Sports Media Faculty Receives Widespread Coverage on Report on NCAA Sports Denying Predominantly Black Athletes of Billions

08/07/20

Contributed by Mickie Quinn

Ellen J. Staurowsky, Ed.D., former coordinator of the Ithaca College Sports Media program is returning to Ithaca this fall as a full professor in the Park School of Communications. She is an expert on social justice issues in the sport industry and college sports in particular. She just co-authored a report with Ramogi Huma, executive director of the National College Players Association, who is the advisor for the PAC-12 football players who initiated the #WeAreUnited Campaign in protest against unsafe work conditions and unfair treatment. The report, entitled How the NCAA's Empire Robs Predominantly Black Athletes of Billions in Generational Wealth has received wide-spread media attention since its publication on July 31, 2020.

Staurowsky said discussions about COVID-19, racial injustice and the country's current political climate have highlighted “long-standing injustices,” such as denying athletes the opportunity to profit from their talent even as their institutions reap revenues from game broadcasts and sponsored advertising in the big-time sports of football and men's basketball. The Pac-12 athletes are connecting the dots and identifying a system that has “built its business on the exploitation of athletes,” she said.

The threatened work stoppage by PAC-12 football players is historic because of the movement it represents. After the players published their letter to the Commissioner Larry Scott and PAC-12 athletic directors in the Players Tribune, football players in the Big-Ten followed and athletes across sports around the country (both former and current), expressed solidarity with the players. This movement is a response to years of college sport officials, the majority of whom are White, failing to address the structural governance and policy issues that lead to unsafe work environments, coach and staff abuse, mental and physical health issues and injuries, failures to deliver on the promise of an education, and unfair compensation practices that have a disparate impact on a work force that is comprised of large percentages of men of color.

Some of the news outlets that have covered the report by NCPA Executive Director Ramogi Huma and Dr. Staurowsky include:

https://www.si.com/college/2020/07/31/ncaa-athlete-compensation-cost-revenue-study

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/08/05/pac-12-players-threaten-boycott-football-games

https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/08/02/pac-12-players-threat-to-sit-out-season-demand-revenue-sharing-extended-health-care-and-more/

https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/uw-husky-football/pac-12-football-player-group-presents-list-of-demands-that-includes-covid-19-protections-racial-injustice-issues-medical-insurance-and-revenue-sharing/

https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2020-08-03/ex-players-are-rooting-for-pac-12-group-to-succeed-with-its-list-of-demands

https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2020/08/06/weareunited-covid-19-whistleblowing-college-athletes-speak-out/3299442001/

https://www.heraldnet.com/sports/2-huskies-join-college-football-player-opt-out-movement/

https://www.newsbreak.com/news/1610308860755/ncaa-robs-predominantly-black-football-basketball-players-of-billions-in-generational-wealth-damning-study-shows-athletes-deserve-1-million-over-four-years

https://deadspin.com/unity-movements-kassidy-woods-cut-from-wsu-to-avoid-mix-1844588685

https://deadspin.com/ncaa-robs-predominantly-black-football-basketball-pla-1844583183

https://www.bakersfield.com/ap/sports/pac-12-football-player-group-including-uw-huskies-joe-tryon-and-ty-jones-presents-list/article_97eeb2ec-c9f8-5807-8b15-bbc47c0035c1.html