Essay Why College Athletes Should Not Be Paid

College athletes are taken advantage of and deserve to be compensated for their services while playing sports. These students are exploited and used to make money and out of everything that particular school makes, the athlete never given a penny of it. All of the hard works, blood, sweat and tears that they put into that

College sports have a big market on the major school levels. These major schools can bring in 30 to 40 million dollars per year to the school through the athletic programs. The players get none of this share of money even though they are the ones who have to put themselves at risk during these tough games that provide the school profit. You may say that these college athletes are getting a free education at their choice of university but some many say they should get paid. Today as much money that runs in and out of these schools there is a huge controversy to whether or not these student athletes should get rewarded for their hard work on and off the

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.

Paying College athletes has been a trending topic around the National Collegiate Athletic Association over the years. Many have strong opinions about this topic, and the opinions vary. The discussion of paying college athletes began in 1991 when the famed Fab Five became a household name in the United States. The Fab Five is arguably the greatest recruiting class of all time; all attending the same school (Baxter). The Fab Five first created controversy when they started to question why the university and university officials were making millions and millions of dollars off their names, and they were just deprived hungry college kids not making a dime. Nike even made billions by copyrighting their famed black athletic socks, black

A topic that is very controversial for everyone is, should student-athletes in college be compensated? There numerous evidence that supports in favor and many against the proposition of paying student- athletes who play sports for their university. As a college athlete, students are putting their bodies on the line each game they play. There’s possibility of suffering a traumatic brain injury or being paralyze after physical contact. These athletes are sacrificing their bodies and physical health at an opportunity to play a game which they love, and hopefully play it in the professional level. While that’s taking place, college football and basketball are big business that keep expanding. College sports bring in a large amount of revenues. The result is that many of them fail to graduate. Paying college athletes would not ruin amateur sport because even though most college athletes do get scholarship and should focus on their education it doesn’t help them if most of the time they are not attending classes to be in practice or games. College sports do make a high-income and athletes deserve a portion of the revenue they bring their programs.

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.

“SLAVES OF BIG-TIME COLLEGE SPORTS” by D. Stanley Eitzen explains that college athletes are not being treated fairly and we need to change for the athletes best interest. First off, it states that players are exploited economically, making millions for their teams, but provided only with a subsistence wage of room, board, tuition, and books; they are controlled with restricted freedoms; they are subject to physical and mental abuse by coaches. Later in the text, it explains how “These rules reek with injustice. Athletes can make money for others, but not for themselves.” (Eitzen 3) This source will be used to describe and give examples of the opposing views and skewed image of these college athletes lives and privileges.

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

College athletes, especially division 1 athletes have tremendous talent in whatever sport that they play in college, this is why college coaches recruit them and make sure that they attend their university. There is some speculation as to whether or not a college athlete should be paid while attending any university. The answer is no. College athletes are not professional athletes and this is one of the main points and they should not get paid due to the fact that some are not ready for that privilege and it defeats the purpose of them going to college. College athletes are labeled as student-athletes and the first term in that name is “student”. This is for a specific reason which is that not all college athletes are going to end up playing in a professional league and attending college

College Athletes are the school .One win or loss will determine what happens to the school. No sport is too small and no sport is too big , In any sport you can be injured and your whole athletic career will be over . Isn’t this enough to get paid ? College Athletes should get paid because they are the heroes of the school.Colleges should pay athletes to play sports because of the revenue garnished by the schools,the hours spent in practice and games are equal to professional jobs and increased exposure.

There is an issue that continues to grow with college athletes; should college athletes should be financially compensated? Many argue that college athletes are amateurs, and should not be paid, as they receive compensation in the form of education. Others believe that these athletes produce large revenue for their schools, and the athletic sponsoring body, and therefore should be paid for doing so. There are many limitations on college athletes from the NCAA and from the school which they play for. These athletes are strictly forbidden from receiving gifts, monetary compensation or royalties for use of their likeness (Marx 474-75). The NCAA, an organization founded to control violence in college sports, keeps these strong regulations as a way to reinforce that college sports are ameteur sports . To allow college players to be financially compensated many things would have to change, including the NCAA admitting that these are professional athletes. The NCAA would have to change their regulations, and schools would have to determine a pay structure for these athletes. This is a change that should occur, but with some stipulations.

Every year, millions of people sit down and watch college athletes play the sport they love. These players are some of the best in the nation, and even the world. They do their jobs on the court or field, while their schools rack up the money. These players practice almost two times every day, go to class, and at the end of the day still have homework. An average student athlete spends about forty hours a week on athletics (Jacobs).

College athletes should not be paid. “ They argue that the main purpose of going to college is to get a education, not to make money” (“Should college”...1). College is not a job, it is a place to learn. Also many college athletes receive scholarships to attend that school. “The value of the scholarships athletes receive during four years of college can be well over $250,000” (Weiss et al.1). Therefore, athletes

Pros get paid to represent their team and bring fame to that team. Why can't college athletes get paid the

            If college students are spending their time playing these sports and not working, they should be getting paid for it. Not only are these students forfeiting their time to study, talk to friends, and even relax after classes, but they are missing an opportunity to have jobs. “Players’ relationships to the school they play for should be spelled out in an individualized pay-for-service contract rather than an NCAA-standardized letter of intent that impinges on basic freedoms” (Marx, 475). The NCAA requires that students are enrolled full time and play football to gain the scholarship offered. There is an argument by Hartenstine on this subject that “Some 15 percent played professional football as a first career, but 15 percent were corporate executives, 13