Looking for Opportunity

Opportunity #1:  The first economic opportunity I have identified is within the NCAA, a part of the American sports industry that generates more than 12 billion dollars annually (money generated is not equivalent to revenue). However, with the NCAA being such a success it is a wonder why the heart of its workforce, collegiate athletes aren't fiscally compensated for their efforts. The article listed below by Taylor Branch, discusses the economic trend of forced amateurism on collegiate athletes. The article touches on how this process along with the mandatory contract signing by  collegiate athletes awarding all of their identity rights to the NCAA is fundamentally unconstitutional.  Obviously, this trend needs to change not just because the prototypical customer being players deserve to reap the profits they generate, but so every fan of college sports like myself doesn't have to bear witness to the hypocrisy of the NCAA. I became aware of the opportunity to pay the players years ago when I first learned about the profit margin projected each year within particular college sports. Although, I am very aware it won't be easy to pay college athletes because not every athletic program makes money, in fact many programs across the country are hemorrhaging funds. So we would have to answer the question do athletes in non-revenue generating  collegiate sports like track and gymnastics deserve to be paid? Moreover, once the door is opened to the idea of player compensation it becomes hard to regulate how each player will be paid. For instance, will all players in a sport be paid at a flat rate or will negotiations take place between schools and players creating a reward system based on their individual present and future contributions to the athletic program. Lastly, allowing college students to receive payment will invite agents to come in to manage their value adding yet another dimension to the already murky business of college sports.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/10/the-shame-of-college-sports/308643/


Opportunity #2: For my first regulatory opportunity I have identified a peculiar legal statute in the state of New Jersey. I first became aware of this law through my aunt who told me a story about an old lawsuit her company was involved in back in 2015. Apparently in the state of New Jersey if a trespasser enters onto private property and is accidentally injured it is possible in some cases for the injured party to sue the owners of said property. The URL listed below links to a document from the the New Jersey Judiciary website. In the the document on page three you will find the definitions and general duties owed to both adult and infant trespassers. The document is long and contains much legal terminology, but it goes on to describe certain circumstances where property owners can be held liable for injuries incurred by trespassers. Personally, I don't think individuals who trespass thus breaking the law themselves should necessarily be able to sue landowners to possibly make a profit from the incident. Getting rid of this law all together is not the answer, but modifying it would serve to protect property owners and alleviate some of the burden on the New Jersey legal system.

https://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/civil/charges/5.20F.docx


Opportunity #3: My second economic opportunity has to do with increasing the number of extreme sports venues in the state of Florida. I came across this opportunity about two years ago when me and my friend were entertaining the idea of starting a paintball business on his property in south Florida. These types of business are a low cost investments usually only requiring a few thousand dollars to start. Also, Florida excluding water logged areas has the perfect landscape for sports like paintball with plenty of flatland. There is a lack of extreme sports providers in Florida so there isn't much competition to new enterprise. Young adults between the ages of 15- 35 would be the target demographic so they would be the ones to benefit most from taking advantage of this opportunity.


Opportunity #4:  My second regulatory opportunity involves changing all racially insensitive team names in major professional sports leagues. I became aware of this opportunity several years ago when national media attention was once again brought to issue of minority groups pointing out the offensive nature of certain professional team names. Specifically, there are numerous team names in pro sports that can be considered insulting to the Native American demographic. Clearly it could cost any professional sports organizations a great deal of money to engage in a re-branding effort. However, the benefits of becoming a morally aligned organization concerned with its effect of public should outweigh any financial loses.


I hold each one of the beliefs to be evident because I can be objective when reviewing these issues. I am not concerned with the fiscal situation of the NCAA nor the cost of re-branding pro sports teams since I do not work for them. I merely care about fairness when it comes to how enterprises operate. I think if athletes work than they should be paid; if a team name is has a racially charged word attached to it (Redskins) than change it out of a sense of decency to your fellow man. If  a law is not functional and can end up rewarding people for violating a law than said law should be changed. I an not unique for holding these opinions it is merely that many others like me lack the ability to expeditiously change these situations.