Author Topic: Is it legal for fans to reward a player with prizes?  (Read 1917 times)

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Is it legal for fans to reward a player with prizes?
« on: March 02, 2015, 03:56:15 PM »

Offline Dino Pitino

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Didn't know where to post this.

Could fans do a Kickstarter to buy a truck for a player if he meets a certain goal? Would that violate a collective bargaining agreement? Naturally, for athletes who are millionaires, there is little a pool of fans could muster up that'd provide extra incentive. But if it's a guy like Malcolm Butler, obviously getting a truck was a materially significant upgrade in his life. Could serve as a symbolic incentive in other cases, so like Sullinger can buy himself anything but a point could be made with a fan fundraiser to buy him a state of the art fridge if he can hit 35% of his threes, etc. Is that kosher per the CBA?
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Re: Is it legal for fans to reward a player with prizes?
« Reply #1 on: March 02, 2015, 04:02:32 PM »

Online Roy H.

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If it's purely fan-led, with no coordination between the team or the player (i.e., he accepts gifts in lieu of additional salary), then I think it would be legal.  The NBA would definitely investigate, though.


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Re: Is it legal for fans to reward a player with prizes?
« Reply #2 on: March 02, 2015, 04:23:19 PM »

Offline Quetzalcoatl

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I would phrase it as "If the [Team X] makes the playoffs, then we'll hire [Player Y] to do a commercial for a local charity [or something] about fighting through the odds."  It would be harder for the league to fight it if they have to stop a bunch of fans supporting a charity, I think that's why the Butler thing worked.  I remember Brady saying "we'll figure out a way to get that truck to him," implying that there was a hurdle of some kind.  Everyone loved that story, so it happened.   

Re: Is it legal for fans to reward a player with prizes?
« Reply #3 on: March 02, 2015, 11:11:28 PM »

Offline LatterDayCelticsfan

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Probably a legal grey area with the concerns of fixing.
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