Is insurance the end of football as we know it?

[WestTexasHusker]

I posted this on the main board because it potentially impacts even the Huskers program. This is an eye-opening segment. Alex Fairly is among my best friends and he knows what he is talking about.

In an nutshell, the insurance market for football programs - from Pop Warner all the way to the NFL - is drying up. Numerous high school and small college programs are dropping football because they can't get insurance for it anymore; the CTE/head trauma issue is feared to be the monster to the insurance industry asbestos once was. And it's not just football - soccer and hockey have the same issue: They can't find insurance.

No doubt that the NFL has the means to self insure, but does UNL? How many protracted, multi-million dollar head trauma lawsuits could even a major university handle? And once the lawsuits start, where do they end?

Have a watch and then read the story below it.

http://tv5.espn.com/espn/story/_/id...ing-major-threat-nfl-pop-warner-colleges-espn

 

[WestTexasHusker]

duplicate post, sorry

 

[Plague of Crickets]

Wow. Found a related article that talks about this as well:

https://psmag.com/economics/insurers-may-change-football

One thing the article points out is that, if insurance companies stop covering football, one possible outcome is that states will pass legislation that allows parents to sign liability waivers for their kids, meaning that parents will have to agree to assume any liability for injuries. That might save football in a diminished form, but I imagine that a lot of parents won't agree to assume the financial risk.

Another thing the article points out is that insurance companies dictate policy to entities like police departments in order to reduce liability claims, which can include forcing the firing of officers and input in decisions about police chiefs. Do insurers start dictating the rules of football?

 

[WestTexasHusker]

Another thing the article points out is that insurance companies dictate policy to entities like police departments in order to reduce liability claims, which can include forcing the firing of officers and input in decisions about police chiefs. Do insurers start dictating the rules of football?

You bet they can. Every insurance policy I have ever purchased had terms, conditions, and exclusions.

 

[WestTexasHusker]

One thing the article points out is that, if insurance companies stop covering football, one possible outcome is that states will pass legislation that allows parents to sign liability waivers for their kids, meaning that parents will have to agree to assume any liability for injuries.

I thought the same thing, but boy does that open a can of worms. Do parents have the right to sign away the long-term legal rights of their children? The Supreme Court might have to hear that one.

And even if there is insurance, when does it become too expensive to continue the sport? That is what happened with Phoenix-area community colleges. Only 2 percent of their enrollments were football players, yet the insurance for football was 30% of the total insurance premiums, and the premiums were reaching a staggering amount.

 

[Opie14]

I'm on the board of our local pee wee organization and we have had no problems finding liability insurance. Quite inexpensive as well. Remember that insurers only cover negligent acts, as long as you have a sound concussion policy and protocol, you should be okay.

 

[WestTexasHusker]

I'm on the board of our local pee wee organization and we have had no problems finding liability insurance. Quite inexpensive as well. Remember that insurers only cover negligent acts, as long as you have a sound concussion policy and protocol, you should be okay.

According to Alex Fairly in the story: "If you are a hockey, soccer, or football team, insurers don't want you."

 

[MadRat]

it's the danger of allowing elitist sell outs to become too cozy with internationalists. They get pressured to curtail cultural norms, hence our modern full court press on the idea of what is American culture. Every American icon is a target. People have just been numb to it.

 

[Greatest Fan of All]

Interesting...I'm curious when kids started getting insurance to cover football. I know I'm old but never had it when I played. I first remember hearing about insurance at the college level when Doug Dubose got injured ...I seem to recall that he had a $1 million policy and it was unusual for the time.

We are so worried about playing it safe anymore, we just might not be playing at all...what a shame.

 

[Lavaman]

Interesting...I'm curious when kids started getting insurance to cover football. I know I'm old but never had it when I played. I first remember hearing about insurance at the college level when Doug Dubose got injured ...I seem to recall that he had a $1 million policy and it was unusual for the time.

We are so worried about playing it safe anymore, we just might not be playing at all...what a shame.

My freshman year in 04 we had to have some kind of insurance. Either under your parents' coverage or you could buy it from the school for 30 bucks which covered the whole school year and any sport you played. Every athlete had to do it, from the football team to the tennis team to the swimmers along with an in-school physical.

 

[CrabHusker]

I thought the same thing, but boy does that open a can of worms. Do parents have the right to sign away the long-term legal rights of their children? The Supreme Court might have to hear that one.

And even if there is insurance, when does it become too expensive to continue the sport? That is what happened with Phoenix-area community colleges. Only 2 percent of their enrollments were football players, yet the insurance for football was 30% of the total insurance premiums, and the premiums were reaching a staggering amount.

I think premiums will continue to rise and affect smaller schools, high schools, little league,etc.but this won't become a 'big deal' until a major college football program that has made recent profits from it's football operations drops the sport.

It will no doubt continue to shape and change the sport at the lower levels.

 

[Huskerthom]

Interesting...I'm curious when kids started getting insurance to cover football. I know I'm old but never had it when I played. I first remember hearing about insurance at the college level when Doug Dubose got injured ...I seem to recall that he had a $1 million policy and it was unusual for the time.

We are so worried about playing it safe anymore, we just might not be playing at all...what a shame.

This is team insurance. All youth sports have it. If a kid is injured while playing or practicing and is not already covered. This covers them.

 

[Huskerthom]

Although I hate to admit it socialized insurance could lessen this blow. Not saying I want socialized medicine just that insurance would no longer enter into it.

 

[Captkenny]

Although I hate to admit it socialized insurance could lessen this blow. Not saying I want socialized medicine just that insurance would no longer enter into it.

Socialized medicine is not free medicine. Eventually, the government will create a disincentive to those participating in risky behavior.

 

[Huskerthom]

Socialized medicine is not free medicine. Eventually, the government will create a disincentive to those participating in risky behavior.

It depends on what the voters want. BTW please do not make me defend socialized medicine. I am not a fan. Simply saying that it may help this ONE situation.