Oregon State May Be Roadblock In NCAA Proposal

SPORTS 

By Ethan Lindsey

Bend, OR  January 3, 2008 4:27 p.m.

In Thursday's college football Orange Bowl game between Virginia Tech and Kansas, you will see plenty of ads for Pontiac and FedEx. But what you won't see is any current college football players in those ads.

Ethan Lindsey reports on why that may soon change -- and why Oregon State University may play a big role in the decision.

A couple of years ago, the University of Arizona sold autographed basketball jerseys of some of the team's star players to raise money for charity.

Afterwards the university was forced to apologize and report itself in violation of college rules.

Why?

Because the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA, has strict bylaws banning a school from profiting off a student-athlete's name or image.

It's why you'll never see a current athlete's video in an advertisement for a product. You'll only see players who've graduated or  actors wearing school jerseys.

But those rules would change under a proposal currently being discussed by the NCAA.

Bob Decarolis is the athletic director of Oregon State University.

He's known as one of the more outspoken college athletic directors -- and he happens to sit on the board that votes on big NCAA decisions like this one.

He says right now he'd vote no on the plan to allow sponsors to use a college athlete's image.

Bob Decarolis: “It just borders on some things that would open some doors that you don't want to go in at this point in time."

The rule change being discussed would allow individual players to appear in advertisements. The slippery slope Ray is worried about would mean actually paying the players for their appearances.  

Skepticism like his postponed a January vote on the issue.

The NCAA makes tens-of-billions-of-dollars in TV contracts and commercial sponsorships.

Student athletes are considered 'amateurs' and so are banned from receiving any salary or gifts related to their play.

And critics like OSU athletic director Bob Decarolis say the new rule change is just another piece of that big-money commercialism seeping into amateur athletics.
 
Bob Decarolis: “It's just one more step. The NCAA should be sort of the lead on the thing, and they are actually kind of trying to backdoor the system here a little bit.”

Decarolis says he thinks the NCAA is already breaking its own rules. That's why it is pushing so hard for this rule change.

Take this in-game ad....

Under a marketing deal, the NCAA gets millions of dollars from Pontiac to reward  a 'game changing performance' play every week, using the video and images of the week's best collegiate football plays. The players themselves though receive no finacial award, just the recognition.

But not everybody in collegiate athletics sees the proposal as bad. In fact, not even everybody at Oregon State has a problem with it.

Mark Rountree: “My name is Mark Rountree and I am the associate athletic director of compliance for OSU. I'm that person that ensures that the institution follows the rules regarding recruiting, amateurism, financial aid.”

Rountree actually works for Ray.

He says some athletes like the idea of having their name up on a billboard or on a box of cereal.

Mark Rountree: “Not all student-athletes are football players and basketball players, so they don't have the opportunities to go on and play professional sports, so for those student-athletes, it's a little different.”

Rountree met with a group of student-athletes at Oregon State to help them form an opinion on the issue.

The students liked the concept, but actually voted against the current rule change. They want the possibility of being in ads but they want to be able to choose which ones.

Kyle DeVan is a senior offensive lineman for the Oregon State Beavers football team.
    
He may collect an NFL paycheck next year, and he supports the rule change.

But he says there's a discrepancy between schools getting more and more cash from sponsors.

All the while he and his teammates continue to scratch by on little more than scholarship allowance money.

Kyle DeVan: “You know, I think at times, it feels like we should be paid more than we are. I'd like to see the money go up a little bit more, that way we aren't just putting together a couple of bucks just to go get a burger or something like that.”

Everyone involved promises that the rule change will not put more money in student athlete's pockets.

And the college board says it will push  for an eventual vote; the group formed a committee to discuss the issue.

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