Athletics Veritas is a weekly series aimed at helping higher education executives, faculty, and other stakeholders stay tuned in on trending national issues impacting college athletics, especially NCAA Division I. Athletics Veritas is created by senior DI athletic administrators around the nation.
Term-In-Ology: The Principle of Amateurism & Amateur Status
Division I’s principle of amateurism indicates that “[s]tudent-athletes shall be amateurs in an intercollegiate sport, and their participation should be motivated primarily by education and by the physical, mental and social benefits to be derived. Student participation in intercollegiate athletics is an avocation, and student-athletes should be protected from exploitation by professional and commercial enterprises.”
Division I has manifested this core-principle in Bylaw 12. Division I schools are obligated to monitor, assess, and ultimately certify that each student-athlete has stayed within these boundary lines around the ‘amateurism’ principle. Specifically, Division I Bylaw 12.1.2 indicates an individual loses amateur status and thus shall not be eligible for intercollegiate competition in a particular sport if the individual:
Uses his or her athletics skill, directly or indirectly, for pay in any form in that sport;
Accepts a promise of pay even if such pay is to be received following completion of intercollegiate athletics participation;
Signs a contract or commitment of any kind to play professional athletics, regardless of its legal enforceability or any consideration received, except as permitted in Bylaw 12.2.5.1;
Receives, directly or indirectly, a salary, reimbursement of expenses or any other form of financial assistance from a professional sports organization based on athletics skill or participation, except as permitted by NCAA rules and regulations;
Competes on any professional athletics team per Bylaw 12.02.12, even if no pay or remuneration for expenses was received, except as permitted in Bylaw 12.2.3.2.1;
Enters into a professional draft after initial full-time collegiate enrollment (see Bylaw 12.2.4); or
Enters into an agreement with an agent.
Important to recognize that “individual”----and not “student-athlete”----is the term used to describe the subject governed by NCAA amateurism rules. Functionally speaking, this means everyone that could come through Division I athletics as a student-athlete---junior high school phenoms, high school prospects, junior-college student-athletes, student-athletes at NAIA schools, international prospects who are done with secondary school but have delayed enrolling in college, and current Division II and III student-athletes----are all subject to the Division I amateur status boundaries.
Also worth noting in Bylaw 12.1.2 the cross-referencing to several other bylaws. This is not by accident. There are a variety of legislative carve-outs in Bylaw 12 driven by sport and situation-specific exceptions (e.g., baseball prospects permissibly signing with agents out of high school to negotiate a contract; high school prospects competing on a professional team, provided they do not receive more than actual and necessary expenses to do so).
The criteria in Bylaw 12.1.2 begs additional questions. What does being paid “indirectly” for your athletics skill really mean? How far does that reach? How do schools monitor and document a “promise of pay” even if that includes activities that pre-date when your school’s coaches begin recruiting the prospect? It’s easy to see how complex amateurism can be including through the lens of the current rules.
We highlighted the NCAA amateurism turn-of-phrase “clear line of demarcation” in Term-In-Ology’s debut edition in January. This phrase captures the essence of differentiating professional sports from college sports. With Name, Image and Likeness policies likely to be deregulated in the next year or two along with the anticipation of increased flexibility for student-athletes to access and use of agents and other third-party professional services (e.g., brand managers), where and how that demarcation line is drawn will make Bylaw 12 look different and college athletics feel different in the coming years.
Athletics Veritas is presented for information purposes only and should not be considered advice or counsel on NCAA compliance matters. For guidance on NCAA rules and processes, always consult your university’s athletics compliance office, conference office, and/or the NCAA.
