Boosters are people:
Role of Boosters
Thank you.
First, is there any evidence that "90% or more of that money would come from school affiliated boosters"? Particularly when big corporations like EA and Nike and so on could potentially offer very large sums to the marquee players such boosters are most likely to target?
Secondly, as per your link, these boosters aren't
officially associated with "the institution" and are, in fact, third parties acting, on their own, in support of various programs for The Institution. They are funneling money, time, effort into programs they, privately, deem appropriate. Therefore, so long as The Institution is officially providing equitable compensation for all athletic programs, they would comply with laws, such as Title IX (as opposed to the debatable NCAA rules).
Seems to me that the next step is to remove the proviso that "Compensation may not include remuneration for the value that the student-athlete may have for the employer due to the student-athlete’s athletics status,"
provided that such compensation comes from an independent, private third party (such as corporations, or individuals who would like to attempt to use their money/time/effort to compensate an athlete however they deem their money/time/effort useful - within already existing law).
Or, in other words, simply remove the "amateur" label and requirement from NCAA rules, and allow student-athletes to negotiate compensation for their efforts - so long as that compensation isn't explicitly from The Institution. This would allow student-athletes, with the highest profiles (really, the ones that help generate the most money via tickets sold, TV contracts, merchandise, etc.) to be compensated for the increased value of their work. It could be something as simple as being paid for signing jerseys, to higher end factors such as having representation to be compensated for their likenesses to be used in video games, to national endorsement deals.
I can see complications if alumni and private, non-officially associated citizens wanted to entice athletes to join a university, because the lines there can blur. (For example, think of competing GoFundMe pages to recruit athletes - how could/should they fit into such a framework). But those lines can be specifically addressed. And that, too, could fit into the de-amateurization framework.
Sure, there's still work to be done and debate about it to be had about such a concept. But I firmly believe that removing the inability for a student-athlete to be compensated for their efforts, from independent third parties, based on market-value, would solve far more many issues than it would create.
