About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

7 Ent. & Sports Law. 3 (1988-1990)
Rubber Sole: Should College Basketball Coaches Accept Sneaker Money

handle is hein.journals/entspl7 and id is 27 raw text is: Georgia Tech's Bobby Cremins is paid over $150,000 a year by the Nike shoe company. Villanova's Rollie Massimino receives an estimated $125,000 annually from Puma, as do Eddie Sutton of Kentucky and Jim Valvano of North Carolina State (both from Nike). North Carolina's Dean Smith (Converse), Louis- ville's Denny Crum (Converse), Indiana's Bobby Knight (Adidas) and Georgetown's John Thompson (Nike) are all paid in excess of $100,000 per year by shoe companies. About seventy-five National Col- legiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I coaches have deals averaging $30,000 to $40,000 annually.' Acting upon the recommendations of the Special Council Subcommittee to Review Coaches' Outside Income, the NCAA in January 1987 adopted meas- ures restricting these lucrative deals. The adopted measures, aimed primarily at men's basketball coaches, require all coaches to gain approval from their educational institution's chief executive officer (CEO) before accepting any form of compensation from manufacturers and to report all athletically re- lated outside income to their CEO as well.2 While these provisions mark the NCAA's first attempt at regulation in this area, in the opinion of many schools they have simply not gone far enough. Indeed, a fundamental question remains: Should the shoe companies pay this money, which often exceeds the amounts received by the basketball coaches in salary payments from their respective schools, to the coaches or to the educational institutions they rep- resent? A $750 million basketball shoe market exists in the United States each year.3 Consequently, the com- petition among the shoe companies for the consum- er's money is intense. Representatives of the shoe companies are convinced that the decision of the pri- marily teenaged consumers about which brand of sneakers to purchase is influenced by the basketball stars and teams they see wearing them.4 Further, notes Tom McLaughlin, formerly the V head basketball coach at the University of Massa- chusetts and a sneaker representative for the Con- verse Shoe Company, paying a prominent college basketball coach to have his team wear our brand of shoes is a relatively inexpensive means of advertis- ing. It may cost us over $1 million a year to have an NBA superstar of the magnitude of a Larry Bird or Magic Johnson wear our sneakers, while it costs less than $200,000 per year to have a team like Indiana wear your equipment.5 Converse alone budgets an estimated $2 million for college basketball each season, compared to $100,000 to $200,000 for football.6 The reason for that differential is simple, explains McLaughlin. Kids play basketball year round and go through several pairs of sneakers each year. They also wear the sneakers as everyday foot attire. With football, on the other hand, the cleats can only be worn while playing football, which really only takes place a few months each year.7 Converse and many other companies, however, are scaling down, with the exception of industry newcomer Reebok which pays top dollar to the likes of Ohio State's Gary Williams and Iowa State's Johnny Orr. Shoe firms have become more selective as the price per top coach increases. McLaughlin says this scaling down. is reflected in the movement to find the nation's top programs and pay them ac- cordingly, rather than trying to sign up as many schools as possible. We now look for solid programs with loyal coaches who won't leave you after one year if offered a few extra dollars elsewhere.8 College basketball coaches fortunate enough to be in demand enter a personal services contract with the shoe company. The contract usually calls for the company to provide free shoes and other gear in ad- dition to the monetary compensation given to the coach. In return, coaches make appearances at clinics and other company functions, offer input into shoe de- sign, and, apparently most important of all, outfit

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most