Ralph Nader Launches Campaign to Make the NCAA Live Up to Its Stated Purpose
League of Fans Unveils Seven Educational, Ethical, and Safety-Based Reform Measures to Return Integrity to College Athletics
Ralph Nader announced today that his League of Fans organization is starting a campaign to make the NCAA live up to its stated purpose of integrating “intercollegiate athletics into higher education so that the educational experience of the student-athlete is paramount.”
“Big-time college sports is filled with hypocrisy,” said Nader, the League of Fans’ founder. “NCAA administrators, college and university presidents, athletic directors, and coaches constantly talk about their educational values and the importance of ‘student-athletes’ getting an education. But their actions speak louder than their words. Every decision they make seems to be driven by revenue-at-all-costs and win-at-all-costs motives, not educational ethos. That has to change.”
League of Fans proposes a set of seven recommendations designed to achieve two critical goals for college sports: 1) Enhanced academic integrity in college athletics; and 2) More fair, ethical, and safe treatment of college athletes.
Ken Reed, League of Fans’ sports policy director, said big-time college sports are at the precipice of collapsing under the weight of ego-and-greed-based policies and decision-making.
“Admittedly, it might be too late to salvage the current college sports system,” said Reed. “Today’s model might very well need to be scrapped. More drastic change may need to occur, including taking the steps necessary to possibly remove the non-profit, tax-exempt status our big-time, highly commercialized college athletic departments currently enjoy. However, we believe it’s worth a concerted, legitimate effort to save the original intent of college athletics: real students interested in making sports part of their overall educational experience while on campus.”
Reed said League of Fans is exploring a variety of possible options for testing the legitimacy of the tax-exempt status that big-time athletic departments operate under, including Congressional hearings, a Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation, and a lawsuit.
“Hopefully, it won’t come to going after the tax-exempt status of these commercialized and professionalized college athletic programs. Our hope is that these substantial reform recommendations – or measures very similar in nature – spur big-time NCAA Division I athletic programs to shift philosophically toward an education first, athletics second approach,” said Reed.
League of Fans’ seven recommendations include the following:
- Protect Athletes From Overzealous Coaches By Either 1) Replacing the Existing One-Year Renewable/Revocable Scholarship With a 5-Year Scholarship; or 2) Eliminating the Athletic Scholarship Altogether
- Require Athletic Scholarships to Cover the Full-Cost of College Attendance
- Establish a Year-In-Residence Rule for Freshmen and Transfer Students
- Cover All Sports-Related Medical Expenses for Athletes and Disallow the Pulling of Scholarships From Athletes Who Suffer Injuries While Engaged in Sports Activities For Their School
- Develop Policies That Severely Limit Weekday Games
- Implement Standard Safety Guidelines Across the NCAA to Prevent Avoidable Injuries, Illnesses and Deaths
- Extend California’s “Student-Athlete’s Right to Know Act” (AB 2079) Across the Nation.
The announcement came in conjunction with the release of the League of Fans’ tenth report. “College Sports: Where Do We Go From Here?,” from its Sports Manifesto. Click here to read the full report: “College Sports: Where Do We Go From Here?”
Sports Forum Podcast
Episode #22 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Rethinking Sports Fandom with Author Craig Calcaterra – We discuss Calcaterra’s new book “Rethinking Fandom: How to Beat the Sports-Industrial Complex at Its Own Game” and explore new ways to be a fan in the year 2022.
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Episode #21 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Chatting About a Broken Game With Baseball Writer Pedro Moura – Moura is a national baseball writer for Fox Sports. We discuss how and why the game of baseball is broken, what factors caused it, and offer a few thoughts on how to “fix” a great game.
Episode #20 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Coaching Youth and High School Sports Based On What’s Best for the Athlete’s Holistic Development – We chat with long-time youth, high school and college basketball coach Jim Huber.
Episode #19 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Capturing the Spirit of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League with Anika Orrock – We discuss the hoops AAGPFL women had to jump through to play the game they loved as well as the long-term impact and legacy they have in advancing sports opportunities for girls and women.
Episode #18 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Talking about the 50th Anniversary of Title IX and the Lia Thomas Controversy with Nancy Hogshead-Makar – Hogshead-Makar is a triple gold medalist in swimming, a civil rights attorney and CEO of Champion Women.
Episode #17 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Talking Sports With Legendary New York Times Sports Columnist Robert Lipsyte – We chat about Lipsyte’s amazing career and some of the athletes he covered.
Media
"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- League of Fans Sports Policy Director Ken Reed quoted in Washington Post column titled "What happened to P.E.? It’s losing ground in our push for academic improvement," by Jay Mathews
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
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