Analysis: Why A College Athletes Should Be Paid

We often forget that playing a sport is not the only way to earn a scholarship. Many students are accepted for exceptional grades, involvement in the band, clubs, or being well rounded. Most of these students just have to study to keep their scholarship, while the athletes have to work hard and be a student. In a competitive market, “workers” are paid according to the value of the output they produce (Heath). It does not seem right that the college journalist can sell their piece to a paper for extra cash, or the local band can play for a few dollars at the bar Saturday night, or the biology major that takes an internship at the school lab can be profitable yet college athletes cannot. Under the NCAA they are not allowed to make any money of their skill. Any college student should be able to endorse products (Wilbon). This is why the idea of going to school for free should not be an argument against paying athletes, because that is not the case and they have earned it.

One reason for this is that there are many obstacles that evolve once we start paying college athletes. An example of one of these obstacles would be that not all institutions would have the financial capabilities that big name schools such as Clemson, Oklahoma, as well as USC. Furthermore, how would schools such as Indiana State, Marshall, or Western Michigan be able to provide equal salaries to their players in comparison to Top 25 teams? (Reed, 2016). Another obstacle would be paying all NCAA athletes, it is no doubt that football and basketball generate much more revenue than sports such as swimming, golf, as well as baseball. The only way to solve that would be creating a national plan that all institutions and sports would have to follow. The Huffington Post made an argument and posted a possible solution by stating, “let athletes benefit from their fame and likeness”, and “If the local auto parts store wants to pay a college athlete to sign autographs for two hours during a store sale, why shouldn’t the athlete be allowed to take that opportunity?” (Reed, 2016). The article also went on and made the comparison between coach and athlete. NCAA coaches are allowed to accept endorsement money, therefore that should not differentiate when it comes to the coaches’ athletes. Another argument that The Huffington Post made was that, “Music students in college are free to accept cash or gifts for playing a weekend gig at the local club. What makes athletes different?” (Reed, 2016). The purpose of this argument being made is that students involved in activities other than those sports connected to the NCAA are allowed to profit from their skills and talents while athletes are

The NCAA does not allow athletes to make any type of money. For example, Donald De La Haye, was a kicker for UCF who was ruled ineligible for making money off YouTube. The NCAA may want to pay every single athlete, but that is not possible considering the amount of college students play sports. The NCAA is a $11 Billion Industry that makes money off of these players by having televised games that NCAA would make money. This is especially emphasized during March Madness or the College Football Playoffs. Fans will also come to see the games which the money made with seating will go to the NCAA. Coaches get paid millions of dollars per year while players receive nothing for putting their bodies on the line. For example, Mike Krzyzewski, who is the basketball coach for Duke University, is being paid $7.2 million per year. Being a college athlete is like a full time job. Each athlete trains and practices trying to get to the professionals and make a living. Some athletes don’t really pay attention in class where they could be learning valuable

Let's oppose that colleges do pay their athletes and the athletes have money for food and the things they need, wouldn’t that make them survive? Well since they don’t get paid the athletes don’t have money for literally anything. “ We do have hungry nights that we don’t have enough money to get in food. Sometimes money is needed. I don’t think you should stretch out to hundreds of thousands of dollars, because a lot of times, guys don’t know how to handle money. I feel like a student athlete. Sometimes, there’s hungry nights, but i still got to play up to my capabilities.” This quote was from Shabazz Napier, a basketball player who played for his college basketball

When choosing a college as a non-potentially professional athlete, the focus isn’t on sports but on which will give you the greatest advantage in your future career field for the lowest price. There are other factors that go along with this decision, but among these is not usually athletics. Athletics is sometimes overlooked as the huge industry it is until it gets national attention like during Bowl Week or March Madness. This is where a majority of the cash influx is from. The football and basketball athletes from these top Division One colleges make the universities millions and get 0% percent of it. These are the athletes that are completely exploited and nothing is being done about it. The money is slurped up by the NCAA and the

Over the last few years college sports have gained immense popularity. Therefore college sports have generate millions of dollars for the NCAA and the university's. The players for the universities aren’t getting a cent of these profits. Hence why the NCAA should allow athletes to get a salary for their participation in sports. Others think that the athletes don’t deserve to be paid because of their scholarships.

How would you feel if you worked vigorously every week for 60 hours and ended up with no paycheck? College athletes should be paid because the universities, colleges, apparel companies, T.V networks and athletic conferences they are playing for are making millions of dollars and the players get very little of that money. Also playing a college sport is like a full time job and athletes do not have time to make money to pay for a sufficient day-to-day life. Finally paying college athletes will decrease the number of student-athletes accepting illegal payments to get by in their daily life. Colleges, universities,, T.V networks, shoe companies and athletic conferences are making millions of dollars and players get very little of that money.

year, yet not one penny goes to the athletes who make it all happen. These

The typical Division I college football player devotes 43.3 hours per week to his sport -- 3.3 more hours than the typical American work week (Forbes). Since their dedication to their sport takes up so much time along with their academic responsibilities, the student-athletes are left unable to get part time jobs like other students to pay for simple things such as; gas, food, and clothes. If the NCAA refuses to pay their student-athletes as employees; then they should be allowed to be endorsed, make profit from autographs, and other events likewise to cover basic living costs. The way the rules are set up only students-athletes that come from wealthier families are able to live in the standards set up by the

One argument is that college athletes are still considered amateures and are not paid in order to preserve a quality education, or putting education first ("Amateurism."). The problem with this argument is that college athletes already spend much more time on athletics than academics, and will probably either be benched or cut from the team if they do not. Another opposition is that athletes are already being compensated in the way of scholarships and that they have to pay thousands less than other students (Herrera). This statement is faulty because although some athletes are on scholarships, the majority aren’t. Also, there are other ways to get scholarships, such as through academic performance or being involved in the community, things that everyone should be contributing to, scholarship or

They put their bodies at risk and under stress to fulfill their intercollegiate careers. Most of their time is spent surrounded by their fellow athletes to do schoolwork or train to become the best. Intercollegiate athletes bring in over a billion dollars and all they receive from it is a free education. Athletes already seem to act as employees for their school because of the extensive amounts of time they put into their sport. Also, the student athletes are a constant representation of their school, which puts a lot of pressure on them mentally. These young adults push themselves to an extent not many will ever reach and do not receive the proper compensation they deserve. Athletes’ hard work should pay off, literally. They do things that not every average college student could do. Student athletes deserve to have the time, focus, passion, and drive they contribute to their schools given to

College athletics are a part of everyone’s lives in some form whether it be watching ones favorite team or cheering on friends and family members. This is especially true in the US. These college athletes are taken for granted while they are playing this sport at a competitive level and also maintaining the academic qualifications required because many don’t understand or realize the time and effort these athletes put into their career. Therefore, college athletes should be paid for playing sports during their college career.

In today’s society money is everything. The common consensus is that the more money you have the better the you life is. Greed makes the world go round. Nowhere is this more prominent or obvious than in the world of sports. In fact one of the main problem with college sports, specifically the NCAA, today is that athletes are not getting an education, thus when they inevitably stop playing sports they often don’t fare so well in the real world. And why are they not getting educated? Money of course.

College is a stimulating time for students, and all the madness begins before the semester even starts. Time is spent gathering books, reading the required material before starting the class, rummaging through the stores for school supplies, getting your apartment/dorm set up, working to pay for life, and much, much more. But, being in college is a altered world for college athletes. Their time in college is devoted to learning but equally devoted to the sport they play. A student athlete doesn’t have time for a job, puts their body on the line every day, and doesn’t have any extra time. College sports bring in billions of dollars each year through marketing, broadcast contracts, ticket sales and merchandising so, why aren’t college athletes receiving a salary?

Johnson and Acquaviva make the point that between weight training sessions, film room, practice, individual workouts, travel, and finally competition, these “student-athletes” cannot feel much like students.” (Brill 7) This further validates the point that college athletes should be paid if they are spending so much time on athletics, and helping the school earn money along the way. If college athletes were paid, it would motivate them competitively as well because the revenue the program brings in is partially based off performance for signing TV deals and getting bids to postseason games that earn more money for the school. The more successful a team is, the more money they will be able to negotiate for in TV deals and the more likely they get bids to play in post season games to generate extra revenue. Universities also make a fortune off of selling Since the players are the source for this revenue by playing in these games, they would be even more competitively driven to perform their very best because as a result they would get paid more money and generate more money for the school at the same time. A win-win scenario for both the student athletes and their respective universities. Many of these college student-athletes come from low income homes as well. The argument could be made that if the university is able to help these athletes families with a form of pay without making significant sacrifice, then they