College Athlete Argumentative Essay

College sports are a phenomenon that keeps viewers coming back for more. Stated in an article on Money Nation the NCAA makes an estimated $1 billion per year and this number is still growing. What really is insane is that all that money is made off of college athletes, who don’t get a penny from that total number. The debate on whether or not college athletes should be paid has been around for decades and probably will still be here for years to come. Paying college athletes would make the teams unfair, change how hard players will work to get better, affect the amateurism of college sports, and lastly influence the athlete's willingness to participate in college sports.

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

The NCAA has been around and evolved since the beginning of college sports. This organization is a non-profitable organization, but ironically makes more than millions of profit per year. Branch states “that money comes from a combination of ticket sales, concession sales, merchandise, licensing fees, and other sources—but the great bulk of it comes from television contract”(pg. 228). Meanwhile, the student-athletes do not receive any of this money. This is the start of an unsubstantial business between universities built around amateurism.

College athletics are becoming more like the professional leagues except for one big issue, money. Student athletes bring in a vast amount of revenue for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) not to mention recognition and notoriety regarding the athlete’s university. However, the debate continues as to whether student athletes should or should not receive payment for playing college sports.

Throughout the years college sports have been about the love of the game, filled with adrenaline moments. However, the following question still remains: Should college athletes get paid to play sports in college? Seemingly, this debate has been endless, yet the questions have gone unanswered. The National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) plays a vital role in this debate. The NCAA is a billion dollar industry, but yet sees that the athlete should get paid for their hard work and dedication.

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.

The popularity of college sports has risen tremendously throughout the years amongst Americans. The passion to watch college basketball, football, baseball, and other sports has generated billions of dollars to the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) and to various athletic programs throughout America. Even though, colleges are raking in millions of dollars from their sports teams. “Last year 's National Collegiate Athletic Association ("NCAA") basketball tournament generated over $70 million in gross receipts” (Goldman).The NCAA prohibits payments, beyond educational scholarships, to athletes who are the source of these revenues. College athletes spend countless number of hours in their sport every day by attending long and tiresome practices, workout sessions, and film sessions whilst balancing their academics, but do not receive any payment for their efforts. Athletes are putting their lives and careers in danger during practices and games by being vulnerable to any type of injury that might end their careers, and many of these athletes are not provided any type of medical insurance to fund their injuries. Colleges need to realize that athletes often feel exploited because while they generate revenues, they are scrounging to meet their basic necessities and sacrificing their academic and professional careers. Many college athletes, professional lawyers, and sports analysts have taken various initiatives to help

Whether or not student-athletes should be paid has been a hotly debated topic since the 1900s. College athletes spend just as much time, if not more time, practicing and devoting time and energy to sports as they do academics. For this, many athletes are rewarded with scholarship money. However, many people believe it is not enough. Should we pay student-athletes a slice of the wealth or is a full-ride scholarship enough? (Business Insider). What if the athlete gets injured? Where does the money come out of to support each athlete’s salary? The huge amount of money being generated from college sports has led some people to think that the athletes are entitled to some of that revenue. While, some think that student-athletes should be paid, others disagree for various reasons.

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

College Athletes Should Get Paid College athletes have gained so much popularity in the last decade. College athletes should get paid because the NCAA is an eleven billion dollar industry, the payment would give the athlete a little more than just a degree, and it would help the athlete learn how to manage money. This paper will attempt to answer the question if college athletes should be paid by exploring the reasons for and against the payment of college athletes. Colleges and universities provided really strong educations however college isn't cheap and even with a scholarship it's not free. The "full ride" scholarship can only pay for books, room, board, fees and tuition, and according to CBS News only two percent of college athletes

One of the most controversial subjects we as individuals hear about this day in age is whether or not college athletes deserve to be paid. Many people argue that these athletes do intact, deserve to be paid for their time and hard work. NCAA athletes create a name for themselves by playing and performing well on their college teams. The better these athletes perform, the more publicity the school revives. This then leads to higher ticket sales and stores around campus selling jerseys and other clothing items with athletes names and numbers on the back. NCAA schools have become comfortable with using athletes’ names to bring in a revenue for the school, and yet the athletes never see any of that money. On the other hand, many people believe that these athletes do not deserve, nor should they expect to receive payment in return. They believe that these scholarships and the education are payment in itself. Some even bring up the question on if it is affordable or even realistic to pay college athletes.

Right now in sports, there is a huge debate on whether or not college athletes should be paid. For years now college athletes have gone out and performed on national television, working hard to make it to the next level. They have given it there all, and not only that, the athletes bring in about $11 billion in annual revenue from college sports. Now days, sports is a business, and college sports are the same. Division 1 college sports provide a lot of income for the universities. Many athletes receive scholarships and a little more. While the prospect of receiving a free college education is something few would complain about, when the issue is more closely examined it becomes clear that it is not enough. Many people think that college athletes shouldn’t be paid, or already are by scholarships and benefits. College athletes should be paid for participating in college sports to help them financially, give them the money they played hard to earn, and to eliminate under the table payments.

"College Athletes Should Not Be Paid due to Post-Eligibility ). But this downplays the exploitation. The athletes in major football and men’s basketball programs are disproportionately black, many from poor and educationally disadvantaged backgrounds. For many of the college athletes this is the ¨only game in town¨. Paying College Athletes is a huge mistake because it is a quote on quote ¨misdiagnoses the disease but because it suggests that the only cure is to put the patient out of his misery.¨ It fails, to recognize the value of sports as a part of education. This can be seen in the numerous student athletes, from basketball to tennis players, who pour so much time into training and playing games with no hope of going to a major league level. Many of these kids, in even the biggest sports show dedication and determination for long periods of time after it is clear to them that they will never be on the professional level. ¨At many of America's largest colleges and universities, athletics has become overemphasized at great financial, academic, and moral costs. As average for the entire period of 2004-2006, only 16 teams broke even. ¨ ( NCAA Division I Institutions:

In 2012 the NCAA March Madness tournament generated $1,005 million dollars in revenue topping the NFL, NBA, MLB and NFL revenues (Koba). From the money generated through these tournaments players were given no pay even though they put their hardest in training and playing these tournaments. Something must be given to compensate these players commitment and hard work. In addition, coaches get paid six figures and bonuses from tournaments and games won but players don’t get a single penny. Some may disagree because, many claims that athletes are already paid with a different form of currency which is medical expenses, Professional sports training, and financial aid for education. However, college athletes should be payed because many are not

College athletes make plenty of money for the NCAA and they don’t receive as much as they deserve. Without the athletes, the NCAA would not be able to make TV deals nor generate any money at all. The NCAA made $770 million in TV right deals alone off of the NCAA Basketball Tournament, “March Madness”. How much of that money went to the athletes? None at all. The NCAA makes money off the athletes in many other areas. John Brill, in his article “Should College Athletes be Paid?” informs us that, “The NCAA defies its own devotion to amateurism are the sale of video game licenses, game merchandise, footage, etc. that provide direct profit for the association.” The NCAA is taking advantage of the gifted athletes for a couple years at time to create a large amount of money that only benefits the NCAA and schools. Besides the NCAA using the athletes to make money, the college athletes must put a lot of their time into the sport.