College Athletes: Should They Be Paid

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.

Collegiate sports have turned into a billion dollar industry and are probably just as popular, if not more popular than professional sports. College athletes put their bodies on the line to play a sport they love, many with hopes and dreams to one day make it to the professional leagues. Athletic facilities are the major money makers for all universities. Colleges bring in billions of dollars in revenue annually, yet athletes do not get paid. Some fans believe athletes should not get paid due to their sports level being “amateurish.”; however, this is far from the truth. There is much more to being a college athlete than just practicing and playing games. These student-athletes must practice, weight lift, go to meetings, travel, go to tutoring and study groups, all the while maintaining sufficient grades. This is very tedious work and is very time consuming. College athletes have a high standard to live up to (Frederick Web; Huma Web; Patterson Web ).

Imagine college athletes getting paid to play a sport, but technically they are not considered a “professional” athlete. It would be a terrible idea to pay college athletes to do what they are going to school for. Most college athletes get some or all of their college paid for, but they want to get paid in money too? It’s not right. They could spend the money unwisely and they could lose focus on what college is meant for and that is to learn to be able to obtain a job. I understand that college athletes have a risk of getting injured and they should get compensated for that risk. Nobody wants a student to get hurt on the field or court and lose their ability to compete and lose their scholarship, but they shouldn’t get paid to play for

One of the hottest debates in the sports industry is if college athletes should be paid. If you want to pay these athletes, how would the college determine the dollar amount that should be paid? Should the basketball team make more than the football team? Should the the soccer team be paid as well? Cheerleading? Chess team? Should everyone on the team get a salary? What if your college is good at football and your basketball team is awful? Rather than thinking about these questions, the college board is just better off not paying athletes like how they did in the old days. For example, “When the National Collegiate Athletic Association was founded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1905, the institution was devoted to the belief of not providing a salary to the college-athletes who took participated in the organization. It is based on the belief of amateurism, and it was a remarkable idea” (Meshefejian). However, The continuous growth of NCAA causes a huge amount of revenue to come into colleges and this cause controversy to whether if athletes should be paid for what they do. The opinions on this subject can be grouped into two general categories. Some feel that college athletes should not be paid because education comes first and athletes are already paid in full. Others feel that college athletes should be paid because playing a sport is a full-time job and it would make the sport more competitive. Although some

The NCAA Football Bowl Championship Series (BCS) has finally arrived, and the National Championship awaits the semi-final winners. What also awaits, is about a 50 million dollar payout from the NCAA, to the winning university. This is just a very tiny portion of the amount of money the NCAA earns in revenue each year from 23 different sports and over 150 universities. On the other hand, the players competing for these titles will earn no money whatsoever. Is this Fair? At first glance some may think it is not. Sure, these athletes are the cows truly bringing in the cash, but there are many compelling reasons why the college athlete is not and should not be paid. The facts are that the money earned from the NCAA is redistributed to the universities each year for many beneficial reasons, college athletes already earn compensation for tuition and school expenses, and paying these athletes would be far too complex and unequal to all players, sports, and universities.

How in today’s society is it equitable to have a person perform labor, benefit off of their actions and that person not being compensated? Each year over 400,000 collegiate student-athletes both male and female, compete on 3 different division levels nationwide. During the lifespan of these athletes’ careers a select few become the face of their respective universities, who in turn generate uncountable amounts of revenue. Over the past couple of years the debate of paying college athletes has heated up and has been argued whether paying student-athletes would take the amateurism out of the game. Both ways they are involved and providing illegal services for cash to survive in a financially strapped economy. At what point does the NCAA

What has become a reoccurring topic of debate within sports, is whether or not college athletes should be paid. When referring to college athletes the main focus is on basketball and football athletes. The sports of both basketball and football in the NCAA generate the most revenue amongst all other college sports. The combined profit of these two sports go through a trickling down process, in which the income is distributed amongst the other sports teams of the university. The ideal thing to expect is to pay all college athletes, the reality is that only football and basketball players will be paid.

Playing college sports is a full time job and should be a paying one at that considering how much effort and hard work is put into the game. There has been an ongoing controversy about if college athletes should be paid or not. College athletes should be paid because they put a lot of heart into the game. This passion, that they put into the game, brings in a lot of money for other people yet they can’t see any of the money that they’re making for other people. Some of these athletes have a scholarship to play, but these scholarships don’t cover everything that is needed to survive and thrive in a college atmosphere. Some of these thoughts have surfaced about not paying college athletes because some people deem college sports an amateur playing field. This causes some athletes to take things into their own hands because they are not properly financially taken care of due to the money hungry thoughts of others. Surviving in college is an enormous problem, but it is not as extensive as having lifelong health problems due to playing in college.

Last year ESPN announced that they had reached a deal with the NCAA over the football playoff system; this deal was reportedly worth up to 500 million dollars per year, over twelve years. As most will say football and basketball are the most prominent sports in the collegiate level, and with all the money being made from March Madness (basketball) to the Rose Bowl (football), college athletes will see none of this money. College athletes should earn some compensation for their efforts on and off the field and or court; they are basically working full time with their sport, along with going to classes during the week.

College is about getting an education and creating a better future for yourself, not about making money. Nowadays some college athletes think they 're all that and should be paid for the sport they play. It seem to be that there forgetting that they already get to go to college for a discounted price or in some cases for free.

Two heated debates arise when considering faults in modern-day college athletics. The first is in college football whether or not a playoff system should be implemented in order to determine a definite Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Champion. This major issue in college football has been temporarily solved with the approval of a four-team playoff starting in 2014 and ending in 2025 (Dinich 1). Though it remains highly exclusive to the top four ranked teams at the end of the season, there lies an opportunity to grow its structure. Second tier, Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) expanded the playoff from 16 teams to 24 teams by giving the top eight seeds a bye in round one. The second most controversial question recurring in college

I think college athletes should get paid because many college athletes bring in a lot of money for their schools. Not to mention coaches already get paid millions of dollars in college sports. Being a college athlete is a full-time job and a big time commitment. Sometimes college college athletes put in 40 to 60 hours a week for practice, travel, and games. Not to mention they still have to complete their work and get good grades to stay eligible to play so they are left very tired. "The NCAA will make millions of dollars to sales of tickets and merchandise"(Should college athletes be paid). So many people go to the events and they pay for food and drinks and other merchandise.

student athletes, should be designed in a way that promotes academic progress as well as graduation.

Some may say that paying college athletes is a poor idea considering they have the reputation for being cheaters or only interested in what they want. “...The argument against allowing pay to student athletes arises mainly from greed and self-interest” (Text 1 lines 41-42). Regardless this is not always the case as some students need money and that the greedy ones are actually the coaches. Scholarships can be taken away, forcing students to look for jobs and struggle to find a balance between school and work. Last, The NCAA has an awful reputation for going against the law and not giving financial assistance to students for impractical reasons. It should be noted that by these reasons athletes should be paid for their participation in sports.

Should college athletes be paid? is questioned regularly. There are many people who want to pay college athletes and many against the idea of paying athletes who play sports for their college or university. If you really think about it and keep reading you might realize that it's not really that good of an idea to pay college students a traditional annual salary just like a professional athlete gets paid.