Essay Why College Athletes Should 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.

College athletes should be paid because of the hard work, dedication and effort they put into their respective sports. These athletes are a major source of income for their schools and they are not receiving a penny for it. These college athletes deserved to be paid, colleges are using these athletes to get money and they are never given anything but a pat on the back and a good job. College athletes work and train extremely hard to perform at the highest level possible. In most cases, they spend more time training and preparing for their sport than they actually do learning and studying. They put so much on the line to play and they get nothing in return. These college athletes literally make their schools millions of dollars every

But why should a student athlete be paid in the first place? Their just athletes right? They go to school just like everyone else? What makes them so special? What makes a college athlete different than the average student is the amount of revenue that they help bring to their selected colleges. This type of revenue is made up from ticket sales, merchandise, media rights and contributions. “USA today” reported that the University of Texas generated $167.7 million dollars from their athletic programs, and that’s just one school. With this in mind, imagine just how much money other colleges are making from their athletics. Sure one can make the argument that they should not be paid because they are not professionals, but one can’t ignore the fact that they are bringing in millions of dollars and seeing none of it.

Due to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules and regulations no college athlete is able to receive any compensation or endorsement while participating in college athletics. These rules have long been challenged, however no changes have been made by the NCAA. With universities grossing close to $200 million a year college athletics has turned into one of the top industries in the world. The NCAA is a governing body of college athletics, but without people questioning the NCAA and demanding changes to the monopoly that the NCAA is nothing will happen to the unfairness to college athletes like it is currently.

A question that has been rising to the surface lately is “should college athletes be paid a salary?” One cannot get on the internet now a day and not see some kind of college sport headline. The world of college sports has been changed greatly the past decade due to college athletes. These athletes make insurmountable amounts of money and an unbelievable amount of recognition for the universities. The athletes that provide and make a ton of revenue for the colleges also spend a huge amount of their time practicing and staying committed to sports, and have to maintain good grades in school which requires quite a bit of overtime. Because college athletes generate massive amounts of revenue and put in massive amounts of personal time for

Right now in sports, there is a huge debate on whether or not college athletes should be paid. For years now college athletes have gone out and performed on national television, working hard to make it to the next level. They have given it there all, and not only that, the athletes bring in about $11 billion in annual revenue from college sports. Now days, sports is a business, and college sports are the same. Division 1 college sports provide a lot of income for the universities. Many athletes receive scholarships and a little more. While the prospect of receiving a free college education is something few would complain about, when the issue is more closely examined it becomes clear that it is not enough. Many people think that college athletes shouldn’t be paid, or already are by scholarships and benefits. College athletes should be paid for participating in college sports to help them financially, give them the money they played hard to earn, and to eliminate under the table payments.

about getting a part time job. So they would have more time working on their sport and would have energy for classes. The athletes would not have to worry where they would get their money if the NCAA paid its athletes. If the athletes do not have to worry where they are going to get their money from, then could could spend more time perfecting their game and would also help them have more energy to do well in their classes too (“Top 10 Reasons College…”). These would also lead them to be more competitive towards whatever sport they are playing because they have more energy to work for it. When someone have been working all day one something, they usually tired right? Well this is the exact scenario for college athletes every single day. The

Not paying college athletes is by far the right decision. This has been largely debated for years and both hold valid arguments for each side. The majority of the people who want to see them get paid are the players and those on the other side of the argument are those who are not involved in the sport. The reason they should not be paid is the money will ruin the game if it gets involved. It is highly likely players will focus more about money than winning and could easily be distracted.

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.

Why College Athletes Should Be Paid “Common decency demands that NCAA athletes be paid.” These are words from the great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Obviously if someone who is well past their college days still thinks college athletes need to be paid, this subject is the real deal. Whether college athletes should be paid or not is one of the most, if not the most, controversial topics in college sports over the last few decades. Especially amongst the athletes of Men’s football and basketball.

Nearly $1 billion dollars is what the NCAA made in 2014 off of sports events and merchandise, and they still will not provide the players with an income. Some say that given the player an education is enough, but it's not anymore because they are making too much money off theses players. Paying college athletes is the right thing to do because it is their money that is being collected, if a player is hurt during a college game then it could make it to where they can’t play professional, or they should be able to take endorsement deals.

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.

I believe college athletes should be able to be paid more than just a scholarship for different reasons. College athletics have gained immensely in popularity among many different Americans over the past couple of decades. Most of these athletes work countless hours all year around for these colleges with different off season workouts. Which means it’s more than just a part-time job for these athletes. Fans must understand that college sports is big business and the business is booming for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). If the NCAA didn't have these top elite athletes on the field or on the court nobody would come to the games and there will not be such an increased revenues for the NCAA. College athletes should get paid because they work countless hours and with making the National Collegiate Athletic Association close to billions each year that they don't see any of besides in scholarships.

What Is More Important? ”Money is flooding into these athletic departments and the athletes benefit in many ways, but do athletes deserve to be paid for what they do?” (Walch). It is hard to make a living out of football in college because the athletes devotes their time and body to the sport, but aren’t getting money which is needed to make a living. The college athletes are the ones who bring in the money, but they don’t get any of it (Meshefejian).

Whether or not college athletes should be paid is a topic that is much debated recently. Some athletes even want to form unions so they can have the rights to complain about working conditions and their pay, or lack of pay. While some people believe college athletes should be paid, it would be a grave mistake to pay college athletes. Athletes play when they’re just little kids with a dream and it is their job to make that dream come true. They do this by being the best they can, by vigorously training almost every day. They play through middle school and through high school so they can ultimately show their talents and get into great intellectual and athletic schools. You should graduate in whatever field of school you are interested in. that is their duty to themselves, they work to get the pay checks later on in life. If I paid an elementary school student to play for me they wouldn’t want to go to high school, and if I paid a high school student they wouldn’t want to go to college, if I paid a college student to play for me they wouldn’t want to go and become a professional.