NCAA and Pay to Play? Here's One Way.

I caught an interesting discussion yesterday on ESPN's PTI. (A great show by the way) It was about some way to pay NCAA players, who through their play generate millions of dollars for college sports programs all over the country.

OK, your argument against is these students are getting valuable scholarships, along with tutoring and you can't beat the travel and national attention which pays off in some big time pro contracts. Fair enough. For some.

But to my original point, the ROI for schools on scholarships is to be envied. So how about this idea? Let's say a star QB for a team generates a lot of money in the sales of his jersey. Or a premier volleyball player generates some significant cash for her school through merchandise sales. Perhaps a percentage of sales from all team merchandise can go into a collective pool for players.

Give them a percentage, akin to what the pros make for merchandising rights and keep the money in escrow in some sort of account that generates a fair rate of interest. When the player graduates or leaves early for the pros, the school cuts them a check. They're not as much getting paid, rather they are being rewarded for generating money for the school.

The NCAA generates billions of dollars in revenue from college sports. I do believe it's time for those responsible for the cash flow to get at least part of the revenue stream.

I'll finish with a fearless prediction. Bye bye Fiesta. The Cotton Bowl joins the BCS at Jerry's World.

I love college sports, especially football. But I also realize it's all about money so let's get real.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"

Cutler's a quitter. Heard it on Twitter.

Today at 6am mountain, some 36 hours after the NFC Championship Game, the lead on ESPN Radio's Mike and Mike in the Morning was Jay Cutler. As I sat down to tap this out, the lead on The Dan Patrick Show was...wait for it...Jay Cutler.

There are two reasons why it remains the lead sports story of the day.

1. Show producers decide what's the lead.
2. Twitter apparently has a profound effect on show producers.

We flash back to Sunday when Cutler is pulled from the game with a knee injury. Does it matter he tried to play with the injury in the 3rd Quarter? Nope. Does it matter he's a Type 1 Diabetic? Nope. Does it matter that his coach and teammates support him? Nope.

What matters is that several current and former NFL players called him out on Twitter. During the game. Most of it was along the lines of "They'd have to drag me off the field before I'd quit" variety of Tweet. Cutler's actions on the sideline, or lack thereof contributed to what became a Twitter Firestorm, with Tweets coming in every second.

So at least in the sports world, Cutler remains the lead.

Yesterday on ESPN's Pardon the Interruption, Tony Kornheiser called Twitter a "Plague." Jay Cutler likely agrees.

For better or worse, if you doubt the power of Social Media, (There's a movie about it) you might want to stop doubting and start believing. Does your company or organization have a Social Media Plan in place? If not, why not? It can help you if you're the lead story, whether it's a good story or a bad one.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you" (And help you manage that conversation when someone else starts it)