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College Athletes Should Be Paid

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Every year, especially around the March Madness basketball tournament, the same question arises: should college athletes be compensated for the time they put into their sport? Supporters state the compensation of student-athletes is necessary in today’s system of college athletics. However, others argue payment of collegiate athletes should not become mandatory and is unnecessary. Therefore, some believe student athletes should be financially compensated for their efforts because they are not benefiting from their hard work, but others already consider college athletes to be be paid because they are compensated in forms other than money. The issue of paying college athletes has become increasingly debated recently— in the past not paying the …show more content…

Because student-athletes devote hours of their time and hard work to the sport they play many people argue that they deserve to be paid like it is their job. People in favor of paying college athletes, like Howard P. Chudacoff, state “that most big-time athletes devote 40-60 hours a week practicing, playing and traveling for their sport.” Here, he explains exactly how much time athletes do have to put into their sport: enough to make the sport like a full-time job. So if a student is playing a college sport in putting in the same number of hours as a full-time job shouldn’t the athlete receive at least some form of financial compensation? Even though supporters provide a persuasive argument for paying student-athletes, the critics provide an equally persuasive argument relating to the scholarships athletes receive. Critics argue that “Although players are not paid, they are often given athletic scholarships to attend college” (“Paying College Athletes”). Because players receive scholarships to attend college some believe this is compensation enough and colleges should not be required to compensate the students further. Most athletes who receive scholarships attend college at no cost to them— an opportunity most young people would be grateful to have. Supporters argue further that because of the hard work college athletes put in they make money for their school— students should be financially compensated for their profit-producing effort. In today’s world of college athletics where colleges make millions of dollars every year, it is reasonable to assume that the athletes producing that money should receive a portion of it. In the article “Paying College Athletes,” it expresses “that players should be paid simply because their

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