Why the NCAA Should Be Abolished

For more than a century, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has claimed to safeguard amateur sports and protect student-athletes. In reality, it has evolved into a bloated bureaucracy that prioritizes revenue over fairness, clings to outdated notions of amateurism, and enforces rules with breathtaking inconsistency. The organization no longer serves athletes, schools, or fans. It should be abolished.

The NCAA loves to call itself the guardian of amateur athletics. In truth, it’s nothing more than a billion-dollar cartel built on the backs of unpaid labor. For decades, it has exploited athletes, hid behind archaic rules, and enforced its will with a mix of hypocrisy and self-interest. The question isn’t whether the NCAA should reform. It’s whether it should exist at all.

Exploiting Athletes for Profit

The NCAA makes billions off television contracts, corporate sponsors, and ticket sales. March Madness alone brings in nearly a billion dollars each spring. Yet until recently, players couldn’t legally earn a dime from their own names or images. They couldn’t sign autographs for money, couldn’t profit from YouTube channels, and couldn't even accept a free meal without risking their eligibility.

Meanwhile, coaches rake in professional-level salaries. Alabama’s Nick Saban made over $11 million last year. His players—the ones absorbing concussions and injuries for the university’s glory—received scholarships and little else. That’s not amateurism. That’s exploitation dressed up as tradition.

Hypocrisy at Its Core

The NCAA also polices its rules with absurd double standards. It cracked down on Ohio State athletes in 2010 for free tattoos, yet dragged its feet when confronted with widespread academic fraud at North Carolina. It devastated small programs for minor infractions but failed to address systemic abuse scandals at Michigan State meaningfully.

This isn’t consistency. It’s hypocrisy. And it proves the NCAA’s mission isn’t fairness—it’s protecting its brand.

The Courts Have Seen Enough

Even the Supreme Court has had enough. In NCAA v. Alston (2021), the Court unanimously ruled against the NCAA’s restrictions on education-related benefits. Justice Brett Kavanaugh didn’t mince words: “The NCAA’s business model would be flatly illegal in almost any other industry in America.” Translation: the emperor has no clothes.

If the highest court in the country sees the NCAA as an antitrust violation waiting to be dismantled, why should anyone else keep pretending it deserves to govern college sports?

We Don’t Need the NCAA

Abolishing the NCAA would not mean chaos. The powerhouse conferences—the SEC, Big Ten, ACC—already control their own billion-dollar media empires. They don’t need Indianapolis bureaucrats to hold their hands. A decentralized system, backed by athlete unions or advocacy groups, would be more transparent and more just.

Athletes deserve representation. They deserve to share in the wealth they create. And they deserve a governing body that values their health and rights more than TV contracts.

Time to Pull the Plug

The NCAA has had its run. It clung to amateurism long after it had become a sham, punishing the weak while shielding the powerful, and resisted every reform until forced by courts or public outrage.

It is not a steward of college sports. It is an obstacle. The sooner it is abolished, the sooner athletes, universities, and fans can build something better.