Presentation Response- NCAA

This post is in response to the recent presentation given on the NCAA and some of the legal issues surrounding the compensation of student athletes. While overall the presentation gave several compelling reasons for compensation to be reconsidered, the strongest objection to that argument lies in the observation that the president of the NCAA has a salary of over 1.1 million dollars. While this may seem “excessive,” it’s certainly not a unique situation. There are many other large not for profit organizations whose leaders receive a similar salary (University of Rochester President and CEO Joel Seligman was reported by the Democrat and Chronicle last year to have an annual salary of $1 million). If the NCAA is a large and complex organization, requiring extensive knowledge and experience to run effectively, why should its president not be compensated at a level comparable to other large nonprofits? One may disagree with the president’s income, but it is part of a larger phenomenon, not something that can be opposed just for this organization.