. Jeffrey May, “How long is the average career of an NFL player? The NFL is one of the toughest, most physically demanding sports on the planet, leading to players having the shortest playing careers on average,” https://en.as.com/nfl/how-long-is-the-average-career-of-an-nfl-player-n/ (“The average career length of an NFL player is 3.3 years.”)

NFL Injuries. For a variety of statistics see, “NFL Injuries Statistics and Trends in 2023,” GitnuxMarketData, Sept. 5, 2023, https://blog.gitnux.com/nfl-injuries-statistics

Win-win solution. As this is a personal proposed solution there are no “sources” in the usual sense.

# # #

Reimagining College Football

CONTENTS

Column

Readers' Comments

Updates

Sources
Football Update Stories
Last Saturday (Oct. 17) The Gazette published a column of mine, reproduced below. In it I offer a sampling of examples of how removing college football from the academy and operating it as a for-profit corporation would benefit every stakeholder (such as, university presidents, faculty, athletic directors, coaches, players, NFL, fans, advertisers, casinos and sports gambling).

Little did I imagine that this past week's news would provide even more evidence supporting this approach. Here are some stories -- and links to them if you want more details. They include:

o additional football related "diversity, equity, and inclusion" charges and $20 million lawsuit, now associated with the University, at a time when the UI is dealing with its own similar charges and defections.

o a major additional source of, and focus on, COVID-19 concerns when Iowa's failures in dealing with the pandemic make it among the most dangerous states in the country and the University has not been among the best in dealing with it.

o an association of the University of Iowa with the major politically divisive kurfuffle involving football players kneeling during the National Anthem at ball games

o University favoritism of athletes over other students, including a $230,000 bill for their hotel accomodations

Jeff Johnson, "Former Iowa football players threaten lawsuit, demand $20 million, firing of Gary Barta, Kirk and Brian Ferentz; University of Iowa rejects the demands," The Gazette (online), October 18, 2020 ("Eight former University of Iowa football players are demanding monetary compensation from the school and the firing of Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz, offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz and athletics director Gary Barta for intentional race discrimination, it was learned Sunday.") https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/hawkeyes/iowa-football/former-hawkeye-football-players-threaten-lawsuit-demand-20-million-firing-of-gary-barta-kirk-and-brian-ferentz-20201018
and see, Jeff Johnson, "Lawyer of 8 former Iowa football players asking for money and dismissals of Ferentzes and Barta responds; Iowa said it will not cede to his demands," The Gazette (online), October 19, 2020 (noting, "Iowa conducted an independent investigation of its football program over the summer through a Kansas City law firm, after many former Black Iowa players went on social media and expressed their negative experiences at the school, especially with strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle.") https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/hawkeyes/iowa-football/lawyer-of-8-former-iowa-football-players-asking-for-money-and-dismissals-of-ferentzes-and-barta-responds-20201019

Jeff Johnson, "Purdue football coach Jeff Brohm out for game against Iowa after testing positive for COVID-19," The Gazette (online), October 19, 2020 "[Purdue head football coach Jeff] Brohm is the eighth FBS [Football Bowl Subdivision] head coach to contract COVID-19, joining Kansas’ Les Miles, Florida’s Dan Mullen, Florida State’s Mike Norvell, Toledo’s Jason Candle, Arkansas State’s Blake Anderson, UCLA’s Chip Kelly and Arizona’s Kevin Sumlin. . . . The Big Ten’s rules call for any player testing positive to be out of action for 21 days, while coaches are subject to regular CDC recommendations, which are for a 10-day self isolation.") https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/hawkeyes/iowa-football/purdue-football-coach-jeff-brohm-out-for-saturdays-game-against-iowa-after-testing-positive-for-covid-20201019

Jeff Johnson, "Iowa football players will have the option to kneel or stand for national anthem," The Gazette (online), October 20, 2020; in print edition as "Hawks Have a Say," October 23, 2020, p. B1 ("Some Iowa Hawkeyes football players will kneel for the national anthem Saturday at Purdue to call attention to racial inequality and social justice. . . . Head coach Kirk Ferentz confirmed that players will have the option to kneel or stand for the anthem. The team’s leadership group met with him three different times to talk about it. The football program, of course, was the subject of an independent investigation to look into accusations by former and current players of racial inequalities and bullying during Ferentz’s 22-year tenure as head coach. Strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle lost his job, albeit with a $1.1-million settlement, and the investigation found that program rules 'perpetuated racial or cultural biases and diminished the value of cultural diversity.'”) https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/hawkeyes/iowa-football/hawkeye-football-players-will-have-the-option-to-kneel-or-stand-for-national-anthem-at-saturdays-season-opener-20201020

Jeff Johnson, "With Iowa football season finally here, daily testing and 'doing the right thing' can help it endure," The Gazette (online), October 23, 2020; in print edition as "COVID Football; Hawks return to field needing to do 'the right thing,'" October 24, 2020, p. B1 ("This is just the beginning of what . . . every player, coach and other personnel within the Iowa football program do on a daily basis during this surreal and delayed COVID-19 season. . . . This is nine straight weeks of games, with no byes. At least that’s what everyone hopes. COVID-19 might have other ideas. No one knows how this actually will turn out. No one.") https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/hawkeyes/iowa-football/with-iowa-football-season-finally-here-daily-testing-and-doing-the-right-thing-can-help-it-endure-20201023

Erin Jordan, "University of Iowa athletics spends $230K on hotel stays for coronavirus-positive student-athletes; Other University of Iowa students who test positive stay in residence halls," The Gazette, Oct. 10, 2020, print edition p. A1 ("The University of Iowa Athletic Department has spent more than $230,000 since June putting about 180 COVID-19-positive student-athletes up in hotel rooms and paying for their food. . . . The UI paid another $40,983 on per diem payments for student-athlete food while they were in hotel isolation.) https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/hawkeyes/university-of-iowa-coronavirus-covid-19-costs-athletes-hawkeye-football-20201020

Treat College Football Like Big Business
Nicholas Johnson
The Gazette, October 17, 2020, p. A6
In our capitalist, entertain-me society football will not, and need not, disappear. It just needs to stop being the muscular tail that wags the academic dog.

In 1906, when college football was killing 15 to 20 players a year, and permanently disabling 150 more, President Teddy Roosevelt told college presidents he’d outlaw the sport unless they made it safer. Reluctantly, they agreed to require helmets and organized what became today’s NCAA.

In 1939, University of Chicago President Robert Hutchins considered the school’s football team a distraction, scorned colleges that received more publicity from sports than education and research, and simply abolished football.

Today, few politically perceptive critics of football advocate the death penalty. So long as parents and players know the health risks, millionaires willingly play for billionaires in stadiums purchased by taxpayers, and fans know football’s cost in time and money, there will be football. [Photo credit: John Schultz/Quad City Times, Oct. 21, 2012.]

From preschool through college the goal is lifelong learning in a physically fit body. It’s what we’ve called “physical education” and the Greeks called “body, mind and spirit.”

College sports such as tennis, golf and swimming can provide benefits into one’s eighties. They’re as historically fundamental to curriculum as any classroom, lab, or studio course and should be funded as such.

College football is neither a student sport nor a career path. The NFL takes 1.6 percent of college players for an average stay of 3.3 years. It is a business, big billions business. In 40 states college football coaches are the highest paid public employees.

In a nation with obesity on the rise, cutting students’ lifetime sports so a farm club can send its ablest players through a cattle chute to the NFL is indefensible.

Moreover, college football creates conflicts of interest for everyone. University presidents find it easier to capitulate to coaches than fight. Athletic directors must rationalize taking advertising and skybox dollars from the alcohol and gambling industries. Coaches must encourage players’ in-class performance, while coaches’ multi-million-dollar salaries turn on players’ on-field performance. Non-tenured professors fear retribution for flunking players. Players who do seek a college education must choose between lab time and scheduled practice. [Photo credit: Nicholas Johnson, Riverside gambling casino ad on Kinnick Stadium big-screen display.]

There are many possible reforms. But what’s the win-win that preserves football while getting the elephant off the campus?

How about what the University did earlier this year when it contracted away its power plant – a perfectly legitimate university function -- to a for-profit, private utility?

Remove the football program from the University; recognize it as the part of the big money entertainment industry that it is. Let it lease the Kinnick Stadium, related land and structures, the “Hawkeyes” name, and associated assets at going commercial rates.

This farm club could pay its coach, and players, whatever its corporate board wished and employees could negotiate – eliminating the state’s embarrassment of the coach as highest paid public employee.

Remove the requirement players pretend to be students – while providing players who wanted to be students spring-semester-only and other accommodations. Get out from under other NCAA restrictions.

Iowa’s not the only football-challenged school. It shouldn’t be difficult to find enough more to make a league – and maybe even affiliate with the NFL, like baseball’s farm clubs.

Any lesser “accommodation” with college football will only perpetuate the conflicts.
_________________
Nicholas Johnson, a former FCC commissioner and sports law professor, provides more on this and other subjects at FromDC2Iowa.blogspot.com Contact: mailbox@nicholasjohnson.org

SOURCES
President Teddy Roosevelt. Weiler, et al, Sports and the Law, p. 747.

Robert Hutchins, University of Chicago. https://president.uchicago.edu//directory/robert-maynard-hutchins

College football players as NFL draftees. 1.6% http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/research/estimated-probability-competing-professional-athletics

Average NFL career 3.3 years. https://www.espn.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/207780/current-and-former-nfl-players-in-the-drivers-seat-after-completing-mba-program

College football revenue. Top 100 teams 2014-15 $5.6 billion. https://www.ucribs.com/blog-post/ncaa-football-teams-made-more-money-than-many-nfl-teams-in-2015-infographic/

College coaches highest paid public employees in 40 states. https://fanbuzz.com/national/highest-paid-state-employees/

Overweight & obese. https://www.healthline.com/health/obesity-facts#1.more-than-one-third-of-adults-in-the-United-States-are-obese. (United States, 36.5% of adults are obese. Another 32.5 percent of American adults are overweight.)

UI’s power plant. “Iowa Facilities Management, Power Plant,” March 11, 2020, https://facilities.uiowa.edu/power-plant

READERS' COMMENTS
Posted to public on Facebook, with name:

Seems like a sensible solution to a long standing problem.
Steven Hulme, FB, Oct. 17, 7:37 AM

All good points!
Becky Jacobsen Strahl, FB, Oct. 17, 7:37 AM

FOOTBALL - This is an interesting perspective from Nicholas Johnson examining how to get better outcomes for sports programs and academic programs.
Resources for Life, FB, Oct. 17, 8:37 AM

This will definitely give you food for thought!!
Julie Johnson, FB, Oct 24, 3:40 PM

Posted to FromDC2Iowa, with readers' name:

This analysis is right on point. "College" athletics (in particular football and basketball) have not related to a University's primary mission for many years. The primary mission of a University is to educate. Not train for a career, not provide bread and circuses, not provide an "economic" engine for a town or a region -- the mission is to train minds and create a whole person to function in society. Does a football team "create spirit" for a University? Sure. But the proposed solution would continue to "create spirit" much in the way that, for example, Premier Football Teams create community spirit. And would allow the University to focus on its primary mission.
Prophet of Doom, Oct. 17, 7:49 AM

Thank you Mr. Johnson. It's a great idea. In my opinion football should not be played by any individual in organized sports until they are at least 21 years old. Any responsible, caring parent should not let their child subject themselves to the injuries that football causes, Sometimes permanet injuries for the rest of their lives.

Locally, we had a high school student who was a quadriplegic for the rest his life from injuries at at school football game. Sad. Very sad.

However, I purpose an alternative sport to football. School maintanence teams. Think of the poosibilities. There is many ways this can go. Start 'em in middle school. Or, if they were in band or chorus, everyone plays.
Iowa Tom, Oct. 19, 4:12 PM

Emails sent to mailbox@nicholasjohnson.org:
(senders' names omitted because email was a non-public communication for which use of name was neither requested nor granted.)

Subject: Genius
GENIUS solution for divorcing football from higher education. Thank you!!!
Oct. 17, 10:34 AM

Subject: Your editorial today
You are 100% on the mark regarding your editorial on college football. It has gotten totally out of hand. I used to have season tickets as a student in the 70’s and a faculty in the 80’s but the corporate takeover of college football has totally turned me off. I always enjoy your editorials.
Oct. 17, 3:54 PM

Subject: Column "Treat college football like..."
I always learn something when I read one of your columns! I had not known of Teddy Roosevelt's ultimatum which led to the creation of the NCAA. I must commend you once again for not exempting the sacred cows when you "speak truth to power." Not only that, but you sign off with your real name and email address rather than using the distancing effect of the nom de plume...I mention this only because (I believe) there was a counter-example in the only letter to the editor on the same page as your guest column; methinks that the writer who called Chuck Grassley a "good egg" was not given the name "May Day" at birth. Judging by the gist of the letter, I doubt that the author was aligning themselves with the rather leftist implications that the holiday by that name has assumed over the years; judging by current polling trends, I rather suspect that the author was evincing a (Freudian ?) general call of distress. (A distress which might be best understood by those in East Iowa City who only have one yard sign in their front yard - "Phil Hemmingway for Supervisor - Republican" -- which may be signalling an orientation regarding other races which must remain veiled). But I digress.

Keep up the good work and stay well,

In '65 I was 17 - runnin' on empty...
Oct. 18, 2:03 PM

# # #

Free Speech Rights

Trump vs. NFL

Right: "A moral or legal entitlement to have or do something."

-- Concise Oxford English Dictionary, p. 1238, "right. n.2"

un

As you may have noticed, the latest target of the President of the United States, right up there with North Korea, appears to be the National Football League (NFL) organization, owners, coaches and players. The kerfuffle involves, in part, the players' "right" to express disagreement with the president by failing to stand or otherwise participate in national anthem ceremonies prior to football games. (The protest involves both his attacks on the NFL, and his less than firm rejection of systemic and overt racism, neo-Nazis, and unwarranted police shootings of African-Americans.) [Photo credit: The Tennessean. Detroit Lions players "taking a knee" during national anthem, Sept. 24, 2017.]

At least for today, I will leave to others the effectiveness of this mode of protest, the cultural role of the national anthem, the Pentagon's payments to the NFL (plus fly-overs and other efforts to militarize sports), colleges' treatment of athletes (especially women), football's concussions and other health hazards (especially for players under 18), and other issues.

My limited focus at the moment is the widespread use of the word "rights" in this dispute -- especially the express or implied suggestion that the players' "constitutional" or "First Amendment" rights are somehow involved.

What follows is not a "legal opinion." If you have a personal stake in these issues, talk to your lawyer. There are constitutionally acceptable limitations on First Amendment "rights" (e.g., you cannot lie in your stock prospectus, operate a sound truck through residential neighborhoods late at night, falsely shout "fire" in a crowded theater, advocate "imminent lawless action," or joke with the airports' TSA employees, among a great many other examples). Outcomes turn on the applicability of law to, and the specific facts of, individual cases.

Call me fussy if you must, but the relevant language of the First Amendment is, "Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press . . .." Since its adoption, the word "Congress" has been interpreted to mean any form of "state action," whether by Congress, the executive branch, states, cities, or state universities.

Among the values, or consequences, of the First Amendment are (1) its role in meeting the needs of a self-governing citizenry to be informed, (2) its importance to the search for truth in a "marketplace of ideas," (3) its relationship to the "checking value" of the media, as it watches for, and reports, abuses by large institutions, (4) its bearing on "self-actualization," basic liberty, and individual freedom, and (5) the "safety valve" it provides, permitting dissidents the opportunity to express their dissatisfaction verbally, rather than through violence.

Variations on the values represented in that constitutional language, the reasons for its existence, may be equally applicable elsewhere by virtue of social norms or a moral entitlement referenced in the definition of "right," above.

Parents and teachers may reject the old adage, "children should be seen and not heard," believing that children (and adults!) will benefit when children are encouraged to speak. Employers may choose to reward, rather than punish, workers' desire to participate in management by criticizing present procedures and suggesting improvements. A university president may welcome, rather than resist, "shared governance" with the faculty.

But these applications of First Amendment values in other contexts do not constitute the bestowal of constitutional or legal rights on children or employees. The First Amendment does not say, and has not been interpreted to mean, that "no institution or individual shall abridge the freedom of speech of another." Other applications of First Amendment values are merely opportunities to speak, bestowed as a matter of grace, not as a matter of legal right.

Do NFL players have a First Amendment right to speak (by words or actions) from the football field, during a nationally televised game, on matters other than football? No; not unless their speech is being restrained by "state action." I'll leave to others whether the President's efforts to silence them could constitute that state action. Their right to speak could be granted by some other constitutional provision, federal or state law or administrative regulation, or a contract provision, just not by the First Amendment.

In what sense could someone have a "right" to violate an express prohibition of particular speech? In the case of government laws and regulations, the violation could be "civil disobedience" -- deliberate violation as "speech," protesting the law, knowing that there will be punishment for doing so, and with a willingness to accept that punishment (fine or imprisonment).

In the workplace setting, the employer is given wide discretion in setting the terms of employment with regard to employee behavior, dress, and some aspects of speech. Like civil disobedience, the overt flouting of contractual standards may be grounds for dismissal -- though it could be said that the employee has the "right" to violate them and accept the punishment for doing so. Of course, with "employment at will" contracts an employee can be fired for any reason at all, without either just cause or warning. [At-Will Employment, Wikipedia.org.]

Thus, when it comes to speech, citizens and employees are granted some rights to speak (without being punished) by the First Amendment (government); contracts and employee manuals (employment); forbidden some speech (for which they can be punished) by legislation or company policies; and left in limbo with regard to other speech (for which there are no standards).

As with most controls of human behavior, social norms rather than "the law" are the most common restraints.

However you may feel about the content of the players' "speech" (as distinguished from the time, place and manner of its expression), it's useful for them, the commentators, and the rest of us to remember that whatever "rights" the players may have, they do not come from the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

# # #

No Elephants in the Room

Will football be next? This morning's [Jan. 15] New York Times reports Ringling Brothers circus will close forever in two months.

Animal rights activists, growing public support for their sentiments, leading to declining ticket sales, played a major role in this decision.

If public concern over physical and other harms to animals can close "the greatest show on earth," how long can it be before public concern over physical and other harms to humans will close professional football?

# # #

Football: Enhancing Everyone’s Game Day Experience

Posted April 29, 2015, 6:00 a.m.

Notes: (1) This blog essay reproduces an op ed column by Nicholas Johnson in today's Press-Citizen -- the latest in what have been dozens of prior columns and blog essays regarding football-related issues.
(2) A selection of them is available at http://FromDC2Iowa.blogspot.com/2015/04/football.html, where they are listed chronologically in categories, such as, The College Football Industry, its impact, economics, and future; Football's Ties to Crime; to Gambling; to Alcohol; and the impact of its fans on the Kinnick Stadium Neighborhood.
(3) Newspaper columns don't have footnotes, but for those who may wish they did a narrative discussion of some of the sources can be found following the text of the column. -- N.J., April 29, 2015.
(4) June 18, 2015 Update: Apparently the "enhancement" has not been enough to pull the money out of the pockets of reluctant former season ticket fans. Season ticket sales may fall as low as 30,000, compared with 2011's 55,457, for a stadium with 70,585 seats. So the latest gambit is an offer of a three-ticket package at a discounted $157 (at $52-plus per game, $3 below the per-game price for season ticket holders) -- with the worst seats in the stadium (south end zone) -- for one of two night games, one of two non-conference games, and one of the last three conference games. ("How's that working out for you?" I'm wondering.) Chad Leistikow, "Iowa hopes new ticket discounts will help fill Kinnick," Des Moines Register, June 18, 2015.
(5) [July 2, 2015]. And for another approach to why fans might decide to skip the games, see Don Campion, "Consider These Reasons for Declining Ticket Sales," Iowa City Press-Citizen, June 29, 2014, p. A7.


Enhancing Everyone's Experience at Kinnick
Nicholas Johnson
Iowa City Press-Citizen, April 29, 2015, p. A13
During a previous life, the University of Iowa’s athletic director set about enhancing fans’ “game day experience” at Wyoming Cowboys’ football games.

He bar-coded tickets and opened more stadium gates to speed entry. He provided parking lots and shuttle services — with discounts for flying the Cowboys’ flag. He added 75 handicapped parking spaces. He improved restrooms and concession facilities. Solid improvements.

Flash forward to Iowa’s Hawkeyes.

Well below national averages, only 64 percent of Iowa’s season ticket holders are even “likely” to renew. Of those not renewing, 68 percent have concluded that seven opportunities to watch Hawkeyes lose too many games (while fans sit unprotected in Iowa’s weather) is not a sufficient benefit to justify the cost: $790 for a couple’s season tickets — plus their added costs and hassles of attending.

When the fast-food hamburger chains see a decline in sales, they have a five-step program to increase sales. First they add salt. If that’s not enough, they add sugar. Next, cheese. Then two burgers per bun. If none of that works, there’s the nuclear option: bacon in everything. [Added photo (photo source unknown)]

AD Gary Barta is evolving his own multi-step program. When too many of the 70,000-plus seats in Kinnick Stadium were empty, he tried luring fans with a sound system, then a video board — acknowledging both need work. He offered $70 discounts on concessions for those renewing early. [Added photo: Video screens weren't enough to fill these seats. (Photo source unknown.)]

What bacon is for McDonald’s, alcohol is for Hawkeye football, a liquid lariat from Laramie for roping and corralling fans into Kinnick. Once praised for accommodating the handicapped with more parking, he has now grasped the revelation from Ogden Nash’s two-line poem that “Candy is dandy/but liquor is quicker.” He’s extended the hours for tailgate drinking and booked two night games — his way of enhancing “the game day experience.”

That is, enhancing fans’ memories of the party while forgetting the game. The theory? The more they drink, the more they party. The more they party, the more they forget what they were doing before they passed out. The more they forget the losses, the more they renew season tickets. [Photo credit: Nicholas Johnson]

Of course, the most effective food and football solutions, customer satisfaction and enhanced game days? Better beef in hamburgers, and winning seasons for the Hawkeyes.

So how to win? The problem is not with the athletic director, coaching staff and athletes. They’re entitled to our sympathy. The problems with big-money college football are systemic.

College football needs to take some lessons from the National Football League for which they are the farm teams.

For starters, college ball, like the NFL, needs to be split off from academic institutions. Trust me; it would make it easier for everyone — university presidents, faculty, staff, students, coaches, athletes, sports writers, broadcasters, advertisers, investors, sports gamblers and fans.

Examples? Barta notes that stadium beer sales "potentially could be a big revenue stream," but that’s not now possible. Also, because of the university affiliation, the commercial ties between the football program and Riverside gambling casino are both a violation of the spirit of NCAA regulations and an academic embarrassment. [Photo credit: Nicholas Johnson]

Second, the teams need to recognize that, like the NFL, college ball is a single industry in which every team’s income would increase if talent were more equally distributed. They need a draft, in which teams with the poorest records get the best new players.

Third, the Iowa Hawkeyes play in Iowa weather. Kinnick, wedged between a railroad track, an expanding hospital and residential neighborhoods, was great in the 1920s. Today? Not so much. The team needs a domed stadium, with plenty of parking, preferably centrally located among eastern Iowa’s population centers.

More alcohol (Barta’s “fun factor”) impacts Kinnick’s neighbors. Parachuting 60,000 to 70,000 uninvited visitors into a neighborhood designed for 250 people, give or take, shifts football’s costs to the neighbors. Students urinating in residents’ yards, breaking glass beer bottles into shards, throwing trash under bushes isn’t “Iowa nice.” [Photo credits: Nicholas Johnson]

These three proposals could truly enhance everyone’s game day experience.
_______________
Nicholas Johnson, a former sports law professor, is a fan of Iowa women’s basketball, and offers links to more such commentary at http://FromDC2Iowa/2015/04/football.html.


Narrative Footnotes
"Improvements Announced to Enhance Fan Experience at War Memorial Stadium; New location of Pepsi's Cowboy Tailgate Park among changes," Wyoming Official Athletics Site, Aug. 18, 2004 (description of Barta's improvements; note that the Wyoming "Tailgate Park" is named for a soft drink); "UW Athletics Director Gary Barta Announces First Interstate Bank Gift; Funds go toward the Strategic Plan for Intercollegiate Athletics,", Wyoming Official Athletics Site, June 17, 2005 (reference to efforts to "enhance the fan experience" and the improved restroom and concession facilities). And see, "Gary Barta Profile," Wyoming Official Athletics Site.

"Hawkeyes Offer Bonus to Fans Who Renew Season Tickets," Quad City Times, Hawkmania.com, Feb. 16, 2015, provides the stats regarding attendance, season ticket sales, forecasts of season ticket renewals, and makes reference to the "concessions and souvenir discount opportunities." ("Of Iowa fans who indicated they were undecided or unlikely to renew, 68 percent indicated a price compared to value and benefits of being a season ticket holder was a factor in their uncertainty and far outweighed other concerns.") And see, "Marc Morehouse, "17 Years of Trust," The Gazette, May 20, 2015, pp. B1, B4 ("Iowa has sold around 30,000 season tickets for the 2015 season. That's about 7,000 below last season's 37,823, which was the lowest since 2009. Iowa . . . recorded just one sellout (Iowa State) . . . in the last two seasons.")

The details of the extended drinking hours are explained in "UI to Lengthen Postgame Tailgate Time; Extra Hour Added to Postgame Opportunity for 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Start Times," HawkeyeSports.com, Hawkeye Football, April 17, 2015 (making reference to the "fun factor" and "game-day experience": "We know the opportunity to enjoy pregame and postgame time with friends and family is an important part of the game-day experience for many of our fans. . . ." said Barta said in an official statement released by the UI on Friday. "The `fun factor' surrounding Hawkeye football is an important focus of ours as we plan for 2015").

AD Barta's saying of stadium beer sales, "it potentially could be a big revenue stream" is found in a video from July 25, 2014, posted on the Press-Citizen's Web site. In that video he asserts that the idea has never even been discussed at either Big Ten meetings or at the University of Iowa.

There are a number of NCAA statements regarding gambling. Here is a sample: "The NCAA opposes all forms of gambling — legal and illegal — on college sports and specifically prohibits coaches, administrators and student-athletes from gambling on any sports event or providing information to anyone gambling on sports. Sports gambling threatens the well-being of student-athletes and the integrity of the game. The NCAA works to preserve sportsmanship and to provide every student-athlete the opportunity to win fairly." "Gambling on College Sports: What is the NCAA policy on gambling on sports?" This page has much more regarding the NCAA's objections to gambling and discussion of the issues, and is a good place to start on this subject.

Chad Leistikow, "Barta's Goal Is an Improved Kinnick: The Athletic Director Wants Great Fan Experience," Des Moines Register, April 20, 2015, p. C1 ("Barta's goal in all of it is to improve the fans' gameday experience"; "Barta spoke about wanting to increase the fun while continuing to stand against past 'deep-seated alcohol abuse'"; reference to "concession vouchers"; reference to "the video board" and "gripes about the new sound system"; "A dip [in attendance] is expected this year . . . -- there's no Iowa State, Wisconsin or Nebraska on the schedule to pad the numbers.") And see, "Efe Ayanruoh, "UI to Extend Tailgaiting: The University of Iowa Extended Its Tailgating Hours Starting This Fall, Depending on the Start Time of a Home Football Game," The Daily Iowan, April 20, 2015, p. 1.

Comments Entered on Press-Citizen Online Publication of Column
Rudolf Schmidt - University of Iowa
Nick's right. On the other hand, building a new domed stadium would probably cost a billion dollars. That's a lot of beer to sell. Apr 29, 2015 8:02am

Nicholas Johnson
For an "enhanced" version of this column, complete with illustrative photos and supporting documentation, see "Football: Enhancing Everyone's Game Day Experience," http://fromdc2iowa.blogspot.com/2015/04/football-enhancing-everyones-game-day.html

For a catagorized list/index of some 40 prior blog essays on football-related issues, see "Football," http://fromdc2iowa.blogspot.com/2015/04/football.html Apr 29, 2015 10:18am

Nicholas Johnson
Thankfully, most of the feedback I'm receiving on this column suggests that those readers (like Rudolf Schmidt) have grasped that my three proposals are not intended to be real and practical suggestions at this point in college football's evolution -- for a wide variety of reasons I won't bother to list here.

As painful as it is to try to explain humor, for the others I will try. While those proposals have within them an occasional sprinkling of facts/truth they are primarily designed to illustrate (by way of these alternatives) some of the problems (that many in and out of this industry acknowledge) with the present system. And yes, I do know that many college football players do benefit from their opportunity for a college education. Apr 29, 2015 10:28am

Joseph Dobrian - Principal and Founder at Dobrian, Frances, Bowie & Long
Night games make me less inclined, not more, to renew my season tickets. Night football is for high schools, on Friday. I hate night games at Kinnick with the burning heat of a thousand artificial suns. 23 hrs [noted May 1, 2015, 8:05am]
_______________

Consider These Reasons for Declining Ticket Sales

Don Campion

Iowa City Press-Citizen, June 29, 2014, p. A7
In the agonizing to which so many column inches were devoted in your June 24 edition with respect to the declining sales of Iowa Hawkeye football tickets (Our View: More to success than winning), various possible causes were identified, including a poor recent won-lost record, a weak upcoming season, fans’ feeling exploited by blatant commercialization, and so forth.

I would suggest that you consider some alternative hypotheses: that more and more Iowans are 1). weary of seeing the football tail wag the university dog; 2). taking to heart the proposition, based on a large and growing body of medical evidence, that watching football amounts to witnessing brain damage for profit; 3). deciding that participatory sport is better than spectator sport and spending game time in healthy physical activity; 4). tired of seeing student athletes overworked and under-rewarded for participating in a dangerous and injury-ridden occupation; and 5). simply finding more interesting and profitable things to do with their time.

A good starting point for learning about the medical evidence is available online at www.endCTE.org, the website of the Patrick Risha CTE Awareness Foundation, which fights chronic traumatic encephalopathy in the name of Risha, a casualty of college football who, after suffering for years from the effects of repeated concussions, ended his own life at age 32 on Sept. 17, 2014. The organization was founded by Risha’s family after the posthumous determination that the physical and emotional symptoms he endured after years of high school and college football stardom were attributable to CTE. The Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health and many other governmental and medical organizations provide a wealth of information about CTE and other neurological deficits associated with playing football.

Dan Campion
Iowa City

# # #

Football

ver.1, April 25, 2015; ver. 1.1 April 30, 2015

FromDC2Iowa: Football-Related Blog Essays
Note: Entries are listed chronologically within categories. This blog entry index is a work in progress that may have additional entries in future versions.

Contents

"The College Football Industry (impact, economics, future)"
"Football's Ties to Crime"
"Football's Ties to Gambling"
"Football's Ties to Alcohol"
"Impact of Fans on Stadium Neighborhood"

# # #
The College Football Industry (impact, economics, future)

"UI Held Hostage-Day 378 - Feb. 3 - Athletics," Feb. 3, 2007 (Sen. Grassley questions whether "contributions" to football programs should be tax deductions; includes N.J. Press-Citizen column on topic, "It's Sure Cheaper Than a Rain Forest," Feb. 3, 2007)

"UI Held Hostage Day 429 - March 26," March 26, 2007

"Earthpark's Week-Long Wake," Nov. 26, 2007 (search for "Hawkeye Football's Good News")

"Floods and Football," June 17, 2008

"Forbes, Mural, Poverty and 7 Presidential Candidates," Aug. 17, 2008 (Forbes magazine ranks Hawkeye football coach nation's "most overpaid coach," based on salary and won-lost record)

"Corporatizing the University of Iowa," Nov. 17, 2009

"The $100 Million Hawkeyes' Football Team; Hawks: "How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Dollars," Aug. 28, 2010

"Coach Ferentz Provides Classy Variety of Wins; Winning Isn't Everything," Nov. 22, 2010

"Fandom; Super Bowl, Super Mystery," Jan. 30, 2011

"Super Boosters' Super Bowl; Campions' Wins Can Be Taxpayers' Losses; Lessons for Iowa," Feb. 8, 2011

"Crisis Communications 101; There Are Three Steps," Feb. 14, 2011

"Peak Oil, Peak Football; $80,000 for the Seat; $3750/Year to Sit In It," Jan. 21, 2012

"What America Most Highly Values; In 23 of 50 States It's Football Coaches," Aug. 16, 2013

"Curing a Cancer on the Academy," Aug. 20, 2014

"NFL: Just Another Rigged TV Show," Jan. 2, 2015

"Football: Enhancing Everyone's Game Day Experience," April 29, 2015

Football's Ties to Crime (and see, "CollegeFootball's Ties to Gambling", below)

"UI's Good News, Bad News," Dec. 31, 2007 (includes "UI Football Crime Update")

"UI, Sexual Assaults and Secrecy," Jan. 5, 2008

"Humoring the Hawkeyes," March 3, 2008 (jokes about Hawkeye felons)

"UI Sexual Assault Update," July 19, 2008

"Alcohol Update," Sept. 6, 2008 (armed robbery, bottom of essay)

"Extra: Stolar Report," Sept. 18, 2008 (sexual assault case)

"Rational Responses to Stolar and Global Finance," Sept. 20, 2008

"Cleaning Up After the Party," Sept. 26, 2008 (sexual assault case)

"Hawkeye Football Players' Criminal Records; We're Number Two! We're Number Two!" March 3, 2011

"Felons as Student Athletes; Felons on the Field; From District Court to Basketball Court; Do Hawkeyes Check Criminal Records Before Awarding Scholarships? March 27, 2011

"College Football Scandals Larger Lessons; Football's Privileged Tip of Abuses by Powerful," Nov. 8, 2011

Football's Ties to Gambling

"UI Football Promoting Gambling?" Sept. 16, 2006

"Riverside Gambling Casino's Future," Oct. 12, 2006

"Riverside Gambling Casino's Future II," Nov. 13, 2006 (description of "casino-football program partnership")

"UI Held Hostage Day 439 - NCAA Criticizes Gambling Tie," April 5, 2007

"Does Herky Have a Gambling Problem? NCAA vs. Hawkeyes," Jan. 25, 2012

Football's Ties to Alcohol (and see, "Impact of Fans on Stadium Neighborhood," below)

"Alcohol Update," Sept. 6, 2008

"Drunken Fights and Digital Photos," April 13, 2009

"A Busch in the Hand is Worth . . . Who Knows? They Won't Tell Us," June 16, 2012

"'We're # 2!' . . . in Campus Drunks; Coach: Players Should Drink in Dorms, Not Downtown," Aug. 21, 2012

"UI Administrators 'Shocked' By School's Beer Ads; Who Could Have Guessed?" Aug. 30, 2012

Impact of Fans on Stadium Neighborhood

"Hawkeye Football's Externalities," Sept. 9, 2007

"Serious Reflections on 'Football's Externalities,'" Sept. 13, 2007

"Externalities: Hawkeyes' Football, Obama's Safety," Sept. 21, 2009

"A Neighborly Request," Oct. 14, 2009

"Glass-Steagall, Happy Valley and The Dark Knight: Institutions, Conflicts of Interest, and Remedies," July 24, 2012

"Football Trash Talk; Iowa City: Where Great Minds Drink Alike," Sept. 12, 2012

"Anheuser-Busch, UI & Hawks a Win-Win-Win; Advertising Pays," Sept. 17, 2012

"Clean Streets and Creative Consumption," Sept. 30, 2012 (includes, "Alcohol: Friend or Enema? At last, Less Drinking")

"'GO, HAWKS!' -- Just Not in My Yard; Homecoming's Public Urination," Oct. 5, 2013

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NFL: Just Another Rigged TV Show

January 2, 2015, 8:30 a.m.

Better Than Tribal Conflict and Revolution?
NFL Football: It's Only Television

Nicholas Johnson
The Gazette, January 18, 2015, p. C2
I can understand someone being a fan of high school football. Students know the players sitting with them in class. Parents come to the games. It’s a community thing; a neighborly thing. Sometimes fans’ enthusiasm gets a little out of hand, but mostly it falls short of physical violence and destruction of property.

Even small college football retains some of these qualities. Big money college sports? Not so much.

But NFL football? What is that all about?

Big money college football engages the pretense that players are “student-athletes.” There’s less hypocrisy in the NFL. It’s big moneymaking commercial enterprise pure and simple. It does not even pretend to be anything else. Fans cannot possibly have any more emotional or nostalgic tie to their “local” NFL team than they would have to their local Ford dealer.

Think about it. With the exception of the community-owned Green Bay Packers, NFL teams are “owned” by someone, just like that Ford dealership is owned. Local citizens’ tie to the team is primarily the contribution they made, as taxpayers, to building a multi-hundred-million-dollar stadium where the millionaire players of the billionaire owner stage some of the TV industry’s most profitable programs.

Many NFL team owners, and most of the players, have no prior tie to the community. Few citizens have the sense of having grown up with them. Indeed, given the prices for skyboxes and tickets few citizens can afford to see those owners and players anywhere other than on a television screen.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’ll be watching Super Bowl XLIX along with the millions of my fellow Americans who will make it one of the highest rated TV programs in 2015. It’s good television. In fact, as an FCC commissioner, ABC’s football coverage struck me at the time as programming that optimizes television’s technological potential.

It’s live, unrehearsed, and unpredictable in outcome. It takes place within a defined area, permitting the positioning of lights, cameras, and mikes for optimized coverage and close-ups. The timeouts enable commercial breaks consistent with the programming. And it inspires the innovation of such features as instant replay, overhead cameras, digitally positioned scrimmage lines on the field, and other features that now include a virtual 3-D appearance on large, HDTV home screens.

And these games are just a TV show in another sense.

The NFL, as a television production company, is in many ways a single corporate entity. The players are only competitors for the time of the game on the field. To ensure that their competition is close enough to be attractive to audiences and advertisers, efforts are made to equalize the ability of those teams — through rules about the draft of new, replacement players (similar to “replacement smokers” for the tobacco industry), and the sharing of revenues.

The teams’ owners are kind of board members of the parent corporation, the NFL. They make the rules and hire the CEO. The players are sometimes traded between teams, know each other, and often appear quite friendly to the “opposing” players. Yes, one team “lost” and the other “won” — but in reality, the players on both teams won a lifestyle otherwise unavailable to most of them.

So what is this fan loyalty about? I think it’s embedded in our DNA. It’s a carry-over from when our family loyalties extended to our tribes — tribes that still war in many parts of the world where the NFL has not yet offered an alternative. Without the NFL, if Americans really understood the income inequality from which they suffer we might have another American revolution. Without our tribal loyalties to NFL teams we might be inclined to start even more wars abroad.

So relax. Give thanks to the NFL. Enjoy the games. But if your favorite tribe loses, remember: It’s not just “only a game.” The reality is that “it’s only a TV show.”

_______________
• Nicholas Johnson, a former FCC commissioner and former sports law professor, maintains nicholasjohnson.org and FromDC2Iowa.blogspot.com. Comments: mailbox@nicholasjohnson.org

# # #

The Original Blog Essay
January 2, 2015
I can kind of understand someone being a fan of high school football. In high school the fans know the players. Players sit alongside the other students in class. Parents come to the games. It's a community thing; a neighborly thing. Sometimes the fans' enthusiasm gets a little out of hand, but mostly it falls short of physical violence and destruction of property.

Even small college football retains some of these qualities. Big money college sports? Not so much.

But NFL football? What is that all about? [Image credit: 630thefan.com]

Big money college ball at least engages in the pretense that the players are "student athletes." There's less hypocrisy in the NFL. It is a big money-making commercial enterprise pure and simple. It does not even pretend to be anything else. Fans cannot possibly have even as much of an emotional or nostalgic tie to their "local" NFL team than they would have to their local Ford dealer.

Think about it. With the exception of the community-owned Green Bay Packers, NFL teams are "owned" by someone, just like that Ford dealership is owned. The local citizens' tie to the team is primarily the contribution they made, as taxpayers, to building a multi-hundred-million-dollar stadium where the millionaire players of the billionaire owner stage some of the most profitable television programs in the industry. Many of those owners, and most of the players, have had no prior tie to the community. Few citizens have the sense of having grown up with them. Indeed, given the ticket prices for the games, few citizens could afford to ever see those owners and players anywhere other than on their television screens.

Now don't get me wrong. I'll be watching Super Bowl XLIX along with millions of my fellow Americans who will make it one of the highest rated TV programs in 2015. It's good television. In fact, as an FCC commissioner, ABC's football coverage struck me at the time as probably, from a technological perspective, a form of programming that optimized what TV has to offer. It's live, unrehearsed, and unpredictable in outcome. It takes place within a defined area, permitting the positioning of lights, cameras, and mikes for optimized coverage including closeups. The timeouts enable commercial breaks consistent with the programming. And it inspires the innovation of instant replay, digitally positioned scrimmage lines on the field, and other features -- now with the virtually 3-D appearance with HDTV and large home screens.

And these games are just a TV show in another sense. The NFL, as a television production company, is in many ways a single corporate entity. The individual teams are only competitors for the time of the game on the field. To make sure that competition is close enough to be exciting, efforts are made to equalize the ability of those teams -- through rules about the draft of new, replacement players (similar to "replacement smokers" for the tobacco industry), and the sharing of revenues. The team owners are kind of board members of the parent corporation, the NFL, who make the rules and hire the CEO. The players are sometimes traded between teams, know each other, and often appear quite friendly to the "opposing" players following the game in which one team "lost" and the other "won" -- because, in reality, both won a lifestyle otherwise unavailable to most of them.

So what is this fan loyalty about? I think it's a part of our DNA; a carryover from when our family loyalties extended to our tribes -- tribes that still war in many parts of the world where the NFL has not yet offered an alternative. Without the NFL, if Americans really understood the income inequality from which they suffer we might have another American revolution. Without our tribal loyalties to NFL teams we might be even more inclined to go to war.

So relax. Give thanks to the NFL. Enjoy the games. But if your favorite tribe loses, remember: It's not just "only a game." The reality is that "it's only a TV show."

# # #

Curing a Cancer on the Academy

August 27, 2014, 7:10 a.m.; August 20, 2014, 1:10 p.m.

September/October 2020 NOTE
READ THIS NOTE if you are coming to this 2014 blog post from a link in a newspaper letter to the editor during the fall of 2020.

Given the 200-250-word limit on letters to the editor, much of what needs to be said about the impact of college football and alternative ways to provide it could not be included in that letter.

There are three categories of elaboration of that letter within this 2014 blog post.

(1) Conflicts of interest created by college football. The following paragraph appears below:

The cancer has metastasized its conflicts of interest for everyone in higher education who touches it. University presidents find it easier to capitulate to athletic directors and coaches than to fight (Penn State). Non-tenured professors have to weigh how flunking a football starter may affect their career. Coaches must give a nod to players' academic performance, but know that their own multi-million-dollar salaries are much more closely tied to their players' on-field performance. When players' become criminal defendants, ideals of players' personal integrity may conflict with a team's ability to win games. Conventional students are excluded from participation, suspect favoritism for team members, and use football as an additional excuse for drunkenness. Players who really would like a substantive college education are forced to choose between lab time and scheduled practices.

(2) Refashioning college football. There are athletes in their late teens and twenties who want to play football. There are fans who want to see them play.

Some individuals are so concerned about the range of physical and mental injuries (including multiple concussions) many football players endure for the rest of their lives that they urge the abolition of the sport, or refuse to let their children participate. That is not my position. So long as parents and participants are fully informed of the risks, have not been manipulated, and are willing to accept those risks and the costs of potential lifetime rehabilitation, football will continue.

The proposal is that a university's football program be spun off from the university and absorbed into a for-profit private corporation. Decisions from the university's "athletic department" would no longer be driven by what's best for football, but what's best for students' physical fitness as participants rather than mere spectators of sports.

Here are some excerpts from the discussion of this proposal below:

Spin off the schools' football programs, leave them free from NCAA regulation and the conflicts inherent in their association with higher education. As for-profit corporations they will be less subject to criticism for what their boards of directors agree to pay their coaches -- and players. Remove the requirement that the players pretend to be college students during the football season and associated practice times.

The rest is "administrative detail" -- detail admittedly not insignificant, and possibly even deal-breaking. But detail that is not the central issue. The separate commercial football corporations could continue to lease the facilities (Kinnick Stadium) and name (Hawkeyes) they were using before. (It's unlikely any school would require a football stadium as a venue for a poetry reading.) Players who wanted to get a college education might be given some special consideration as a result of an agreement between the team and the formerly-associated school -- such as, say, a degree program requiring only attendance during spring semesters. But there would be no requirement that they be "college students." . . .

Maybe it won't be accomplished during my lifetime (given my age). But it's an idea that needs to be back on the table as a possible win-win solution to a battery of conflicts and other challenges confronting millions of Americans.

When there is a cure for a cancer of any kind -- whether on the presidency of the United States, or the presidencies of major universities -- it does seem a shame not to make use of it.

(3) Other football-related problems. Below, click here "Prior College Football-Related Blog Essays, 2010-2014", is a list of blog posts and columns organized by some of the other problems associated with college football: "The College Football Industry (impact, economics, crime, future)," "Football's Ties to Alcohol," "Football's Ties to Gambling," and "Impact of Fans on Stadium Neighborhood." (Not listed are additional football-related blog essays from 2006-2009.)

(4) At the very bottom of this blog post is an earlier entire column on this subject in the Iowa City Press-Citizen, August 27, 2014, headlined "Let's Stop Making Players Pretend to Be Students."

____________________ Notes: (1) This morning [Aug. 27, 2014] the Iowa City Press-Citizen published a hard copy and online opinion column drawn from this blog essay. It is reproduced below.

(2) Near the bottom of this blog essay is a list of "Prior College Football-Related Blog Essays, 2010-2014." They are grouped by: "The College Football Industry (impact, economics, crime, future)," "Football's Ties to Alcohol," "Football's Ties to Gambling," and "Impact of Fans on Stadium Neighborhood." (Not listed are additional football-related blog essays from 2006-2009.)
_______________

We have a cancer--within, close to the Presidency, that's growing. It's growing daily. It's compounding, it grows geometrically now because it compounds itself.

--John Dean to President Richard Nixon, March 21, 1973
"Transcript of a Recording of a Meeting Among the President, John Dean, and H.R. Haldeman in the Oval Office," March 21, 2073, 10:13 to 11:55 a.m.," Watergate Trial Conversations, Nixon Presidential Library & Museum.

_______________
John Dean, President Nixon's Chief White House Counsel, famously warned his boss that the Watergate burglary was like a cancer growing on the Presidency.

I'm no doctor, but with the opening of yet another college football season, somebody needs to tell the presidents of the big money football schools about the cancer growing on "the academy."

There have been earlier diagnoses of this disease.

In 1906, when college football was killing 15 to 20 players a year, and permanently disabling 150 more, the President of the United States, Teddy Roosevelt, told college presidents he'd outlaw the sport unless they made it safer. Reluctantly, they organized and agreed to require helmets -- ultimately evolving into today's NCAA. Weiler, et al, Sports and the Law, p. 747.

My friend, Robert Maynard Hutchins, was appointed President of the University of Chicago when he was 30 years old. He considered Chicago's football program a distraction from the school's educational mission, pulled out of the Big Ten, and simply abolished the program. ( "Hutchins heaped scorn upon schools which received more press coverage for their sports teams than for their educational programs, and [gained] the trustee support he needed to drop football in 1939.")

Although Hutchins' analysis and solution are even more persuasive now than 75 years ago, few politically perceptive football critics are today advocating the death penalty for football -- nor am I. If parents and players know the health risks, taxpayers know the costs, fans and TV viewers want to invest their time (and money) watching, the libertarian position seems pretty clear. We will continue to have football.

Moreover, there is a win-win cure for this cancer on the academy that would solve current challenges confronting both higher education and big-money college football.

The cancer has metastasized its conflicts of interest for everyone in higher education who touches it. University presidents find it easier to capitulate to athletic directors and coaches than to fight (Penn State). Non-tenured professors have to weigh how flunking a football starter may affect their career. Coaches must give a nod to players' academic performance, but know that their own multi-million-dollar salaries are much more closely tied to their players' on-field performance. When players' become criminal defendants, ideals of players' personal integrity may conflict with a team's ability to win games. Conventional students are excluded from participation, suspect favoritism for team members, and use football as an additional excuse for drunkenness. Players who really would like a substantive college education are forced to choose between lab time and scheduled practices.

As this photo of a Kinnick scoreboard ad reveals, athletic directors are forced to rationalize why it's OK to take advertising and sky box dollars from the alcohol and gambling industries. The IRS struggles with the propriety of granting tax deductions when fans make "contributions" to a big-money football program as a condition of the opportunity to buy better tickets. [Photo credit: Nicholas Johnson.]

Inevitably, the college administrators, who want to put the best possible face on their schools for the benefit of reassuring parents, attracting students, favorably impressing other academics, granting authorities, Regents, legislators, and the public, are left trying to explain away football's controversial externalities. There are the players' criminal records, the football-associated student binge drinking and sexual assaults, the associated reputation as one of the nation's top "party" schools, the fans' trash throughout the stadium's neighborhood, and charges that painting the opponents' locker room pink is unacceptably anti-feminist -- things for which "the university" is not really responsible, but which challenge its administrators and tarnish its reputation anyway; e.g., Kembrew McLeod, "Pink Locker Room Doesn't Even Pass the Giggle Test," Iowa City Press-Citizen, August 26, 2014, p. A5. [Photo credit: Des Moines Register, 2006.]

These days, the conflicts, chaos, and controversies are making life more difficult for the big-money football programs as well.

The NCAA still lives in its dreamworld of the 1906 academically accomplished students who played football without helmets just for the fun of it, and the college professors who doubled as their volunteer coaches. This vision becomes increasingly difficult to market now that, as CNN reports, the 68 top teams took in $2.2 billion in 2010. Chris Isidore, "College Football's $1.1 Billion Profit," CNN Money, December 29, 2010. The highest paid public employee in most states is some school's football coach. Student athletes? How many schools pay department heads millions of dollars a year? (For the details by school see ESPN's shocking, revealing, "College Athletics Revenues and Expenses - 2008." As just one example, the Hawkeyes ranked 16th that year by revenue. Of the top 17 schools, 7 gave their students free admission to the games played by their "student-athletes." The Hawkeyes still consider the UI's students as "customers" rather than students and charges them significant ticket prices to attend the games played by "their" school's fellow "students.")

College players want to unionize, to be paid more of their full costs of attending college, and a share of the millions the schools make off of their likenesses and jersey numbers in fantasy football video games and clothing sales. Byron Tau, "NCAA Hires New Lobbyists for Amateurism Fight," Politico, June 13, 2014 ("The NCAA is facing a number of existential legal and legislative threats to its current system of unpaid student-athletes").

"No pain no gain" is football's mantra. Players want compensation for the healthcare costs from football related concussions and other injuries that may last a lifetime -- a minor form of which is portrayed in this photo of an injured Iowa tackle, Brandon Scherff, screaming in pain during Penn State game at Kinnick, October 20, 2012. [Photo credit: John Schultz/Quad City Times, Oct. 21, 2012.]

Conferences are expanding. The once-midwest-centered "Big Ten" schools are now 14, including Penn State, Rutgers, and Maryland -- well to the east of Iowa. The football-wealthiest schools, and their conferences, have just negotiated a withdrawal from some of the NCAA's restrictive regulations.

In short, from a variety of perspectives this is not your great grandfather's college football.

So what's the win-win cancer cure for America's universities and their big-money football programs?

Start by recognizing them for what they are -- profit-making, commercial organizations, serving as farm clubs for the NFL (even if only 1.6% of college players will be NFL draftees), organizations largely disconnected from the research, scholarship, and classroom instruction of their loosely affiliated university. Spin them off, leaving them free from NCAA regulation and the conflicts inherent in their association with higher education. As for-profit corporations they will be less subject to criticism for what their boards of directors agree to pay their coaches -- and players. Remove the requirement that the players pretend to be college students during the football season and associated practice times.

The rest is "administrative detail" -- detail admittedly not insignificant, and possibly even deal-breaking. But detail that is not the central issue. The separate commercial football corporations could continue to lease the facilities (Kinnick Stadium) and name (Hawkeyes) they were using before. (It's unlikely any school would require a football stadium as a venue for a poetry reading.) Players who wanted to get a college education might be given some special consideration as a result of an agreement between the team and the formerly-associated school -- such as, say, a degree program requiring only attendance during spring semesters. But there would be no requirement that they be "college students."

Once the major college football teams are out from under the NCAA's regulations, there should be no problems with the professional leagues' requirements. It is at least already possible in some situations for high school athletes who have not attended college to join a professional team in the NBA, NFL, NHL, or a professional baseball team's farm club.

Could all this be accomplished before the Hawkeyes' opener against University of Northern Iowa this forthcoming Saturday, August 30? Of course not. Maybe it won't even be accomplished during my lifetime (given my age). But it's an idea that needs to be back on the table as a possible win-win solution to a battery of conflicts and other challenges confronting millions of Americans.

When there is a cure for a cancer of any kind -- whether on the presidency of the United States, or the presidencies of major universities -- it does seem a shame not to make use of it.

_______________
Prior College Football-Related Blog Essays, 2010-2014
The College Football Industry (impact, economics, crime, future)

"The $100 Million Hawkeyes' Football Team; Hawks: "How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Dollars," Aug. 28, 2010

"Coach Ferentz Provides Classy Variety of Wins; Winning Isn't Everything," Nov. 22, 2010

"Fandom; Super Bowl, Super Mystery," Jan. 30, 2011

"Super Boosters' Super Bowl; Campions' Wins Can Be Taxpayers' Losses; Lessons for Iowa," Feb. 8, 2011

"Crisis Communications 101; There Are Three Steps," Feb. 14, 2011

"Hawkeye Football Players' Criminal Records; We're Number Two! We're Number Two!," March 3, 2011

"Felons as Student Athletes; Felons on the Field; From District Court to Basketball Court; Do Hawkeyes Check Criminal Records Before Awarding Scholarships? March 27, 2011

"College Football Scandals Larger Lessons; Football's Privileged Tip of Abuses by Powerful," Nov. 8, 2011

"Peak Oil, Peak Football; $80,000 for the Seat; $3750/Year to Sit In It," Jan. 21, 2012

"What America Most Highly Values; In 23 of 50 States It's Football Coaches," Aug. 16, 2013

Football's Ties to Alcohol (and see, "Impact of Fans on Stadium Neighborhood," below)

"A Busch in the Hand is Worth . . . Who Knows? They Won't Tell Us," June 16, 2012

"'We're # 2!' . . . in Campus Drunks; Coach: Players Should Drink in Dorms, Not Downtown," Aug. 21, 2012

"UI Administrators 'Shocked' By School's Beer Ads; Who Could Have Guessed?" Aug. 30, 2012

Football's Ties to Gambling

"Does Herky Have a Gambling Problem? NCAA vs. Hawkeyes," Jan. 25, 2012

Impact of Fans on Stadium Neighborhood

"Football Trash Talk; Iowa City: Where Great Minds Drink Alike," Sept. 12, 2012

"Anheuser-Busch, UI & Hawks a Win-Win-Win; Advertising Pays," Sept. 17, 2012

"Clean Streets and Creative Consumption," Sept. 30, 2012

"'GO, HAWKS!' -- Just Not in My Yard; Homecoming's Public Urination," Oct. 5, 2013

_______________
Note: On August 27, 2014, the Iowa City Press-Citizen ran excerpts from this blog essay as an op ed column. Its online version is reproduced below; [brackets] identify the text as submitted, and contained in the online version, that was deleted from the hard copy version.

Let's Stop Making Players Pretend to Be Students
Nicholas Johnson
Iowa City Press-Citizen, August 27, 2014, p. A11
John Dean, President Nixon’s chief White House counsel, famously warned his boss in 1973 that the Watergate burglary was a cancer growing on his presidency.

With the opening of the college football season, somebody needs to warn the presidents of big-money football schools that there’s a cancer growing on their presidency.

There have been earlier diagnoses of disease.

In 1906, when college football was killing 15 to 20 players a year, and permanently disabling 150 more, U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt told college presidents he’d outlaw the sport unless they made it safer. Reluctantly, they agreed to require helmets and organized what became today’s NCAA.

University of Chicago President Robert Maynard Hutchins considered Chicago’s football team a distraction, scorned colleges that received more publicity from sports than educational programs, and with trustee support simply abolished football in 1939.

Hutchins’ analysis and solution are even more persuasive today. But few politically perceptive football critics advocate the death penalty — nor do I. So long as parents and players know the health risks, taxpayers know the costs, fans know its cost in time and money, and all still want football, we’ll have it.

Moreover, there is a win-win cure for this cancer that would solve current challenges confronting both higher education and big-money college football.

The cancer has metastasized its conflicts of interest for everyone in higher education. University presidents find it easier to capitulate to coaches than fight (Penn State). Athletic directors must rationalize taking advertising and skybox dollars from the alcohol and gambling industries. [Coaches must encourage players’ academic performance, while their multi-million-dollar salaries turn on players’ on-field performance. Non-tenured professors fear flunking players.] Players who do seek a college education must choose between lab time and scheduled practice.

Nor is the current system loved by the big-money football programs.

The NCAA lives in a 1906 dream world peopled with academically accomplished students playing football without helmets just for fun, and the college professors who doubled as their volunteer coaches. This vision is an increasingly tough sell when the highest paid public employees in most states are football coaches, and their college football industry grosses billions of dollars a year.

College players want to unionize, to be paid the full costs of attending college, and a share of the millions schools make from their likenesses in video games. They want reimbursement for the healthcare costs of football-related concussions and other injuries that may last a lifetime.

[Conferences are expanding. The once-midwest-centered Big “Ten” schools are now 14, including Penn State, Rutgers, and Maryland -- well to the east of Iowa. The football-wealthiest schools, and their conferences, have just negotiated a withdrawal from some of the NCAA’s restrictive regulations.]

[In short, this is not your great grandfather’s college football.]

What’s the win-win cancer cure?

Recognize the big-money college football programs for what they are — profit-making, commercial entertainment organizations, serving as farm clubs for the NFL (even if only 1.6 percent of college players will be NFL draftees), substantially disconnected from the research, scholarship, and classroom instruction of their schools.

Free them from NCAA regulations and their inherent conflicts. Remove the requirement players must pretend to be college students.

The rest is administrative detail. Most professional leagues already have provisions for players who’ve not attended college. Perhaps the football corporations could lease their former facilities (Kinnick Stadium) and name (Hawkeyes). Players who want an education might have a degree program permitting spring-semester-only enrollment.

When there is a win-win cure for a cancer of any kind, it’s a shame to refuse even to talk about it.

__________
Nicholas Johnson, a former FCC commissioner and sports law professor, provides more on this and other subjects at FromDC2Iowa.blogspot.com.

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