Injured college-level athletes are set up to take on all the risks of being an athlete with almost none of the reward.
College athletes are a significant source of money. NCAA sports generated over $1 billion in revenue in 2021. The money was brought in based on the hard work of student-athletes. Most student-athletes never get any financial benefit from their work. Some students are able to get tuition assistance for their skills. Recently, a very small number of athletes have been able to profit from their likeness. [1]
Part of the risk of playing any sport is injury. Injuries occur frequently in college sports, specifically most frequently in college football.[2] Teams do what they can to mitigate injuries. Athletic programs have robust resources available to assist injured students, including training staff and contracts with local sports medicine groups.
Despite the team support, the effects of an injury in college sports are significant. An injured player has to deal with the painful physical effects of an injury, an increased workload, and the threat of losing the position they have worked hard for. If an injury is significant enough, a player may be cut from the team and lose access to the training staff and their scholarship.
Athletes have some ways to mitigate the financial effects of an injury. Students are required to have health insurance, helping to cut down on medical bills. Schools are also able to provide basic services to students free of charge. The NCAA itself offers coverage for “catastrophic” injuries, which exceed a $90,000 deductible. Particularly talented players may also be able to obtain insurance coverage against their professional careers. For a majority of players, however, there is nothing protecting them from any loss of earning potential from their injury.
Most employees are protected from injury loss through a workers compensation program. Workers compensation is a no-fault system designed to get workers back on their feet after suffering an injury on the job. The system is designed as no-fault in order to circumvent the need for lengthy legal battels so that a worker has no undue delay in receiving compensation.
Most employees in New York are entitled to workers compensation. An “employee” is a broadly defined term that includes part-time, full-time, seasonal, and even unpaid workers. If a for-profit business has employees, then they are likely required to carry workers compensation insurance.[3] However, there is no coverage for college athletes.
College athletes are not entitled to workers compensation benefits. This exception is attributed to the NCAA’s labeling of its players as student-athletes. By using this title, the NCAA defines athletes as students instead of as employees. Since athletes are not employees, they are not entitled to workers compensation benefits. This term has been used by the NCAA to defend workers compensation claims from players who have become seriously injured as a result of their sport.
This blind spot in the law persists even as progress is being made in fairly compensating student-athletes. New York recently enacted a law that entitles student-athletes to profit from their likeness. In signing the law, Governor Hochul stated “our collegiate student athletes are heroes on the field – and they deserve to be treated like heroes even after the final whistle.” The bill codifies NCAA policy changes, and guarantees athletes can profit from their role as athletes. While this recognition is important, it does little for many athletes who will not receive any significant contracts based on their likeness. The law actually somewhat codifies the student-athlete exception to providing workers compensation by guaranteeing that scholarships are not considered compensation. While the law does work to help some, it continues to make important distinctions that prevent college athletes from being considered employees.[4]
Athletes are required to bear the risk of injury all on their own. Getting injured in college-level sports is a very common occurrence. Athletes have no way to mitigate their future earning losses if they suffer a serious injury as part of their sport, and universities that profit from them have no requirement to provide compensation coverage. Despite the immense amount of revenue driven through the NCAA, athletes are still barred from the most basic benefits and are left to fend for themselves. This is a problem that persists even as student-athletes are recognized for their contribution and value to the NCAA by the NIL movement.
[1] https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/33201991/ncaa-earns-115-billion-2021-revenue-returns-normal
[2] https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6448a2.htm
[3] http://www.wcb.ny.gov/content/main/coverage-requirements-wc/for-profit-business.jsp