Athletes Behaving Badly: A Problem Solved by Degrees?

Robert Boland
Clinical associate professor of Sports Management, NYU Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Sports Management

It may be the fastest growing “industry” sector, but the reputation of professional sports stands to suffer from the growing and high profile instances of player misconduct. With sports leagues absorbing the cost and disciplinary measures failing, fans and sponsors are calling for action.

One idea to abate the situation, “the Degree Tax,” is put forth by Professor Robert Boland and several of his colleagues at NYU’s Robert Preston Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Sports Management.Based on a correlation they found between criminal behavior and athletes without a degree, the proposal sets out to change locker room culture and encourage young, would-be athletes to finish school. Boland, an attorney who has negotiated more than 100 player and endorsement contracts, is also a sports agent. He competed in the 1984 U.S. Olympic Regional Trials as a college athlete.

“It appears that a player’s ability to earn a degree is directly related to his ability to be a successful employee of a professional sports team,” Boland explains. The Degree Tax plan, which is currently being circulated to the NFL, proposes a contract incentive to players with degrees who stay out of trouble and salary cap exemptions to teams that sign players with degrees.Proponents say that it would turn players into successful employees and better role models, as well as easing the financial strain on leagues.

“Managing player conduct is the single biggest challenge American professional sports leagues face going forward,” Boland continues. “Fans and sponsors are slowly beginning to be siphoned away from leagues by the problems of conduct; not only criminal conduct by athletes, but also by coaches and referees.

“Whether we’re talking about random crimes, like the Michael Vick situation; steroids, which continues to haunt major league baseball; or gambling, which threatens the NBA’s integrity, it all adds up to a loss of trust that may not be regained,” Boland asserts.

As for the growth of sports once this obstacle is overcome? According to Boland, the leagues can get back to developing new communication strategies involving digital media on a global level and working to refine strategy and knowledge on a more local level.

Boland, who has been working at NYU since 2003, teaches courses in sports law, finance, and management in the Tisch Center’s undergraduate and graduate sports business programs. Admitted to the bars of New York and Georgia, he was previously litigation counsel to several major New York area law firms, including Skadden, Arps and Slate, Meagher & Flom, and an assistant district attorney.