[ [link removed] ][IMG]

Dear John, 

It’s March Madness, the time of year when the National Collegiate Athletic
Association (NCAA) brings in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue
off of the unpaid labor of Black college athletes. But this year, it’s
during A PANDEMIC! This is beyond madness. Despite universities remaining
closed to students for the year, athletic coaches summoned the
predominantly Black football and basketball athletes back to college
campuses, subjecting them to increased exposure to the deadly coronavirus
and without adequate health protections. While Black college athletes are
being treated as essential workers without pay, the NCAA staff and
university coaches continue to line their pockets with multimillion-dollar
salaries.^1 

But now, after years of fighting against the NCAA’s outdated and racist
rules, we have federal legislation in Congress that can turn the
collegiate sports industrial complex on its head! The College Athletes
Bill of Rights will provide necessary protections against the NCAA’s
physical, economic, and academic exploitation of Black college athletes.
Written by Senator Cory Booker—a former college athlete himself—this bill
is a potential game changer for our players. But we need more support to
push this legislation forward. So we’re calling on the NCAA’s corporate
champions, that sponsor the NCAA’s March Madness, to join us in endorsing
this Bill of Rights and do right by Black college athletes.

[ [link removed] ]STAND WITH US!
Tell NCAA sponsors to stand up against the exploitation of Black college
athletes!

The predominantly Black football and basketball athletes, who often come
from low-income households, are not only financing the salaries of wealthy
white men, but their labor is also providing resources for more affluent
white students.^2,3,4 A study by the National Bureau of Economic Research
revealed that when “Power Five” schools generate higher revenues from
men’s football and basketball, the schools use that money to increase the
spending on other sports, facilities, and coaches’ salaries. The top NCAA
Division 1 schools earn around $8.5 billion in annual revenue, the
majority of which comes directly from men’s football and basketball
programs. Less than 7 percent of that revenue goes to the athletes in the
form of scholarships and stipends for living expenses.^2 While many of
these Black athletes struggle to pay for room and board or lack sufficient
money for food, the NCAA criminalizes athletes who receive any gifts or
financial compensation for their work. And because of the rigorous demands
that the NCAA places on Black athletes to generate revenue, many find it
impossible to earn a degree or even work a part-time job while they
play. These players deserve their fair share of the rewards and profits
generated on the backs of their talent and work. That’s why this
legislation is necessary. 

The College Athletes Bill of Rights will:

* guarantee fair and equitable compensation
* enforce evidence-based health, safety and wellness standards
* improve educational outcomes and opportunities
* establish a medical trust fund to cover out-of-pocket medical expenses
and treat sport-related injuries, for up to five years after the
college athletes’ eligibility expires
* require accountability across college sports
* allow freedom for college athletes to attend the institution of their
choice
* establish the Commission on College Athletics^5

Many of the NCAA’s top sponsors are also corporations that have made
strong statements in support of racial justice. So we are calling on them
to put real power behind their stated values by empowering these athletes
with the protections they need—that they earned. The College Athletes Bill
of Rights is already endorsed by the United Steelworkers, the National
College Players Association, Sports Fans Coalition, and University of
Baltimore’s director of the Center for Sport and the Law, Dionne Koller.
The NCAA cannot continue to exploit these players. Right now, college
athletes and fans are trending online, exposing the ways that the NCAA's
rules oppress them and declaring that they are #NotNCAAProperty. It’s time
to transform the future of college sports for the next generation of Black
athletes by pushing these corporations to take a stance and endorse
lasting change!

[ [link removed] ]Sign the petition: Tell THE NCAA’s corporate sponsors to  endorse the
College Athletes Bill of Rights!

Until justice is real,

—The Color Of Change Team

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

References: 1. “NCAA Salaries,” USA Today, March 2021,
[link removed]
 2. “Who Profits from Amateurism? Rent-sharing in Modern College Sports,”
NBER Working Paper Series, October 2020,
[link removed]
 3. Brandi Collins-Dexter, “NCAA’s Amateurism Rule Exploits Black Athletes
as Slave Labor,” The Undefeated, March 28, 2018,
[link removed]
 4. Jay Connor, “The NCAA Is Big Business for Everybody but Black
Players,” The Root, November 5, 2019,
[link removed]
 5. “Senators Booker and Blumenthal Introduce College Athletes Bill of
Rights,” Cory Booker website, December 17, 2020,
[link removed]


--------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ [link removed] ]Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black
folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. Please
help keep our movement strong.

[ [link removed] ]Make a Donation

<style type="text/css">

blockquote .original-only,
.WordSection1 .original-only
{
display: none !important;
}

</style>

<div class=".original-only">

You can unsubscribe from this mailing list at any time:
[link removed]
</div>