The sports world received a significant jolt on Tuesday, when the NCAA announced that they had taken the unprecedented step of allowing college athletes to profit off their name, image, and likeness.
While the move signaled an historic and long-awaited shift to some, others in government saw the move as an opportunity to profit off of those who are now making a profit.
Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) announced on Twitter that he plans to introduce legislation that will treat the scholarships of athletes who choose to “cash in,” as income. A move which would make the scholarships subject to taxation.
If college athletes are going to make money off their likenesses while in school, their scholarships should be treated like income. I’ll be introducing legislation that subjects scholarships given to athletes who choose to “cash in” to income taxes. https://t.co/H7jXC0dNls
— Richard Burr (@SenatorBurr) October 29, 2019
The new NCAA rule is unlikely to impact a large majority of college athletes, considering there’s only a relatively small percentage who have enough face and name notoriety to gain endorsements. Though, many see the move as a prelude to doing away with amateurism in college sports altogether, and placing the athletes on salary.
The Federalist’s Sean Davis criticized Burr’s proposed legislation, noting that the North Carolina Senator has never taxed the institutions those athletes have made rich.
And yet you've never proposed to tax the institutions that are making billions of dollars off the athletes whose bodies are broken and bloodied on behalf of their schools. Strange. https://t.co/WZLHnMPeMO
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) October 29, 2019
Davis also asked whether Burr’s legislation would apply to those on academic scholarships who work while in school:
Follow-up for @SenatorBurr: would you also tax the non-athletic academic scholarships of students who work while they're in school, or is this a special penalty for the handful of football and basketball stars whose efforts fund every athletic department in the country?
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) October 29, 2019
And the grand finale:
As Senate Intel Chairman, Burr hasn’t lifted a finger to get to the bottom of the biggest government spying scandal in history. The prospect of college athletes being compensated for their efforts, however, got a legislative proposal from him w/in minutes. https://t.co/WZLHnMPeMO
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) October 29, 2019
While one could make the case for taxing the income earned off of any endorsement deals, it’s more complicated to say that the athlete’s entire scholarship should be taxed. Not to mention other potential complications that could arise once room and board, food, medical, and transportation costs are factored in.
Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter @themightygwinn
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