One-Time ‘Sneaker Pimp” Now Fights for College Athletes’ Rights
By Ken Reed
Sonny Vaccaro was once considered one of the most ethically-challenged people in sports.
Today, he says he’s seen the light and now fights passionately for economic justice for college athletes.
Last month, The New York Times ran an excerpt of a new book called “Indentured: The Inside Story of the Rebellion Against the N.C.A.A.,” by Joe Nocera and Ben Strauss. Vaccaro is one of the key figures in the book.
Sonny Vaccaro was the primary player in the “sneaker wars” between Nike and Adidas in the 1970’s, 80’s, and 90’s. Across those decades, he worked for both Nike and Adidas at different times. In the 2000’s he worked for Reebok. It was Vaccaro who came up with the idea to pay college basketball coaches to force their players to wear his brand of basketball shoes.
“We created the commercialization” of college sports, said Vaccaro of his former employer Nike. “We were the first corporate entity to be involved with a coach or a university.”
But in 2007, he says he saw the light and gave up his $500,000/year sneaker job to take on the NCAA on behalf of the players. He called the NCAA a “fraudulent organization.”
“They receive all these benefits off the backs of kids,” he said. “I don’t understand why their only interest is in making things hard for athletes.”
Vaccaro ended up teaming with famed social justice lawyer Michael Hausfeld and former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon. They sued the NCAA based primarily on the argument that the association deprived players of rights to their own images. It’s important to note that all the time that Vaccaro worked for Hausfeld he didn’t accept a fee because he thought it might compromise his integrity in the fight against the NCAA. One of Hausfeld’s colleagues said that for the work he did, Vaccaro easily could’ve commanded $800,000 to $1 million.
Today, the O’Bannon case remains tangled up in our court system. Vaccaro hopes it ends up before the U.S. Supreme Court. If it makes it that far, and if he, Hausfeld and O’Bannon end up winning, the one-time ‘sneaker pimp’ could end up having his name alongside the likes of Branch Rickey, Jackie Robinson, Curt Flood and Marvin Miller under the umbrella “Greatest Sports Reformers in History.”
It would be one of sports’ greatest turnaround stories.
— Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans
Sports Forum Podcast
Episode #30 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: The State of College Athletics with Dr. David Ridpath: Problems and Potential Solutions – Ridpath is a sports administration professor at Ohio University and a long-time member of The Drake Group, a college sports reform think tank.
Listen on Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Anchor and others.
Follow on Facebook: @SportsForumPodcast
More Episodes on Apple Podcasts; Spotify; Google Podcasts; PocketCasts; & Anchor
Episode #29 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: The Honorable Tom McMillen Visits League of Fans’ Sports Forum – McMillen is a former All-American basketball player, Olympian, Rhodes Scholar and U.S. Congressman. We discuss the state of college athletics today.
Episode #28 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: A Chat With Mano Watsa, a Leading Basketball and Life Educator – Watsa is President of PGC Basketball, the largest education basketball camp in the world. We discuss problems in youth sports today.
Episode #27 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Kids’ Sports: How We Can Take Back the Game and Restore Quality Family Time In the Process – Linda Flanagan is author of “Take Back the Game: How Money and Mania Are Ruining Kids’ Sports and Why It Matters.” We discuss how commercialized and professionalized youth sports are hurting kids and their families.
Episode #26 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: How Can We Fix Youth Sports? – John O’Sullivan is Founder and CEO of Changing the Game Project and author of “Changing the Game: The Parents Guide to Raising Happy, High Performing Athletes and Giving Youth Sports Back to Our Kids.”
Episode #25 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Physical Education Should Be a Critical Component of K-12 School Design – Michael Horn is co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation.
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.
- Reed Appears on Ralph Nader Radio Hour League of Fans’ sports policy director, Ken Reed, Ralph Nader and the New York Times’ Tyler Kepner discussed a variety of sports issues on Nader’s radio show as well as Reed’s updated book, How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan. Reed's book was released in paperback in February, and has a new introduction and several updated sections.
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.
Vanderbilt Sport & Society - On The Ball with Andrew Maraniss with guest Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director for League of Fans and author of How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
Books