Analysis: Why College Athletes Should Be Paid

With college basketball and football originating in the 1800’s, the game has had much time to adapt. Over the years, the sports have become more and more popular, gaining a bigger fan base, which has resulted in substantial profits from the sale of merchandise representing the teams and players. There is one thing that has not changed; all of the athletes are still not being paid. The National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA, is an organization that regulates most aspects of

Do you want to get paid for playing a sport in college? (http://www.experienceproject.com/question-answer.php) College players should receive some payment for playing for their schools. College athletes put their bodies on the line each game they play, paying college athletes would help to begin creating a sense of financial awareness, (https://smartasset.com/retirement/should-student-athletes-be-paid ) and some athletes don't have enough money to pay for food or stuff they need and with the money they have left over they can buy things.

But why should a student athlete be paid in the first place? Their just athletes right? They go to school just like everyone else? What makes them so special? What makes a college athlete different than the average student is the amount of revenue that they help bring to their selected colleges. This type of revenue is made up from ticket sales, merchandise, media rights and contributions. “USA today” reported that the University of Texas generated $167.7 million dollars from their athletic programs, and that’s just one school. With this in mind, imagine just how much money other colleges are making from their athletics. Sure one can make the argument that they should not be paid because they are not professionals, but one can’t ignore the fact that they are bringing in millions of dollars and seeing none of it.

As the years have gone by and college sports attract larger crowds and generate more money, the question arises of whether or not star college athletes should be paid. The NCAA currently prohibits college athletes from receiving payment of any kind from the schools, boosters or endorsements. This is a hot topic in society because many consider the athletes to be “working” for the money only the school is receiving. However, some argue that there is a need for amateurism. In college sports, athletes work hard, but they should not get paid because the college part of the sports is what makes the money, not the athletes.

One of the biggest controversies going on in America, especially within sports, is whether college athletes should or should not be paid. As it stands now, college athletes are not being paid with actual money. Instead, they are rewarded with athletic scholarships. NCAA and colleges believe that their athletes should not be paid due to their amateur status. However, college athletes should be paid because they don’t have time to get jobs, they may lose their scholarship, and they make a lot of money for their school.

The typical Division 1 athlete devotes a whopping 43.3 hours per week to his sport- 3.3 more hours than the average work week (Smith). In addition to this, the athletes have to deal with waking up far earlier than others to lift, followed by going to classes and ending the day with more practice. They are then expected to be able to perform academically the same as everyone else. Student athletes are also expected to hold themselves at a higher standard than others simply because they play a sport. Many coaches monitor the social media of the athletes to make sure they are not putting their athletic career at stake by going to college

There are many different aspects to paying college athletes, but in the end, they are just trying to make it to the big leagues where they will get all the money. Athletes that play for universities and colleges are already being paid with education,

The students spend 40 hours, per week, just practicing. This does not include games, team meetings, or weight lifting. With all the time they spend doing stuff for their sport, students do not have much time for academics. According to the NCAA, athletes are only allowed to practice for 20 hours per week, or 4 per day, however, most sports practice way more (see fig.2) (Jacobs 2015). Mark Nagel, a professor of sports and entertainment management at the University of South Carolina, exclaims that “there’s technically an off-season, but there are these voluntary workouts that most coaches say are voluntary but then expect athletes to be at. The system is set up to where the coaches encourage athletes to train all year round, but there’s also pressure from the athletes themselves. Even when an athlete is given a situation where it’s truly voluntary, they still might be practicing. It’s the competitive nature of sports.” (New 2015) What Nagel is trying to say is that, even though the coaches claim that the off-season workouts are optional, they are not actually optional. Also, the coaches have put so much pressure on the students that even if it actually is optional, the student athletes still believe they must go. Therefore, although they are called student-athletes, they aren’t as much the student part as they are the athlete. It is almost as if the sport was a job and the schooling was the extracurricular

This scholarly article by Debra Blum attempts to legitimize the argument that athletes should be compensated for their hard work from the perspective of former Duke University player Dick DeVenzio. It describes his struggle in day to day life and shows that players need to receive compensation to survive. This source provides primary source evidence for my argument.

Just about everyone would assume that colleges would pay their athletes, but unfortunately that's not the case. In fact colleges are ripping off their student athletes. Athletes that are still in college are risking their bodies, just like players that made it professional and though nothing is really done to compensate them for that. Also almost all colleges rank in their money through sports sales, and the players get none of it even though they are the reason the money comes in. And most athletes have a crammed schedule, most of that is due to the sports too.

Here are some statements from former players and officials on college athletes getting paid. These are some current players commenting on if college athletes should be paid or not. Current Seattle Seahawks cornerback (Richard Sherman) makes a big statement and impact on this argument. He says “No, I don’t think college athletes are given enough time to really take advantage of the free education that they’re given, and it’s frustrating because a lot of people get upset with student-athletes and say they’re not focused on school and they’re not taking advantage of the opportunity they’re given. They should get paid. I would love for a regular student to have a student-athlete’s schedule during the season for just one quarter or one semester and show me

College athletes should be paid monetarily as well as with scholarships. Colleges are benefiting of big time players by selling their jerseys without their names on it to avoid paying the athletes but the NCAA looked silly “when Jay Bilas, a veteran ESPN analyst, former Duke basketball player and vocal critic of the NCAA, took to Twitter to point out that although schools cannot sell a player's jersey with his name on the back, if you typed Manziel into a search box on ShopNCAASports.com a No. 2 Texas A&M jersey pops up, available for up to $64.95. (Manziel wears No. 2.) (Davis).”Since college athletes can not get sponsorships their name can’t be on the jerseys that are sold to the fans even though you could still find their jersey by looking

From the outside looking in, collegiate athletes live a life of luxury. They have the opportunity to perform the sport they love in front of massive crowds, and some are provided an opportunity for free schooling. Although this is undoubtedly true, outsiders are not capable of comprehending the true hardships associated with college athletics. Although they are granted acceptance and often a scholarship to their school of choice, they are not truly granted the opportunity to utilize their school’s academic resources to their fullest potential due to the immense amount of time that they are expected and required to devote to their sport. These activities include film review and playbook studies, team meals, traveling to and from games or

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.

If their hard work is not recognized or rewarded they may feel unwanted and weak, and may not work as hard as someone who is compensated for their efforts. Although they are being rewarded by getting a paid education, student athletes are still going above and beyond to make their team and fans proud. “By not paying NCAA athlete it’s cheating them for their hard work” (Michael ). The amount of difficulties student athletes goes through with studying, practicing and playing they don’t have time to take advantage of their education. These students need to work hard for a degree that they can use to support their families, and without this they may not be able to live their lives the way they want to. In conclusion, NCAA athletes should be paid for their hard work and dedication to their school to make their lives easier. The hard working athletes have enough to deal with throughout their college journey. The athletes should not have to deal with trying to make their own money while trying to be a dedicated college athlete. The work that college athletes put in during a season is incredible. They work over forty hours a week and barely get a break on weekends. The student athletes might feel disrespected, because of all the money and advertising they attract to Universities. Millions of kids look up to the big college football stars, they all wish they