The Price to Play: A Discussion About the NCAA and Its Student Athletes

Featuring Joe Nocera, author of Indentured: The Inside Story of the Rebellion Against the NCAA, in conversation with WNYC’s Jami Floyd and legal expert Ekow Yankah. 

The New York Public Library invites you to a lively discussion about the controversy regarding the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and student athletes. As the excitement of March Madness approaches, so do all the questions concerning the $13 billion college sports industry and the student athletes who won’t see a dime of that money. Is it enough that these athletes receive an education along with room and board? Should they be earning a salary since it is their labors that earn millions for others in the industry? New York Times columnist Joe Nocera’s recent book, Indentured: The Inside Story of the Rebellion Against the NCAA, co-authored with Ben Strauss, looks closely at those who rallied against this powerful institution. He’ll discuss his position with Ekow Yankah, author of The New Yorker piece, “Why NCAA Athletes Shouldn’t Be Paid.” Moderating the event will be Jami Floyd, the local host of All Things Considered on WNYC.

Following the event, Joe Nocera will sign books. Copies of the author’s book will be available for purchase.

The program is free, but reservations are recommended. Reserve your spot.

Jami Floyd’s journalism career spans two decades; she has worked on everything from breaking news and exclusive interviews to long-form investigations. Her broadcast career began while teaching law at Stanford University. In 2006, she launched a daily political and legal talk show on Court TV. She has appeared as a commentator on Al Jazeera America, CNN, Fox News, NBC, MSNBC, and PBS. She has won numerous awards, including the Gracie. 

Joe Nocera was an op-ed columnist for the opinion pages in The New York Times from April 2011 to November 2015. Before his column, he wrote the Times’ Talking Business column each Saturday and was a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine. He has won multiple awards for excellence in business journalism. A 2007 Pulitzer finalist, he has written several books including A Piece of the Action: How the Middle Class Joined the Money Class, which won The New York Public Library’s 1995 Helen Bernstein Award.  

Ekow Yankah is a Professor of Law at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. He holds degrees from the University of Michigan, Columbia Law School, and Oxford University. He writes for many publications, including The New York Times, The New Yorker, and The Huffington Post, and is also a regular commentator on television and radio, including MSNBC, the BBC, and BBC International. 

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