David Michael Miller
Imagine there was a huge national monopoly producing billions of dollars for its owners. This monopoly had a local affiliate right here in Madison. Its directors earned millions and even mid-level managers pulled down salaries well into the six figures.
And the whole thing — what the monopoly described without apology as its “business model” — was based on free labor. To make matters worse, the flagship profit engine of the monopoly was a business whose workers labored in incredibly dangerous conditions that left some with lifelong injuries for which the monopoly took no responsibility whatsoever.
What would happen in a place as progressive and forward-looking as Madison? Why, students would march on Bascom Hill demanding that the UW divest itself from this business. The Madison city council would pass a resolution demanding fair compensation for the workers. Elizabeth Warren would hold a rally and call for the jailing of the CEO and a breakup of the monopoly.
But all the things I described about the generic monopoly above are true of the UW Athletic Department and of all the big college athletic programs around the nation. Last year big time college sports raked in over $1 billion dollars. UW head football coach Paul Chryst made $3.4 million. He and athletic director Barry Alvarez, who made $1.2 million, also leveraged endorsement deals that allowed them to pocket even more.
The biggest income producer for the organization is football, where the carnage just keeps piling up. Players are subject to repeated subconcussive head trauma that will lead to lifelong mental and physical problems for some of them, but the UW offers no health care coverage for them once their playing days are over.
Last week California took the first significant step in addressing this obviously unjust situation. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation, taking effect in 2023, that would allow players at all California schools to receive income for the use of their image and likeness, just the way Barry Alvarez and Paul Chryst do for their car commercials.
And Alvarez’s reaction? He said he was “very concerned” and claimed that “our student-athletes actually live pretty good right now.” Then he threatened not to schedule any more games with teams from California.
Whenever you hear somebody like Alvarez use the phrase “student-athlete” their intent is to mislead you. They want to jumble up in the public mind true student-athletes, like lacrosse players, with the athletes who are producing millions in revenues from football and men’s basketball at the top schools.
Meanwhile, Alvarez’s nominal boss, Chancellor Rebecca Blank, has actually testified in favor of the monopoly in a lawsuit filed against the NCAA. She went so far as to say that if the players were paid she’d consider shutting down all UW athletics. The UW quickly stepped back both Blank’s statement as well as Alvarez’s threat to blackball California teams, but their initial comments tell you where they’re coming from. Both Alvarez and Blank are on the side of the big monopoly. They see no problem in the UW making millions on the backs of free labor.
Right now UW students are protesting a homecoming video that featured an all white cast. Fine, but why aren’t they protesting the much greater injustice of players in the actual homecoming game, a disproportionate number of whom are young men of color, who are working for nothing and risking serious injury?
The Madison city council has tied itself up in knots trying to figure out exactly what to say about the prospect of loud new fighter jets at Truax Field and their impact on surrounding neighborhoods. That’s a complicated issue, but exploitation of college athletes is not. It is, as John Kennedy said after he forced the integration of the University of Alabama, “as old as the scriptures and as clear as the American Constitution.”
My only problem with the California legislation is that it doesn’t go far enough. It will work for star athletes who can fetch product endorsement deals, but it does nothing for the bulk of players who just labor away and who will not cash out in the pros. A scholarship and a living stipend are peanuts in a billion dollar industry. The players should be paid a substantial salary.
This is as clear a case of social injustice as you are ever going to see. Yet, while my alma mater is in with both feet on the side of the exploiters, the students and the rest of an allegedly progressive community are turning a blind eye to the whole thing.
California usually leads the nation on progressive policies. Several other states may follow suit soon. Don’t look now, but we’re already on the wrong side of history.
[Editor's note: This article was updated to correct the spelling of California Gov. Newsom.]
Dave Cieslewicz is the former mayor of Madison. He blogs as Citizen Dave at isthmus.com.
