Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - A new rule awaiting a judge's approval could open the door to paying college athletes.
"As much attention as this is getting, we've talked to people locally at the
four Division One colleges, University at Buffalo, St. Bonaventure, Niagara and Canisius, and most say they don't know how much this is going to filter down," said Paul Peck, Voice of the UB Bulls, who joined WBEN on Tuesday.
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UB is the biggest school locally, but it is not near the level of other powerhouses, such as Alabama, Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan.
Some of the big questions looming; what kind of money are we talking about,
and who's getting paid?
Already in college sports, there's a major disparity between some of the big time programs which have athletic budgets over $200 million a year, versus, local colleges. At UB for example, Peck mentioned the school has an athletic budget in the range of $40 million.
Could this mean that Western New York will not have competitive schools in the future?
"In some ways. that already exists," noted Peck. "If you're a Division I football player and you're not good enough to play at Alabama, you can come to UB for a chance to go to a bowl. This will be the first year where programs at UB's level will have a chance to earn a spot in the new 12-team national championship for football."
He said opportunities are going to continue to be there at the local level. But he admits, as we have seen before, you get players who emerge as real talent and then bigger schools pluck them away by offering more money than local schools can offer.
Does this mean less profitable sports programs could be cut because of this?
"It's a legitimate concern," said Peck. "If they have to start paying all of this money out, the money is going to go to the sports that generate revenue, which is primarily football, men's basketball and women's basketball. There is a fear that some of these schools will have to cut sports.