Ohtani NCAAM: March Madness The Ultimate College Basketball Tournament
The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, better known as March Madness, is a cultural phenomenon.
Every spring, 68 teams compete in a single-elimination spectacle that captivates millions, generating billions in revenue for the NCAA, broadcasters, and corporate sponsors.
But beneath the dazzling upsets and Cinderella stories lies a darker reality a system that enriches institutions while denying athletes fair compensation, exposes them to immense physical and psychological pressure, and perpetuates inequities under the guise of amateurism.
The NCAA’s foundational myth that student-athletes are amateurs who play for love of the game collapses under scrutiny.
March Madness generates over $1 billion annually in TV rights alone, with CBS and Turner Sports paying $19.
6 billion for broadcasting rights from 2011 to 2032 (Nocera & Strauss, 2016).
Coaches like Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski earned $9.
7 million in 2021, while players receive only scholarships often insufficient to cover basic living expenses (USA Today, 2021).
The NCAA’s resistance to revenue-sharing persists despite legal challenges.
In (2021), the Supreme Court ruled unanimously against the NCAA’s restrictions on education-related benefits, with Justice Kavanaugh calling the amateurism model “flatly illegal” under antitrust law.
Yet, athletes remain barred from direct tournament earnings.
The pressure to perform in March Madness is immense, particularly for NBA-bound stars.
The “one-and-done” rule requiring players to spend at least one year in college forces elite athletes like Zion Williamson (Duke, 2019) to risk career-ending injuries for no pay.
A 2018 study found that college basketball players suffer concussions at alarming rates, yet many programs lack adequate healthcare post-graduation (Kerr et al.
).
Mental health is another casualty.
The spotlight intensifies during March Madness, where a single missed shot can define a player’s legacy.
After UMBC’s historic 2018 upset over Virginia, players faced harassment online an issue NCAA mental health protocols often fail to address (ESPN, 2020).
March Madness thrives on the labor of predominantly Black athletes (over 56% of Division I players), while leadership remains overwhelmingly white (80% of head coaches, 90% of athletic directors) (NCAA Demographics Database, 2023).
Universities profit from Black athletes’ labor while systematically excluding them from decision-making roles.
Scholar Billy Hawkins (2010) terms this the “plantation model”: institutions extract value from Black bodies while offering little long-term security.
Most players never reach the NBA, and without salaries or union representation, many leave college with neither degrees nor financial stability.
The NCAA touts education as compensation, but the demands of March Madness undermine academics.
A 2019 investigation revealed that teams often miss weeks of class during the tournament, with some athletes steered into “paper classes” to maintain eligibility (Tracy & Strauss).
Graduation rates further expose the charade.
While the NCAA boasts a 90% Graduation Success Rate (GSR), this metric excludes transfers and early NBA entrants disproportionately affecting Black players (NCAA.
org, 2023).
Calls for change are growing.
States have passed NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) laws allowing athletes to earn sponsorship money, but these are piecemeal solutions.
True equity requires: 1.: Allocating a percentage of TV and ticket revenue to players.
2.: Lifetime coverage for sports-related injuries.
3.: Guaranteeing four-year scholarships and academic support.
Critics argue pay-for-play would ruin college sports’ purity, but as economist Andrew Zimbalist notes, “The purity left long ago” (Zimbalist, 2019).
March Madness is a microcosm of America’s broader inequities a system where labor is exploited, racial disparities are ignored, and institutions profit under the veneer of tradition.
The tournament’s magic is real, but so is its cost.
Until athletes are treated as partners rather than commodities, the madness will remain a scandal in plain sight.
- Nocera, J., & Strauss, B.
(2016).
- NCAA v.
Alston, 594 U.
S.
___ (2021).
- Kerr, Z.
et al.
(2018).
- Hawkins, B.
(2010).
- Zimbalist, A.
(2019).