President Baker To NCAA Members: ‘Unprecedented Era For College Sports’

By Barry Janoff

August 14, 2023: In an open letter to members of the NCAA, posted today to the organization’s Web site, president Charlie Baker wrote, “We are in an unprecedented era for college sports. The environment is rapidly shifting culturally, politically, legally and financially. To address the challenges ahead, the NCAA needs to make real change.

“At my direction and that of the Board of Governors, the NCAA national office and membership have begun a significant range of work to meet that charge.”

In the letter, Baker — the former governor of Massachusetts who began his tenure in March — addresses four major areas: Gender Equity Progress, NIL, Health Insurance Fund Creation and Business Review.

“Immediately after taking over as president, I led an effort to bring in outside experts to analyze every aspect of the national office, while I also set out to hear directly from all 97 primary conferences across the Association,” wrote Baker.

“As a result, we produced a strategic plan for the work ahead that prioritizes student-athlete outcomes. At the same time, we are already making real changes across the Association, including improving the benefits and protections college athletes have access to.”

The letter reiterates and expands upon the findings in that report, released earlier this month, The State of Business Review Of NCAA Operations, from strategy firm Bain & Co., hired by Baker and the NCAA to perform a “top-to-bottom analysis of the entire non-profit organization.”

The report focused on key challenges facing college sports today and in the coming years years — including NIL, finances, the impact of sports wagering, mental health resources and the changing and growing needs of student-athletes — and also outlined a series of strategies the NCAA would undertake to achieve those goals.

Baker’s letter is the next step in moving the NCAA forward.

“While there are limitations on what we alone can accomplish — which is why we continue to simultaneously advocate for Congress to take action to stabilize the future of college sports — we are committed to exhausting every avenue for reform within our control,” writes Baker.

“This has been an exceptionally productive time for the team at the NCAA as we continue to work together to support more than 500,000 student-athletes participating in NCAA sports across the nation.”

Among the issues addressed by Baker:

• Gender equity progress: “Since the NCAA completed an exhaustive third-party gender equity assessment in 2021, staff have been implementing recommended changes to ensure that women's sports receive equitable support and that the experiences of student-athletes in those sports are every bit as inclusive, fulfilling and rewarding as those of their counterparts in men's sports.

“This week, I designated Felicia Martin, NCAA senior vice president of inclusion, education and community engagement, to head up these efforts for my team.”

• NIL: “I fully support student-athletes' rights to profit from their name, image and likeness.

“Over the past several months, student-athletes and members alike called on the NCAA to change NIL policies to improve outcomes for student-athletes and increase competitive equity.

“We answered that call last week by advancing enhanced NIL policies at the Div. I Board of Directors meeting. These guidelines still have a way to go before they are implemented, but I believe they will ensure that student-athletes have the ability to exercise their earning potential in the NIL marketplace and have protections from exploitation by potential bad actors.

“They also will help ensure that student-athletes across the country have access to the same fundamental opportunities while competing according to the same fundamental rules.

“I look forward to seeing more from the Div. I Council later this fall.”

• Health insurance fund creation: “Last week, we made a breakthrough in advancing the "holistic model" developed by the Div. I Transformation Committee in 2022 and approved in concept earlier this year.

"The environment is rapidly shifting culturally, politically, legally and financially. To address the challenges ahead, the NCAA needs to make real change.”

“A key provision of the holistic model is continued health insurance for student-athletes who suffer athletically related injuries that require treatment beyond the end of their college playing careers.

“I’m proud to share that we developed a fund that will help all schools, across all three divisions, access the resources they need to meet their commitments to this aspect of the holistic model.”

• Business review: “Earlier this year, I launched a third-party business and strategy review, and we recently received the results.

“We began this review to help identify opportunities to modernize the NCAA's organizational structure, work processes and business model in ways that will enhance the value we generate for our member schools and help us better deliver on our core mission of providing a world-class athletics and academic experience for student-athletes.

“We will now harness the talent of the national office to make these ambitions into our reality.”

“There is more work ahead,” writes Baker. “But what we have already accomplished these last few months makes clear the staff, membership and student-athletes everywhere are ready to get to work.”

Report: NCAA Must Evolve To Handle NIL, Finances, Challenges

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