As colleges and universities prepare to legally pay athletes for the first time in National Collegiate Athletic Association history, collegiate sports programs are exploring insurance policies designed to mitigate the risks that come with dishing out tens of millions of dollars annually to players.
A proposed settlement deal between the NCAA and five major collegiate sports conferences is expected to soon allow schools to directly compensate students for the first time in 173 years of organized competition. Total pay will be capped at about $20 million per school.
“The reason why insurance is now being introduced more consistently is that there are now real dollars at risk,” said Tyrre Burks, founder and CEO of Players Health, a sports-centric managing general agency. “And we’re not talking a small amount of dollars, either. We’re talking billions of dollars that are now going to athletes. Universities, for the first time, are now sharing athletic department revenues back to the athletes.”
Burks said Players Health gives clients greater visibility of their risks while supplying them with tools and resources to mitigate them. One of those resources is insurance; the Minneapolis-based company writes general liability, equipment and property, D&O and more lines of coverage for youth, amateur and collegiate sports organizations.
