The NCAA has seen college sports collapse. Now is the time to lead.

That college sports are no longer what they once were — students joining teams, wearing school colors and playing for their classmates and alumni — has been a given for generations. A multi-billion dollar industry built on the backs of unpaid labor was neither fair nor sustainable, and it probably wouldn’t have taken three more lawsuits against the NCAA – settled this week to the tune of nearly 2, $8 billion – for this organization to make sure the people who create the product actually share in its financial success.