The NCAA is trying to body a Texas A&M freshman for being an entrepreneur
The NCAA is keeping their student-athletes in check in truly admirably ways, this time making sure a 17-year-old freshman cross country runner at Texas A&M can’t advertise a water bottle company he started in high school.
Ryan Trahan, a cross country and track and field athlete, whose YouTube channel has over 14,000 subscribers, posted a video on Wednesday claiming the NCAA has told him to either stop referencing his company Neptune Bottle or stop posting about being an athlete at Texas A&M.
Apparently it’s ok for Trahan to be an athlete and own a business, but he can’t reference the fact that he is an athlete while advertising his water bottles.
Trahan’s company Neptune Bottle is focused on reducing the amount of plastic used to make water bottles. It’s a great idea, but his entire credibility is built on the fact that he’s a competitive runner, that’s why people tune in to his videos.
You’d think that the NCAA would encourage this kind of entrepreneurial spirit from its athletes, but the NCAA is basically asking him to choose between his company and his athletic career.
Student-athletes can own and run their own business without violating NCAA rules if it’s not based on their athletics reputation or ability.
— Inside the NCAA (@InsidetheNCAA) September 21, 2017
Trahan said, “These are the two biggest things in my life. They’re asking me to throw one out the window, essentially.”
He went on to talk about the the hypocrisy of the NCAA model,
“The NCAA is literally a commercialized multi-billion dollar business. It’s an industry that uses only athletes to create revenue. These restrictions they place on the athletes blow my mind.”
Trahan continued,
“I don’t understand how I’m allowed to have a job at McDonald’s or something while being a student-athlete. But I can’t have a company that I’m passionate about, that I’ve been working on for over a year now and keep my identity. Like, how is that right in any way?”
Yeah, it’s fucking ridiculous. I see pretty much no reason that the NCAA needs to police 17-year-old’s businesses and make sure they don’t make a profit just because they reference their athletic career.
Like, is that what the NCAA is there for? To prevent teenagers from making a little money off being an entrepreneur?
This comes off the back of the case of former University of Central Florida kicker Donald De La Haye, whose popular YouTube channel made him ineligible to play college football.
The NCAA basically wants to ensure that they make every ounce of profit available off the “student-athletes” in their leagues.
And while the highest-profile cases revolve around college football and basketball players like Reggie Bush, Cam Newton, Johnny Manziel, and Derrick Rose, all those dudes had the opportunity to make millions of dollars in their professional careers.
Kickers at Central Florida and track runners at Texas A&M don’t have that opportunity. But the NCAA wants to limit their earning potential.
The NCAA continues to be absolutely trash and morally corrupt. There is no reason to prevent kids from trying to make some money off their athletic careers, but the NCAA will just enforce the arbitrary rules that actually fuck with teenagers’ lives.
Good shit, NCAA. Keep fighting the good fight.