Both Equal Pay Day and the NCAA women’s and men’s basketball championship games occurred last week. With the popularity of the tournaments, questions have been raised by the media and public about the differences in coach salaries. Within the last six months, the University of Connecticut (“UCONN”) extended the contracts of both of its basketball head coaches — Kevin Ollie and Geno Auriemma. Ollie, as the men’s team coach has had one national championship during his tenure; while Auriemma, the women’s coach, has won 11 national titles. Despite Auriemma’s impressive record, Ollie received a more lucrative package from UCONN, which is typical in the sports world.
Sports Law
Eight Changes to NFLPA Regulations that Agents Need to Know
In recent years, steps have been taken to reduce the role of NFL agents, particularly with younger players. Since the NFL and the NFLPA entered into their 2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement, NFL agents have been limited in what they can negotiate for rookie players. They are only able to negotiate the timing of salary bonus payments and “offset” language, which addresses whether the salary of a player who is released from his contract and signs with another team reduces, or offsets, the amount the first team must pay to the player. As a result of this restricted role, some players have even begun to forego agents completely for their first contract, hurting agents’ revenue.