Commentary
Student-Athletes Leverage Power Of TV Revenue For Social Justice
- by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, November 10, 2015
As a way to address longtime racial issues, the team said it wasn’t going to play this weekend unless University President Tim Wolfe resigned. And guess what? He did. It happened seemingly that fast.
The University of Missouri is scheduled to play Brigham Young this weekend, and, according to estimates, could have lost some $1 million in revenues from this one game.
We don’t need to tell you about college football and TV money. When the U. of Missouri threat looked serious, it got immediate attention from the university alumni and the board. That’s money they can’t get back.
This points to the leverage student-athletes have been seeking for some time. This past August, football players at Northwestern University were rejected in their attempt to unionize by the National Labor Relations Board.
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In the past college athletes have complained about a variety of issues -- such as getting compensated as paid athletes while colleges grab millions of dollars in TV revenues.
But with the Missouri actions, it goes beyond money -- such as a piece of the proceeds from video games that might portray their likeness -- or a bigger future in professional football where they might earn millions. It might be for social justice. What dollar value can you put on that?
Wayne Friedman is West Coast Editor of MediaPost. You can reach Wayne at wayne@mediapost.com.
I think you put a minimum dollar value against what could have been lost from a revenue standpoint Wayne. It was not about one game but about long term revenue from sponsors who could have been targets locally on TV and radio and just about everywhere else sports advertising can be generated by this university. It was more about the rest of this season's ad dollars and those in to 2016 and beyond.
This could have had long time effects beyond this weekend. Way beyond video games and their professional football efforts. This resignation was needed to keep hundreds of millions of dollars in the coffers of this institution. The negative ramifications UM now has on its resume will take years to resolve. This university's problems are now internationally known and reputation matters when an advertiser or sponsor determines how much money to spend on this football program and this university.