Viability of a Student-Athlete “Employee” Model and How It Will Lead to the Consequential Doom of the NCAA as We Know It

The term "student-athlete" was first used in the 1950s by the NCAA President at the time, Walter Buyers. This term asserted that "athletes are students that engage in extracurricular activities" (Poulin) rather than being considered "institutional employees performing a service for the university" (Poulin). Since then, the landscape of the NCAA has grown vastly and has seen many changes that have advanced the non-profit organization to become one of the biggest revenue-generating industries in entertainment. Due to the nature of the governing body and the bylaws of which it was founded seeing little change, the NCAA has been and continues to face everlasting lawsuits and litigation. In the last ten years, student-athletes and the Supreme Court have had many interactions as they tend to the issues that have been created by the lack of modifications from the NCAA. Under much legal pressure, the college sports landscape has changed drastically with the most recent legislation allowing athletes to gain direct financial compensation from their name, image, or likeness (NIL) through endorsements of outside organizations. NIL, along with the transfer portal, has developed a new landscape for college sports, forcing the NCAA to explore business models to adapt to the changes and demands of the student-athlete. Most recently, attempts have been made to advocate for student-athletes gaining employment status along with benefits such as negotiating salaries and input on scheduling. The current business model used by the NCAA has developed controversy and lawsuits, which, unless change is made voluntarily by the NCAA themselves, could lead to the consequential doom of the organization.