Ricky serves as the CEO of this start up league that is battling with the NCAA for their inventory/ workers, the student athletes. The difference? The HBL plans on (1) playing its players a salary, (2) let them profit off their image, name and likeness, AND (3) fund the schooling of these players.
Ricky gives a brief overview of the history of amateurism, which is rooted in classist, racist, and sexist policies. The NCAA is a slow changing organization that takes years for policies to be changed. The HBL is a start up league that is hungry for success but also ready to make a difference in the life of the players they will employ. This podcast episode is full of novel ideas in the college sports space, but when you look at these ideas objectively, they do not seem ridiculous at all.
If you want to contact Ricky Volante, please reach out to him via email (ricky@hbleague.com) or on twitter (@essexace13).
