NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland – NCAA President Myles Brand says commercial activity is a necessary and justifiable component of intercollegiate athletics – as long as it doesn’t exploit student-athletes or compromise the values of higher education.

That was the focal point of Brand’s sixth State of the Association speech, which also dealt with how to determine whether commercialism crosses either boundary.

The speech, delivered at the opening business session of the 2009 Convention by NCAA Vice President and Senior Advisor to the President Wallace Renfro (Brand is being treated for an illness and was not able to attend), struck a balance between what Brand called “unrealistic idealism” (no commercial activity) and “crass commercialism” by calling on the NCAA national office staff and conferences and institutions to share responsibility – and good judgment – in making decisions regarding commercial activity.

Brand, who said commercialism may be the dominant issue in intercollegiate athletics for the foreseeable future, was emphatic about protecting student-athletes, indicating that the Association would not tolerate exploitation. But a regulatory approach in the commercial arena is problematic, Brand said, citing a recent attempt in Division I to specify the percentage of space that can be devoted to advertising when a student-athlete is in the frame as a good example. 

“There are multiple factors that make it appear that the student-athlete is endorsing a product beyond the percentage of space devoted to it,” Brand said. “No matter how carefully such mechanical rules are crafted, wily advertisers would likely find a way within the rules to give the appearance of product endorsement. That would lead to revising the rules, and then new attempts to push the boundaries. You can already see the NCAA rulebook getting fatter.”

Instead, Brand advocated an approach the Association has used to guide student-athlete eligibility and reinstatement, which is to have trained national office staff apply NCAA rules to commercial activity and then implement an appeals process involving NCAA members that would review staff decisions.

Brand also noted the potential need for an oversight committee of membership peers that would “review the landscape of commercial activity in intercollegiate athletics, make binding determinations of instances in which there is student-athlete exploitation even if NCAA amateurism rules are not violated, and evaluate trends in commercial activity to ensure that the values of higher education and the best interests of the collegiate model of athletics are not abridged.”

“There is no question that commercial activity is necessary for mounting intercollegiate athletics programs, certainly in Division I, but also in Divisions II and III,” Brand said. “But that commercial activity must be undertaken within the context of higher education. It must be done the right way. … The answer is to use regulation where clear prohibitions are evident – exploitation of student-athletes, for example – and apply values-driven judgment where flexibility is required.”

Throughout the speech, Brand reiterated that commercial activity is essential to the future health of intercollegiate athletics. He dismissed the notion that the NCAA should retreat to a time that never existed (that is, when there was no commercial activity), saying it made no more sense than it would to give into overcommercialization.

Rather, Brand said the NCAA should establish legislation that protects student-athletes from being exploited and then have institutions and conferences share in the responsibility of defining commercial activities within the bounds of the educational mission.

Read the full text of the State of the Association speech at www.NCAA.org.