Essay On Why College Athletes Should Be Paid

Imagine you’ve just graduated a four school and you have crazy debt and you are paying medical bills because you got hurt playing a sport. Which brings the question should College athletes be paid the right the athletes deserve? I believe the athletes should be paid.

Should college athletes be paid? Let’s take a quick glance at the pros and cons of each perspective. For starters, in my opinion, yes, college athletes should get paid. What deserves debate, is the conversation of how to get this done. From my experience, in America, you get paid in proportion to the value you bring to the marketplace. College sports is one, if not the

There has been many different arguments discussing whether or not college athletes should be paid or not. I’m not saying that any of them are exactly correct, however, in my opinion, they should. College athletes have put thousands of hours in their youth to get to where they are, and they don’t make a single dollar. The most money that a college athlete can make is in the form of scholarships to their university and through working their own jobs which none of them have time for. For me, I believe that college athletes should be paid because they spent their whole lives to get to where they are and because the student-athletes bring in tons of money for the schools.

        First and foremost, these college athletes should not be paid because most elite college athletes get sports scholarships. Some of the athletes almost get their full tuition paid for, or at least remarkably discounted. Over billions of dollars are given to athletes. In some cases, the average athletic scholarship exceeds the student’s tuition. For instance, Ohio State tuition is only $10,000 a year, however the average athletic scholarship is $17,856. Therefore, they are having their college tuition paid for, in addition to other perks. Can’t they wait to become professionals?

To start off, let’s talk about why college athletes shouldn’t get paid. Let’s start off by saying that only professionals in any field show be paid. It doesn’t matter if you’re a football player, a teacher, a coach anything, you should not get paid until you are officially a professional. It takes years to become a professional in any field.

Participating in athletics is essentially a job for college athletes. These athletes spend countless hours on the practice field, studying film, working out, as well as traveling for games. Robert McCormick who was an attorney for the National Labor Relations Board said “There are more demands put on these young men than any employee of the university.” The athletes are under complete control by the coaches and must follow what they demand from them. The physical demands that are placed upon the athletes should also make what they do be considered a job. The athletes must work out and practice to become better players as well as perform well in games. Those athletes who earn a scholarship can lose them at any point in time. Scholarships are given on a yearly basis so athletes must work to keep their scholarship

The issue of whether college athletes should be paid is a topic that has been long debated, from the very inception of college sports in the 1920s. The NCAA considers college athletes to be amateur athletes and not professionals, this means that they should only be playing for the love of sport and not anything else. The dictionary definition of an amateur is “one who engages in a pursuit, study, science, or sport as a pastime rather than as a profession” (Merriam-Webster). College athletes are supposed to make education their number one priority, with sports being a past time for them. In the real world, ranking an athlete’s priorities can get very difficult, an NLRB probe ruled that:

So, when you really think about their schedule they probably spend close to 40 hours a week with extra practices and workouts.(A) College athletes also have to keep up with school work so they can keep their scholarship, so that's another 30 hours in class and studying a week.(A) So, looking at a calendar of a college athlete they have no time to get a part time job. While college scholarships give athletes most things they would need such as, room,board,tuition,books,and a basic meal plan they don't consider the appetite of a huge football player that needs more food that what the meal plan offers. But because of their crazy schedule they can't pay for that because most college athletes come from poor backgrounds and can't rely on their parents to support

College athletes are among the most hardworking individuals as they work to balance life as a young adult, collegiate studies, and the strenuous requirements that are involved in practicing and performing for their sport or sports of choice. These students athletes generally do not have time in their routines to add in additional employment that they may need in order to fund their lives while attending college and living away from home, often for the first time. The athletes are household names, the faces of the colleges, and hometown heroes yet they often cannot afford to enjoy the fruits of their labor. This is due to the legalities that are involved in regards to college athletes not being paid for extra curricular activities. Outside of the scholarships that are generally rewarded to the athletes in order to pay for their education,

In the year 2014, the National College Athletic Association (NCAA) made almost one billion dollars through ticket sales, merchandise licensing, and TV contracts (Sports). Yet, none of that money ever ends up in the pockets of the athletes, who are responsible for bringing in all of the revenue, who train for countless hours per week, leaving little time for anything outside of sports. Practice and constant travel, added to the stresses of school work, make it difficult for a college athlete to hold down a job. The NCAA is unfairly making money from the athletes, and the athletes should get a cut of the profit. College athletes should be paid to play.

Finally, the most important reason college athletes should not be paid because they receive a free education for playing for the university or college. “College athletes receive numerous amenities and luxuries free of charge” (Post Column 1). The athletes are students sustaining entry to a college education through their involvement in sports, which means they earn scholarships that pay for their bills; living space, committee, and other authorized payments. “Paying college athletes would diminish all the goals and morals that colleges and universities stand for” (Post Column 1). College sports is not an occupation or vocation.

I understand that the main priority of all colleges is to educate its students and allow them to graduate and start a career. I agree that education is the most important thing in college, but people believe if these athletes were to get paid, that they would worry less about studying for their next test and more about the big game coming up. This is not the case because if these students had even just a little extra financial benefits for playing a sport and being talented, then it would help them in life by allowing them to stay in school and further their education. These students are putting their bodies on the line just to participate in something they enjoy that requires many long hours away from studying and still force them to get passing grades in their

First of all, college athletes work countlessly to help their team. According to www.listland.com, NCAA athletes spend an average of 43.3 hours on their sport, when the average american works only 34.4 hours per week. NCAA athletes work harder and longer than the average american but don’t have a salary. NCAA’s own tournament schedule require students to miss class for nationally televised games. If students were to miss class, it should be important if they were making money. Also, they are missing out on what they paid for, an education. How the NCAA can repay them is by actually paying the athletes. This why college athletes deserve to be paid, because they work hard for no apparent reason

College athletes should not be paid money to participate in the sports they play. Many of the athletes are attending because of scholarships that pay for tuition and other fees that come with going to higher tier colleges. A majority of the only have to pay for meals and items they need like toiletries. My first reason on why they should not be getting paid is the school doesn't have money for everyone. According to theatlantic.com, “The average FBS athletic program ran a 9.44 million dollar operating deficit.” Schools cannot be paying for the athletes that attend their classes and play on their sport teams. With most colleges now having many sports programs and many athletes attending they can't all get what they want.

There are many reasons why college athletes should get paid. Many people will agree and disagree with the argument of should athletes get paid why or why not. The main reasons may include finical help to pay for college to teach athletes how to manage money and how to be wise with little money, not having enough money can hold players back from finishing college, and finally the amount of money going into the program should be shared with the athletes as they are the reason for the money coming in. Going to college and being a student athlete is never easy and the ways to help them is by paying them to help them get through school and succeed.