Analysis: Why NCAA 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

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) makes roughly $1 billion in income annually and the athletes do not receive any of it. This topic has been debated for many years and is still being debated. The debate dates back to the 1980s and now athletes are demanding that they deserve to be paid since profits are made off of them. Some athletes such as former and current basketball and football players came together with lawsuits to federal courts asking for rewards from profits NCAA makes gets of them. Research has opened several different opinions on this matter. There are many pros and cons for paying college athletes. College sports provide a huge source of the university’s income. The athletes, however, receive their scholarship

Another path this debate travels down is determining where the funds for the compensation will be found. At the expense of all other non-big revenue producing sports, it is assumed that those sports will take the hit financially. Women’s soccer, swim, lacrosse, and many more that are not big business. It is unfair to these hard working athletes, who go out every day and work just as hard. Along with other student athletes being affected, non-athletic students will also be affected largely. With what money not being taken from other sports will be taken from possible scholarship money that could be allotted to these academic based students. Not only are these students losing opportunity for free money but also being set on a side of a drawn divisor. Student athletes have special everything, ranging from their own tutors to their own specific counselors. As stated in the NCAA Guide “basic purpose of this Association is to maintain intercollegiate athletics as an integral part of the educational program and the athlete as an integral part of the student body…” (NCAA) This statement in which is

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.

Have you ever heard of a business that made billions of dollars, yet did not pay their employees? Seems pretty remarkable doesn’t it? Well this business is known as the NCAA. According to an article in the New York Times, the NCAA made $770 million from just the three-week Men’s Basketball Tournament, but how much did the athletes who participated in said tournament receive? If you said zero then you would be correct. The athletes that poured their blood, sweat and tears into practice everyday and into the 30 plus game regular season did not see a dime. It is hard to fathom how an industry of

Due to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules and regulations no college athlete is able to receive any compensation or endorsement while participating in college athletics. These rules have long been challenged, however, the NCAA does not make any changes. With universities grossing close to $200 million a year, college athletics has turned into one of the top industries in the world. The NCAA, a governing body of college athletics, currently holds all power in college athletics. Without people questioning the NCAA and demanding changes to the monopoly that the NCAA holds nothing will happen to the unfairness to college athletes in college sports today. College athletes deserve to receive compensation in some way for the

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has been rewarding University athletic programs across the nation for many years now. Allowing coaching staff and others to make money off of the athletes in these programs. Athletes, however, do not get any compensation for the hard work they put in to earn the National Collegiate Athletic Association the multi- million dollars of revenue each year. The athletes are expected to give an “all in” type effort while keeping up with their rigorous courses. A recent ruling that Northwestern University football players have the right to unionize and begin to receive that compensation from the NCAA proved many people wrong and stirred up the pot between supports and non supporters.

There is blatant, inarguable proof that the players and their talents are being exploited. These athletes are the draw to the games. They are the reason people watch and cheer on their teams. The amount of money given as a “full” scholarship is a marginal benefit only a drop in the bucket when compared to the market value of a player’s talent and skills. Athletic scholarships, as will be explained later, is indeed financial assistance but still leaves the student athlete living below, or at best slightly above, the poverty line. The NCAA and the respective universities has a duty to be concerned with the overall well-being of its players, not just whether or not an injury would keep their star player from playing in the upcoming game. The NCAA ought to consider the social responsibility of meeting the needs of its players, subsequently initiating a reformation of the NCAA bylaws concerning paying college athletes.

Although college athletes receive a far superior scholarship to attend a college than do non-athlete students, the athletes should still receive extra income from the billions of dollars the NCAA generates per year.

But why haven’t the athletes been able to see some of that extra revenue? After all, without the players there wouldn’t be any revenue. The thought that college sports can be so extremely profitable, especially for the NCAA seems a little ridiculous. Why are they able to keep this much money while also finding a way around paying the athletes who actually bring in the revenue? It is a question that doesn’t seem to have an answer. Athletes are making money and the NCAA doesn’t want to share. One stance that the NCAA has is the argument that “They (college athletes) are students receiving access to a college education through their participation in sports, for which they earn scholarships to pay tuition, fees, room and board, and other allowable expenses. Collegiate sports is not a career or profession. It is the students ' vehicle to a higher education degree”. (Mitchell) It is an easy stance to have when the NCAA doesn’t have to pay for the free education, the universities do.

As writer Jon Saraceno would say, “The NCAA [National Collegiate Athletic Association] is a tax-exempt organization that operates as a monopoly, its rulebook denser than the New Testament” (Saraceno 38). He explains that the NCAA has various rules, and coaches and players do not know what is right or wrong. Others view that athletes are already receiving pay with scholarships. Athletes in higher revenue generating sports, comparable to basketball and football, are usually more likely to earn a full-ride scholarship. Full-ride scholarships allow an athlete to attend institutions at little to no cost. Without full-ride or partial scholarships, certain players could not afford to attend school. This is due to the poverty in areas where

While generating lots of money for the NCAA, their respective universities, and television, these athletes often end up with no money and no scholarship when their college athletics career is cut short. College sports are extremely popular and they offer a great deal of value to the entertainment industry. The National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA, heads a billion dollar business but is unwilling to reward their employees with a cut of the revenues. (Bontemps)

Collegiate athletics has experienced rapid financial gain over the last twenty years. With that known, student-athletes have demanded a larger piece of the pie due to the fact that without the athletes no one would be making any of this money. At the point this suit was filed in 2009 the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) had refused to adopt policies that would allow for players to be compensated.

College sports is a form of entertainment for students, former alumni and the rabid sports fanatic. The NCAA gives sports fans the opportunity to see up and coming talent blossom and mature well before the player is eligible to join a pro league. While the NCAA benefits monetarily off this talent, the players themselves receive nothing of value accept for a scholarship to the university. Recently student athlete have organized and decided to fight for the rights to establish players unions similar to the pro league. Players have been meet with a backlash against the movement because of the lack of understanding. Although college athletics are considered amateur sports, student athletes should be paid for their services. Student athletes should receive compensation in order to pay for college expenses, to replace lost revenue from lack of endorsements and cover the impending probability of serious injury.

College sports are big business. For many universities, the athletic program serves as a cash-generating machine. Exploited athletes generate millions of dollars for the NCAA and their schools, and never see a dime. In terms of profit, if all ties with the university were eliminated, an athletic program acting as its own separate entity could compete with some fortune 500 companies. So, why do the vital pieces of the machine, the players, fail to receive any compensation for their performance? The answer lies in the money-hungry NCAA and their practice of hoarding all the revenue. College athletes should receive payment for their play to make their college experience more bearable because they create huge profits and