Wealth distribution is bad — except when it comes to college athletes' money, top Republican senator suggests

Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Lamar Alexander has not engaged much in the GOP’s favourite game this election cycle of pointing at Democratic opponents and exclaiming, “Socialists!”

Retiring at the end of his term in January, the longtime Republican senator from Tennessee has no need for the virulent hyperbole of campaign tough talk.

But Mr Alexander, who is a former governor of the Volunteer State and ex-president of the its flagship four-year university in Knoxville, signalled his support on Tuesday for socialist economic principles when it comes to distributing wealth among college athletes, who generate billions of dollars each year in revenue.

“As to the rules the NCAA should write, here is what I believe should be the overriding principle: Money paid to student athletes for their name, image, and likeness should benefit all student athletes at that institution,” Mr Alexander said in his opening statement at a HELP Committee hearing.

“Following this principle would allow the earnings to be used for additional academic support, further study or degrees, more health insurance options, more support for injured players and other needs. It would avoid the awkwardness of a center who earns nothing snapping the ball to a quarterback who earns $500,000 for promoting the local auto dealer,” he said.

His concern for the “awkwardness” of compensation disparities within organisations does not appear to extend outside college athletics, however.

Earlier this year, Mr Alexander defended the CEO of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s $8m salary, saying it is “in the bottom fourth of big utility CEO salaries.”

The average TVA employee earns less than $90,000 per year.

For decades, the National Collegiate Athletic Association that governs the most high-profile higher education athletics programmes in the US — from the big-name college basketball teams at Duke and Kentucky to NFL pipelines Alabama and Clemson — has barred its athletes from making any outside money off their name, image, or likeness or receiving any other financial benefit based on their status as amateur athletes for their schools.

That means the star quarterback can’t ink a sponsorship deal with the local car dealership. The NBA-bound starting point guard can’t sell autographed basketballs to other students for beer money. The ace volleyball libero can’t even accept a free side of fries at the local burger joint because that’d be considered an “extra benefit” not afforded to regular customers.

A handful of states have now signed legislation that would allow student-athletes to profit individually from their name, image and likeness, colloquially referred to as NIL money.

Proponents of college amateurism have argued that such laws will undermine the competitive balance of university athletics, since local businesses and boosters in select states can now woo top recruits to their favourite schools with monetary incentives and sponsorship deals.

If Mr Alexander had his way, he indicated at the HELP Committee hearing, the NCAA would write a rule stipulating that athletes must turn over any money they make to their schools, which would then redistribute the wealth to various programmes and other students, many of whom have absolutely no connection to the football team other than their enrolment at the university.

“I do not see a good ending to allowing a few student athletes to be paid by commercial interests while most of their teammates are not. ... If they prefer to keep the money for themselves, let them become professionals,” Mr Alexander said.

It’s not that simple.

Two of the four major sports leagues in the US — the NFL and the NBA — have age eligibility requirements that prevent young athletes from entering their workforce.

In the NBA, a player must be at least 19 years old and at least one NBA season must have been played before he is eligible for the new player draft.

In the NFL, a player must be at least three years removed from high school to be draft-eligible.

Baseball players can enter the MLB draft immediately after high school. But if they choose to enroll at a four-year college, they must be complete at least three years or be 21 before they are eligible again for the draft.

Scores of star college athletes who once appeared destined for professional success — and the financial windfall that brings — have suffered severe injuries during their forced college careers that have derailed their financial trajectories.

Mr Alexander’s Democratic counterpart on the HELP committee, Washington Senator Patty Murray, said on Tuesday that universities should provide “life-long” health care support for athletes who suffer injuries while playing for them.

“We must ensure that college athletes are guaranteed affordable health care and that colleges take responsibility for life-long health issues related to an injury,” Ms Murray said, adding that universities should not be allowed to pull academic scholarships from student-athletes who get injured.