Changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act, announced Wednesday by the Obama administration, figure to have a far-reaching impact on the American workforce with a ripple effect felt in the lower- and middle-classes all the way through corporate boardrooms everywhere.

I know, I know.

Go ahead and get the yawn out of the way. Uncross your eyes. Pour a new cup of coffee.

But it’s probably worth reading on, because the news is poised to create massive waves in the worlds of professional and college sports, and have administrators and executives across the country scrambling for answers.

In the simplest terms, the new rules mean that as of Dec. 1 of this year, any salaried worker who makes less than $47,476 annually must be paid overtime if they work more than 40 hours per week. The previous threshold for overtime was just $23,660.

This essentially means that any salaried worker currently making between $23,660 and $47,476 per year who regularly is asked to work more than 40 hours per week is about to get a raise.

Or is in serious danger of losing their job.

When Vice President Joe Biden announced the changes, he did so at an ice cream shop in Ohio, emblematic of the kind of place where workers would benefit the most. Indeed, retail and restaurant employees, along with those working in the non-profit sector, will be affected greatly, with many salaried employees either getting a raise to reach the threshold or qualifying for overtime (time-and-a-half) pay they previously did not receive.

Those businesses, of course, have tough decisions to make, too. Nothing occurs in a vacuum when it comes to dollars and cents, and those increased wages will result in lower profits, reductions in staff, or some combination of the two.

But an unlikely arena is also preparing to face the brunt of the new rules. Sports, a business that steals headlines with multi-million dollar salaries awarded to coaches and players, and billion-dollar franchise valuations at the top of the profession, less famously relies on a lifeblood of overworked, underpaid grunts behind the scenes and at the lower levels.

I should know because I used to be one.

I spent 10 seasons working in minor league baseball and four years along the way as an employee in the athletic departments of two different universities. I can tell you that at all but one of those spots I was paid a heck of a lot less than $47,476, and at every one of those spots I was expected to work a heck of a lot more than 40 hours a week. There are thousands of employees just like I was who are still working in those conditions today.

I don’t expect you to feel bad for them, though. We all knew what we were getting into and were all told some unfortunate truths about our situations, despite how glibly we heard them bandied about. There were lots of people who wanted to work in sports, people who would gladly take our jobs and for even less money than we were getting. Sure we worked horrendous hours but we worked in sports! It beat having a real job, or so we told ourselves, and we were far from the only ones or working in the only profession that was treated this way. We were all warned about it when we were hired, but man would it have been nice if it were different.

In those day, I would have jumped for joy at this news.

Problem is, I am not the same person writing this today. After six seasons in minor league baseball, I took over my first team as the general manager in 2011. I stepped into our accountant’s office and a whole new perspective appeared. There was a pretty good reason we didn’t pay anyone a fair salary: we couldn’t afford it.

Minor league sports franchises are break-even businesses in the best of times, and not just the ones I was running. Small college athletic departments are more often a resource drain than a money-maker, too (ignoring the nebulous ‘front porch’ effect of college athletics that argues colleges and universities see a major up-tick in applications, enrollments and alumni donations because of athletic successes).

So what’s the answer to this quandary?

There is no good answer, which is one of many reasons why I’m happy to be out of that business and into this one. The one thing I do know, however, is that there are some very serious conversations happening — and that have been happening since these changes were first proposed more than a year ago — that could have an impact on your favorite school, team or even sport.

Economically, teams are going to have to make less money or employees are going to have to work fewer hours, and neither is realistic. Margins are already razor thin and staffs are already stretched too far.

Something has to give. It could mean significant increases in ticket and concession prices, or dramatic cuts that impact fans’ stadium experience, be it fewer promotions, fewer in-stadium employees and amenities, or even fewer game dates. In a worst-case scenario, it could be the end of minor league franchises and small school athletic teams that can’t bear the increased financial burden.

It appears some of sports’ long-suffering, low-salary employees have won their battle to be compensated fairly, and no one should begrudge them that.

But what happens next is anyone’s guess.

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Andy Viano is a sports reporter and columnist now that he’s pulled his last tarp and swept his last stadium. He can be reached at 758-4446 or aviano@dailyinterlake.com.