Pac-12 Conference football players have issued demands to be met before they step on the football field this fall. The demands came at the end of a week where the ACC and SEC announced their fall football plans, joining the Pac-12 and Big 10 as Power 5 conferences that have revealed their intentions to play.
“The coronavirus has put a spotlight on a lot of the injustices in college athletics,” Cal offensive lineman Valentino Daltoso told Sports Illustrated. “The way to affect change and the way to get your voice heard is to affect the bottom line. Our power as players comes from being together. The only way to do this is to do something collectively.”
Among the player demands:
— Mandatory COVID-19 safety measures set by a third party and ability to not play without losing eligibility or roster spot.
— 50% of each sport’s total conference revenue distributed evenly among athletes in their respective sport and 6-year athletic scholarships.
— Freedom to secure representation and earn money for use of name, image, and likeness rights.
— Preserve existing sports by eliminating excessive expenditures, such as cutting administrator pay and bonuses.
— Efforts to end racial injustice in college sports and society, with additions like a permanent civic engagement task force.
