by Sports Law » Fri May 16, 2003 12:10 am
As OldPony said, there is an NCAA rule (though its not against the law) against selling items that a student-athlete receives. I'm not sure if the rule limits it to "above cost" or not; because, whether or not that happens, the athlete received the item because of their participation in collegiate athletics and to sell the item would be considered an "extra benefit" (there's that nasty word again). So, yes, the item is yours. You can do whatever you want with it; but, you just have to face whatever consequences may come out of that decision - like ineligibility! (Personal responsibility....my, what a concept!)
That said, you'd be amazed at all the goodies that players get at events like tournaments, bowl games, etc. The value of the merchandise that they receive can reach into the thousands! (The DMN did an article on that during football bowl season a couple of seasons ago.) Of course, those are from bowl, tournament, conference or NCAA sponsors. So, those are exceptions to the "extra benefits" rules. How many free minutes or cell phones do you think a football player gets for participating in the Nokia Sugar Bowl (not to pick on the Sugar Bowl - just to give an example. Wonder how many bags of Tostitos they get at the Fiesta Bowl? [sorry, Frito-Lay - couldn't resist]). To be fair, though, the bowls also tend to give out lots of freebies to the fans that attend those events, as well. The marketing opportunities are just too great to ignore.
Now, after a player has exhausted his or her eligibility, the NCAA no longer has any jurisdiction over the player. So, then, you might see some of those items on the market.
By the way, about the comments on the SI article (which I haven't read yet), the professionalism and integrity of the guys running this site was/is key to my decision to participate. Keep it up! Stuff like that matters!
[This message has been edited by Sports Law (edited 05-15-2003).]