UCLA’s Record $280-Million Deal With Under Armour Big For School, Not Athletes

The UCLA Bruins signed a record $280-million shoe and apparel deal with Under Armour on Tuesday, although once again, the athletes will not benefit nearly as much as the school does. In fact, they will not benefit at all.

UCLA’s Record $280-Million Deal With Under Armour Big For School, Not Athletes

Despite being allowed to promote the sports apparel giant’s products, athletes’ amateur status under warped NCAA rules prevents them from reaping significant financial rewards.

The movement to give college athletes financial compensation has been alive for years, but the calls for change have simply become louder with each increase in ticket prices, each high-paying coaching salary (some of which reach up to several millions of dollars each year), and each TV rights windfall.

Now, however, the NCAA appears to be almost exploiting athletes by jersey number and shoe size.

On top of not receiving anything from the $8.8-billion NCAA tournament television contract, these athletes can’t even benefit from the jerseys they wear. In the case of this new deal, the shirts are worth $280 million over 15 years.

It’s not just a UCLA problem. Other large schools have similarly lucrative arrangements. Nike has a $252-million deal with Ohio State, and a $250-million contract with Texas.

However, UCLA now holds the record for the largest deal in NCAA history, and the injustice of it all simply seems to be even more evident. So evident, in fact, that the Bruins’ most famous current athlete was quick to respond.

Josh Rosen, UCLA’s Heisman-hopeful quarterback, recently posted the news on his Instagram account with the sarcastic comment: “We’re still amateurs, though…Gotta love non-profits.’’

Like several UCLA athletes, Rosen is benefiting from a full scholarship that can be worth more than $240,000 over four years for out-of-state students.

“The fact that the college athletes can’t share any part of that money is unreal,’’ said Ed O’Bannon, a former Bruins basketball star.

O’Bannon, who was one of the leaders of the Bruins’ last national championship team in 1995, was also the plaintiff in a landmark lawsuit against the NCAA that challenged the unpaid use of a college athlete’s image for commercial purposes.

In a phone interview, he stressed the systemic nature of the problem, rather than merely lamenting the specific case of UCLA.

“I hate that this is about UCLA. I absolutely love my school. They’re just going along with the rules,’’  O’Bannon said. “But the fact that this keeps happening is crazy, just crazy.’’

O’Bannon also noted the difference between the benefits that athletes can receive from scholarships versus those regular college students receive from scholarships. Yes, the NCAA recently approved stipends to cover the full cost of attendance – laundry, student fees, late-night snacks — but that is money already available to regular students with a part-time job.

“There are men and women putting in all this work, providing a certain amount of entertainment, making all this money for the school, and some of them are not even allowed to get a job in their major?’’ O’Bannon said. “I don’t want to sound too dramatic here, but as a human being you should at least able to go to work, and they can’t even do that.’’

To make things more difficult for them, student athletes’ attempts to unionize and protest have been silenced, much like Northwestern’s football players, whose protests were stymied by the National Labor Relations Board last summer.

Odds are, Rosen might not be saying much more on the issue. Last year, UCLA allowed Rosen to publicly speak only once a week, despite being paid nothing to star for a Bruins football team that has reaped millions for the athletic department.

“If there’s any sign of anybody getting anything done, then they’ll be immediately shut down,’’ O’Bannon said. “The threat of scholarships taken away, being benched in a game… history tells me that any time you open your mouth and fight for what you think is right, and it goes against city hall, you will face the consequences.’’

PASADENA, CA – SEPTEMBER 21: Defensive end Cassius Marsh #99 of the UCLA Bruins celebrates with linebacker Deon Hollins #8 after Marsh tackled quarterback King Davis III of the New Mexico State Aggies for a loss at the Rose Bowl on September 21, 2013 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)