The most exclusive television contract in college football, a lucrative apparel deal with Under Armour and decades of history. Notre Dame's president says the Irish are willing to lose all that if college athletes start getting paid.
Rev. John Jenkins told the New York Times the school would consider leaving the NCAA to form a conference with "like-minded universities" if that were the case. He says ND is an educational institution, and that athletics are meant to serve the educational purpose.
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Jenkins also says Notre Dame is not morally obliged to share the program's revenue — which Forbes estimated at $81 million last year, fifth-most in the country — with the guys on the field.
“I don’t think there’s a compulsion or some demand of justice that we do it,” Jenkins said.
"I’d say that education is more valuable than however much money we might give you. So focus on that. We’re going to do everything we can to help you be successful in getting that education."
Jenkins told the Times he does support the NCAA's cost of attendance reform, which provides scholarship athletes at Power 5 schools additional money for personal expenses and travel costs. He's also not opposed to a player selling an autograph on his own for profit.
If college football does become a pay-to-play, open market, semipro-style sport, Jenkins will draw the line.
“That’s when we leave,” he said. “We will not tolerate that. Then it really does become a semipro team.”
Source: New York Times