SUPPORT GROWS FOR MURPHY’S SECOND “MADNESS, INC.” REPORT, CALLS FOR COLLEGES TO PROVIDE ATHLETES THE EDUCATION THEY DESERVE

Friday, August 2, 2019

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, on Friday noted growing support for his second Madness, Inc. report “How Colleges Keep Athletes on the Field and Out of the Classroom” released last week. In this report, Murphy examines the ways in which colleges fail to provide athletes the education they deserve.

This was the second in a series of Madness, Inc. reports that consider a range of problems within college sports. Murphy’s first report, released in March during the annual men’s basketball “March Madness” tournament, examined the profits of college sports and how the NCAA enriches nearly every entity but the athletes themselves. In that report, Murphy called on the NCAA to compensate athletes. The report found that across the 65 Power Five conference schools, only 12 percent of all revenue goes toward student aid and scholarships, while 16 percent goes to coaches’ salaries. Subsequent reports will examine the nature of amateurism, the long-term health consequences that college athletes face, and how to address the litany of issues within the college sports industry...

Ramogi Huma, Executive Director of the National College Players Association that represents more than 20,000 current and former college athletes:

"It is clear from Senator Murphy’s reports that NCAA sports is financially rich, but morally bankrupt.  The NCAA and its colleges have defaulted on the promise to provide college athletes a realistic chance to earn a quality education and complete their degree.  In addition, the NCAA has been found multiple times by courts of law to have harmed tens of thousands of college athletes financially by illegally price-fixing their compensation.  The NCAA’s claim that it protects college athletes from exploitation is both absurd and deceptive.  These reports expose this deception and bring us another important step closer to real reform."

Click to view US Sentaor Chris Murphy's full press release.

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