College Facilites for Division III Athletics Essay

Athletic events aren’t always held at traditional arenas. Those venues may cost far more money than an amateur sports team (and some professional teams) could possibly afford.

Most institutions absorb significant losses each year in order to provide their student-athletes a venue to participate and compete in the sports that they love as they progress toward their ultimate goals of obtaining their college degrees. We should not take this sacrifice by our colleges and universities for granted. Proponents of paying college athletes present their own arguments for their position. Their arguments focus primarily on the monetary aspects of this “business” (United States Sports

Many students participate in extracurricular athletics, but sports are not worth their extreme cost. Amanda Ripley, author of a Scholastic Scope article, states, “Maintaining a grass field can cost more than $20,000 a year” (11). She also says that during out of town games, schools provide transportation for teams, cheerleaders, band, meals, and hotels (Ripley 11). These facts reveal that extracurricular sports waste an outrageous portion of a school’s already quite limited budget and it is absolutely critical to put that money towards updating the campus and creating a better learning environment. Ultimately, if institutions don’t stop squandering their money on after school athletics, the future of education will be a grim one.

Across the nation, these sponsors uniformly regarded sport as an educational and developmental undertaking (Hearn, Thomas K.). The main premier sports for men are football, basketball, and baseball. These sports help teach teamwork and let people interact with others. This change in the culture of sport is destructive of the aims of athletics as part of the mission of the university (Hearn, Thomas K.). Sports weren’t this advanced when they first started the game.

College athletes are known more because of their sports rather than what they are actually majoring in. College athletes put in immense effort and time towards the sport. They make the sport their main priority and manage their lives primarily around the team and sport they are playing. Many college athletes, especially basketball and football players are recruited to become a part of college level team. The athletes decide what college to go to by evaluating the prestige of the sports programs rather than the college itself. For many college athletes is a platform to play the sport they are passionate about. In addition to their passion for the sport, college athletes also put in effort and time towards their respective sports.

The month of March may be the largest stage for the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The basketball tournament known as “March Madness”, brings in publicity, as well as revenue for the schools. People may ask, “why is this college basketball tournament so popular?” The answer is, it is the student athletes that make it exciting to watch. The athletic director for student services at Kansas State University, Phil Hughes, calls the student athletes “The Entertainment Product” (Varsity Green 13). The nickname may sound rash or rude, however he is right. The student athletes attract the crowds, that lead to sold out arenas. Hughes’ office is in a $1 million facility in the academic learning center at KSU, right next to the $2 million football facility (Varsity Green 14). If it were not for the publicity and revenue from the big-stage events for KSU, there would not be any million dollar facilities for the students and coaches to enjoy.

Over the past few years, college athletics has grown immensely, gaining an infinite amount of supporters with no signs of slowing down. Today, sports are no longer just sports; they are becoming a business, leaving the athletes with no profit. The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a multi-billion-dollar organization that would not exist without athletes around the country. Each year, just like the popularity, the revenues that each college makes off athletics also increase but the athletes do not receive any of the compensation despite their work and sacrifices. Throughout one year alone, a division one university’s athletic departments can bring in a revenue that ranges anywhere from $70,000,000 to $180,000,000. This revenue consists of multiple aspects; not just ticket sales. College programs also bring in millions from television and

College sports are an important focus and part of universities today. The NCAA has been around and regulating college sports since 1906 (“National Collegiate Athletic Association”). Over the years, the National Collegiate Athletic

The ugly truth behind the money machine that is college sports is that, every year, college athletes are deceived by the institutions the compete for into making them millions of dollars, with relatively little in return. Athletes are said to be given a chance to attend college and to attain a free college degree. However, research has shown that this is not completely true for two reasons. For one, the student athlete will spend most of their time in preparation for competition. Secondly, what education the student athlete does receive hardly serves them outside of maintaining eligibility just so

Big sports in college should be required to take care of athletes. Athletes should be provided boosters, protective rules, and NCAA contracts throughout their college career. Players are an investment to their universities as college is an investment to one’s future.

The “contradiction at the heart of big-time college football,” as Michael Oriard describes it, is the competing demands of marketing and education. The 1890s proved to university administrators that there was an enormous market for collegiate football, which postulated opportunities for university building. Since this ubiquitous realization, there has coincided this blatant, yet unchanging contradiction that academic institutions are permitted to profit off of the services provided by its student-athletes while the athletes must idly accept that they are amateurs, donating their efforts to their respective schools. The schools then direct this revenue toward strengthening their athletic departments, and thus continues this seemingly endless growth of big-time college sports, all while athletes remain uncompensated and academics continue to take a backseat.

There has been amplified debate on the treatment, education, training of the college athlete. To avoid exploitation of athletes, “The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), formed in 1905, set bylaws requiring college student-athletes to be amateurs in order to be eligible for intercollegiate athletics competition” (Schneider n.p.). Intercollegiate athletics have dramatically changed over the last several decades. Currently, intercollegiate athletics generate tremendous amounts of revenue, remarkably in football and basketball. College sports in America is a

The University of Iowa Recreational Center, otherwise known as the Indoor Track, is accessed daily by both university athletes those who have memberships, and University of Iowa students. Division-one athletes train here everyday. One could assume that it would attract more people to buy memberships so that they can train in the same place as elite athletes. Unfortunately, that assumption is wrong. An article on the website of a the local news station KCRG says that the University of Iowa track team is running on one of the worst tracks in the Big Ten Conference (Miller). The current facility does not give the impression that high-level athletes train here. Various kinds of people share the University of Iowa Recreational Facility that will

Duke University, University of Notre Dame, and University of California - Los Angeles. Some may ask why these colleges would be grouped together. Well, these are just a few of the most recognizable universities in our country. What makes these universities so popular? They have an elite sports team, whether it be basketball, football, or even lacrosse, and this attracts more attention to them. Sadly, these universities are thriving in the spoils that young athletes bring to them at unfair costs. College athletics benefit universities the most, but at the expense of the athletes. The universities gain national attention, student and alumni support, and receive financial benefits. However, there is a noticeable negative impact on the student

The world of sports has grown larger than life over the past century, especially in college. Being a collegiate athlete is, without question, the hardest athletic profession in the world. Not only are students devoted to their sport, which requires an obscene amount of time of preparation, but they are also devoted to their school work. And the award they receive for their hard work? Of course there are the great memories, friendships made, “free education”, or national championships, but are theses students receiving their fair share? Should college athletes be paid? It is a question that has been asked, but never truly answered. College athletes should be paid for their work. I even have the perfect system to see