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Current DateTime: 06:00:28 10 Feb 2012
LinksList Documentid: 23279670
Expiration DateTime: 2/10/2012 6:03:30 PM

SPORTS BIZ SLIDESHOWS

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Current DateTime: 06:00:29 10 Feb 2012
LinksList Documentid: 37998722

DARREN ROVELL'S SPORTS INDEX

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ABOUT SPORTS BIZ

Darren Rovell brings you his unique take on the business of sports: a multi-billion dollar global industry and obsession full of personalities and products. On Sports Biz, Darren will give you his up-to-date take on everything from salaries to endorsement deals to marketing and promotions, trades and tirades – in short, everything that makes sports so exciting.

NCAA Stars: Pay Them For Jersey Sales

Published: Friday, 29 Aug 2008 | 3:14 PM ET
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By: Darren Rovell
Sports Business Reporter

I'm not a pay-for-play guy, but anyone who knows me well knows that I advocate that elite college athletes whose jerseys are being sold at retail, get a piece of the pie.

For years, the NCAA has turned a blind eye to the fact that its member institutions give the Nikes [NKE  Loading...      ()   ], Adidases [ADDDF  Loading...      ()   ] and Under Armours [UA  Loading...      ()   ] of the world specific numbers that match up to their best players. The schools know the reality of the situation, which is that numbers that correspond to the stars will sell better than a generic No. 1.

And just because the NCAA forbids the selling of the jerseys with the names on the back doesn't mean you can cut the player out of the equation. Everyone knows what's going on.

The solution is to take the eight percent royalty off the gross jersey price and give four percent of it to the school and four percent of it to the player. These replica jerseys retail for about $60. The gross price is about half that -- at about $30. So if Florida sells 15,000 Tim Tebow jerseys (for the NCAA's tracking purposes that's No. 15), Tebow will get four percent of the total or $18,000. If you want to put it in escrow, go ahead.

So without further ado, here's a list of top college football teams and the players whose jerseys are available in the school's official stores this year. I maintain that all these athletes should be getting cut a check at the end of the football season.

Georgia -- Matthew Stafford, Knowshon Moreno

Ohio State -- Chris Wells, Brian Robiskie, James Laurinaitis

Florida -- Tim Tebow, Percy Harvin

USC -- Ray Maualuga

Missouri -- Jeremy Macklin, Chase Daniel

West Virginia -- Pat White, Noel Devine

Clemson -- James Davis, C.J. Spiller, Cullen Harper

Texas -- Colt McCoy

Texas Tech -- Michael Crabtree, Graham Harrell, Shannon Woods

Wisconsin -- Allen Evridge, P.J. Hill, Travis Beckum

Kansas -- Todd Reesing

South Florida -- Matt Grothe, George Selvie, Mike Ford

Alabama -- John Parker Wilson

Auburn -- Brad Lester, Kodi Burns, Ben Tate, Andre Wadley

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Current DateTime: 10:34:09 10 Feb 2012
LinksList Documentid: 29778428

Current DateTime: 02:33:41 10 Feb 2012
LinksList Documentid: 29779196

Current DateTime: 11:35:13 10 Feb 2012
LinksList Documentid: 29779197

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