Case Study: Should College Athletes Get Paid

In The Washington Post Sally Jenkins writes a column titled “rather than pay athletes, show them respect”. Jenkins talks about the age old question of “should college athletes be paid?”. She wants us to consider who college athletes really are and to see that they are worth our respect and much more.

College sports are one of the largest and fastest growing markets in today’s culture. With some college sports games attracting more viewers than their professional counterparts, the NCAA is one of the most profiting organizations in America. Recently there has been controversy in the world of college sports as to whether the college athletes that are making their universities and the NCAA money should receive payment while they are playing their respective sport. Many believe that these athletes should be paid. Others argue that they are already receiving numerous benefits for playing that sport from their universities. Many of the proponents of paying college athletes are current or former college athletes who believe their hard work and hours put into practice and competing go under appreciated. They feel that while the athletes are making the university money, the athletes do not receive any cut of these profits. Opponents feel that athletes already receive numerous perks and should not receive extra compensation on top of the perks they already receive.

Top collegiate athletes should be able to get paid. Schools are making millions in ticket sales, selling jerseys and other venues that help out of school. However, college athletes make all the money for the college. College athletes should deserve to to get paid. “The college sports industry generates $11 Billion in annual revenues.”(Text 1, line 1) the college sports industry generates so much money, that they need to share the money and that it's selfish. Scholarship athletes should be getting paid.

One of the most important reasons why college athletes should not be paid is that most schools just simply can not afford to pay their athletes. Maxwell Strachan from the Huffington post reported that spokeswomen Meghan Durham from the NCAA stated that only about twenty colleges make more money on athletic programs than they spend on athletic programs. This shows that most colleges are not making any money off of their athletic programs and even if a college makes a

Daugherty, Paul. "College Athletes Already Have Advantages and Shouldn't Be Paid." SI.com. Sports Illistrated, 20 Jan. 2010. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. In this article, Paul Daugherty describes various reasons why college athletes should NOT be paid. He gives various hypothetical, yet real situations of what could happen as well as the straight up facts of the case. He explains that schools that have created a historically wealthy background could shell out more money than other schools for the best players, creating a gap that would result in 6 or 7 elite teams and the rest would all be just average. He also explains how the current financial system for student athletes is quite enough reimbursement for bringing in the amount of money to the school that they do. This article will prove to be very helpful in arguing the negative side to paying athletes.

Many individuals are for college athletes being paid, but there is plenty of information leading as to why college athletes should not get paid. College football is not about the players, but about the game. Many will say it is redundant that education is the prize, but is it really? Can universities pay college athletes and still be sure that they are not messing with the intellectual purpose of the athletes? This debate is one that has been going on for as long as anyone can remember, even though there is never an answer as to why and why not. Although many people agree that the NCAA, also known as the National Collegiate Athletic Association, players should get paid, Pasnanski points out all the advantages that college athletes receive that they do not realize.

To add onto this argument, college athletes also get many exquisite privileges that the common college student does not get. These privileges range from world-class professional training, being showcased in front of prospective employers, free medical care, free head-to-toe Nike or Adidas gear, free traveling, hotel rooms, and many other privileges (Jenkins 2011). They get all of these free things, privileges, and scholarships for just playing a sport. That is a lot more than any of college student. Overall, people do not want to pay college athletes because they already get paid through scholarships and all the privileges they receive for playing

There is a strong side to why college athletes should not get paid for playing, but there is a much weaker opposition for the argument that college athletes should be paid. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but it sounds empty-headed and upright foolish to believe that college should deserve a contract that will pay them for all the work they have done in sports. A different viewpoint is some athletes need the money to support their families as this was always their motive and the professional leagues may not work out for them due to injuries or poor choices. An intriguing outlook on this scenario “Thirdly, for those who do not plan on playing professionally, college athletics is an avenue for them to receive a free education should they be rewarded a scholarship. Athletes are provided with a free education that allows them to increase their labor supply in non-athletic markets after graduation, without having to bear the typical education costs that other students must pay.”

Brill, John. "Should College Athletes Be Paid?" The Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism. N.p., 09 May 2013. Web. 13 Jan. 2017. IN this article, John Brill talks how the college athlete should be paid, more than just having a free education. He then goes on to say that the colleges are earning more money and revenue than the NBA. Concluding, he believes that the athletes should be able to earn something for their talents.

Colleges are infamous for pouring millions upon millions of dollars into their sports programs, except of course, when it comes to paying athletes. Because college athletes are not allowed to be paid in accordance to federal law while they simultaneously create large sums of revenue, there has been a heated debate that Kristi Dosh and Mark Cassell readily provide contrasting evidence for. In Dosh’s article, “The Problems with Paying College Players,” she argues that it would not be fair to pay college players because many college sports programs are already indebted to their school, and if some schools couldn’t afford to pay their players, the well-funded schools would be at an unprecedented advantage. To contrast, Cassell’s “College Athletes Should be Able to Negotiate Compensation,” takes the viewpoint defending college athletes’ pay because the athletes that bring in the most revenue, the star players, are cheated out of compensation in a way that unrightfully benefits those in charge. Although Dosh makes clear points about problems with the financial realities of paying players, Cassell makes the more convincing argument because he uses effective evidence to highlight the injustices of not paying athletes.

"Pay to play? Should college athletes be paid?" Weekly Reader News Edition 4-6 [a Weekly

In the United States, how athletes in college are compensated has been controversial topic. While certain people believe that college athletes should not be paid since they receive scholarships, it would eliminate the main purpose of colleges, being about education (Acquaviva, 2015). On the other hand, certain people believe that college athletes should be paid for risking their bodies, for spending most of their time practicing, and for bringing in money and good publicity to their school and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). College Sports are about the athletes that push themselves to become one of the greatest that they can be, when others are in their bed sleeping or out partying, these individuals are pushing their bodies as well as their brains. Since these people dedicate their selves to these sports, should college athletes be financially compensated for their hard work? Those who take the position of supporting the notion of paying college athletes argue that the

College football players have never been financially compensated for their participation outside of usual academic scholarships. Skyrocketing revenue figures for colleges are now challenging that tradition. With those earning reaching eight figures for large-market institutions, players are looking to get their fair share of the prize (Siebold). The players believe that their schools should not be allowed to capitalize on their services, and therefore they should be monetarily rewarded (Cooper 12). This proposal essentially upends the ideals of college athletics. College football players should not be paid in order to preserve their amateur status and uphold the prototype of the student-athlete.

Most of us have watched a college sporting event at one point or another in our life. Few people actually know and are aware of all the hard work, and dedication college athletes put towards their sport. However, they do not receive a compensation for their hard work. These Athletes are sometimes mistreated physically and mentally, yet the debate over whether or not to pay college athletes is a big debate.

Also the NCAA has a wide range of cash or gifts they label "improper benefits." These include essentially anything that rewards the athlete for playing at a certain college. Even though these rules have been discussed with all collegiate athletes and possible recruits, the rules get broken every single year. In this paper there will be an explanation on why collegiate athletes should be paid. Information will be presented with facts, from websites, statistics, observations, films, documentaries, and interviews. First reason why college athletes should be paid is because a free education is not enough payment for their services. Being a student athlete is a full-time job, all the hard work and long hours you sacrifice to your craft with school on top of that is ruly an amazing feat. The fact that you only get paid in education, books for school, and food from school is almost