College Athletes Research Paper

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.

Donald Delahaye, a kicker for UCF you may have heard of him. Lost his NCAA eligibility for making and profiting of his YouTube videos. Another name you may know LiAngelo Ball. Couldn’t profit or promote his family made business of Big Baller Brand (BBB) because of NCAA eligibility rules. His little brother LaMelo Ball could lose his NCAA eligibility for making and profiting off his own signature shoe. These athletes all have something in common. All these athletes, these people have either had their eligibility taken or in jeopardy because they were profiting off their image, content, or likeness. College coaches, programs, and schools make millions off their student athletes and the NCAA billions off the student athletes. As more people

When it comes to college athletics, there always will be a problem that arises. It is one of the most controversial topics there is. One of the main issues within athletics is the idea of whether to pay college athletes or not. Several studies have been done along with articles from various sources. This has been on the rise especially since “March Madness” is coming up. “March Madness” may only consist of three weekends, however, an 11 billion dollar deal is made to televise the games (Wilbon). This is when you have to take the time to sit back and contemplate whether these college athletes really are getting the fair end of the stick. Under NCAA laws it is forbidden to pay these athletes for their performance yet at the same time they

College sports is a multi-billion dollar industry. Each year thousands of high school students are recruited to play college sports, but under strict conditions. Students are required to do well in athletics while keeping up with their academics. College athletes spend up to forty five hours per week on practices, training, and games. In addition, they spend roughly forty hours on their academics. The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletics Association) does not think it is necessary to pay these athletes because they want to maintain the “amateur sport” status. According to Stanley Eitzen in his “College Athletes should be Paid, “The universities and the NCAA claim their athletes in big-time sports programs

A few problems arise as a result of the athletes overloaded schedule. With barely any room for free time, these athletes have no chance at obtaining even a part time job to earn money for things that a full scholarship simply does not cover. 85 percent of college athletes on a scholarship live below the poverty line, this fact found in a 2011 report (Mitchell and Edelman). That fact is surreal considering millions of dollars are being made of these athletes and well over half of them are below the line. With the overloaded schedule the athletes time to eat often does not align with the hours of operation of the cafeteria which can

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

The NCAA is focused on education as it states, but when athletes are struggling to survive, and in some cases, going to bed starving, one has to wonder how focused the NCAA truly is on the student and his or her education. With all of the money generated through the college athletes in the performance of their respective sport, it would make sense that these

The majority of human beings in today’s society feel as if it is right and just that everyone should be compensated fairly for the work they put in. Sadly, those behind the scenes of NCAA Division 1 athletes do not feel the same. College athletics is well over a billion dollar industry, but it is clear that the hard workers behind all of these big bucks are not seeing enough of the profits. Sure, it may be argued that college athletes are compensated for their athletic achievements and hard work by having their tuition and school feels covered, but is that truly a fair trade? Covering four years, a full ride scholarship at big universities with prestigious athletic program amounts up to on average about $120,000. The university of Texas

Every year the NCAA helps Universities provide more than 2.7 billion dollars in athletic scholarships to more than 150,000 students. Full scholarships cover tuition and fees, room and board, course related books, and a full meal plan. The majority of each scholarship allotted per student is taken care of through the schools income rather than the NCAA themselves. The National College Athletic Association acknowledges twenty four different sports and over 460,000 athletes that compete in the organization. In the 2014 fiscal year the NCAA had a total revenue of over one billion dollars, with nearly eighty point five million in surplus. Since 2008 the NCAA’s total revenue has already doubled and is still on the rise yet the NCAA claims to be a non-profit organization. With all this profit going to the NCAA people fail to recognize where the money is coming from, and not necessarily where the proceeds are going but where they are not. Every athlete that competes in a collegiate sport, whether on scholarship or not help supply the NCAA’s income; every athlete that helps supply the NCAA’s billion dollar industry is not allowed to receive one cent in payment for their service. Although this may seem fair to many, 460,000 hardworking athletes believe different.

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.

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

As of today, there are over 460,000 NCAA student-athletes that compete in 24 different sports while in college throughout the United States (NCAA). Over the past couple decades, the argument for paying these college athletes has gained steam and is a hot topic in the sports community. However, paying these college athletes is not feasible because most universities do not generate enough revenue to provide them with a salary and some even lose money from the sports programs. These collegiate student-athletes are amateurs and paying them would ruin the meaning of college athletics. Also, playing college sports is a choice and a privilege with no mention or guarantee of a salary besides a full-ride scholarship. Although some argue that

How is it fair that college athletic programs rake in so much money from their respective sports and don’t have to pay for their labor? College athletics plays a major role in the sports world today and will continue to be as it is growing more and more popular. With this, is the ever-growing issue of athletes in their respective programs being paid as employees. This issue has been clouding college athletics for some time and it is becoming a much larger topic since athletes feel that they should be compensated for their services. Also, there have been several lawsuits filed against universities and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Even though colleges offer full scholarships to athletes,