NCAA APPROVES PAYING PARENTS TO GO TO CHAMPIONSHIPS

[robinreed]

THE COST OF SPORTS SCHLORSHIPS AND RELATED COSTS JUST GOT A LOT HIGHER. THE NCAA HAS APPROVED THE SCHOOLS PAYING FOR PARENTS TO GO TO THE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME AND FOR OTHER CHAMPIONSHIPS (BASKETBALL AND OLYMPIC SPORTS CHAMPIONSHIPS)

The NCAA has approved the schools paying up to $3000 for parents (air travel, hotels, meals etc.) to travel to championships such as the football playoff or the NCAA basketball championship games.

For football schools the cost could be as much as $255,000.00 per school. For basketball it could be $39,000.

Read the story here:

Thanks to a timely waiver granted by the NCAA on Tuesday, the College Football Playoff will help with travel costs for the parents or guardians of the players participating in the College Football Playoff National Championship presented by AT&T on Monday.

The CFP is able to provide up to $3,000 in travel expenses for families of each competing student-athlete, according to the NCAA, but the playoff announced its reimbursement will be capped at $1,250 per parent or guardian.

The reimbursement will cover expenses for hotel accommodations in North Texas and travel reimbursement and meal expenses for a maximum of two parents or legal guardians per athlete.

The NCAA also said member schools and conferences can adopt new rules to provide these family travel expenses on a permanent basis or for other championships.

Full article:
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story ... avel-costs

This is going to hurt basketball schools somewhat but will be a much greater burden to football schools. The real problem could be when the schools are expected to pay cost for parents of hockey, soccer, baseball, track and field, swimming and other olympic sports players. The article appears to state that each conference may decide if they will pay or not pay the cost. Of course if they do not pay they will lose in recruiting. If the schools/conferences do not pay for women's sports title 9 will come into play. From the way the article is written I am unsure if it is $3000 per parent or a total of $3000 for both parents. I will assume the amount is the limit for the two parents together.

[BEwannabe]

the school isn't paying for it rather the Championship is paying for it. This has been in the workings but has really been rushed to implementation with this event. Parents or guardians will have to prove they attended the event and provide receipts. In the future, the Championship will make this a turnkey situation for the event via a fulfillment or 3rd party planner eliminating the hassle of travel planning and receipts presented for payment.

[robinreed]

the school isn't paying for it rather the Championship is paying for it. This has been in the workings but has really been rushed to implementation with this event. Parents or guardians will have to prove they attended the event and provide receipts. In the future, the Championship will make this a turnkey situation for the event via a fulfillment or 3rd party planner eliminating the hassle of travel planning and receipts presented for payment.

BEwannabe,

The three articles I have read on line concerning this subject indicate the conference football championship will pay for the football championship game. However this is because the NCAA has nothing to do with the football championship. It is NOT a NCAA sponsored or controlled event. However it also states that championships of other sports may also pay for parents going to the game. Basketball, baseball, lax, hockey, track, swimming etc. are ALL NCAA sponsored and controlled events. Therefore only three entities could pay these costs. They are the NCAA itself, the schools or the conferences. While it is possible that the conference would pay for the expenses this money would more likely come from the schools. Even if the conference does pay one would think that money would come from monies paid the conference from the NCAA tournament division of school winnings. Hence it would indirectly come from the schools. One thing I believe is very improbable is that the NCAA would pay the monies directly to the schools.

[BEwannabe]

There are plenty of piles of cash laying around. The Championship Series has produced record viewership for ESPN and the viewers are American advertisers most prized viewer, you & me. Adult males with $'s in their pockets for big boy toys. There is an article in this morning's WSJ outlining all the juicy details. The ratings are Super Bowl like good and producing like interest and rates from primo advertisers. You can argue it's all 1 pot and coming from the schools but we're talking less than pennies on the $ to pay for this travel. Of course it opens up a whole new frontier but you're mistaken if you don't think this is where college sports is headed. Ohio State just pushed the buttons and the rest is history.

[BEwannabe]

But Ohio State asking and the series and NCAA approving just opens Pandora's Box. The other elephant in the room is the discussion surrounding expansion to 8 teams. Guess who's leading that discussion? I think ESPN has the rights until 2025. Viewership for a 8 team playoff would draw even more interest because play and advance or go home football is so captivating. What was Urban Meyer's response? If we're going to 8 teams then we'll need to go back to 110 scholarships. This is where it gets tricky. Football has more parity today than 30-40 years ago, example, B1G, it used to be known in football as the Big2 and little 8 but with going down to 85 ships things are more competitive. Definitely going to be an interesting odyssey. Paying for travel is just the start, now that the footballers have their beaks wet they'll definitely be back for more.