Minding the Business of College Athletic Programs

The article responds to the debate about if college athletes should be paid on top of their scholarships/benefits. Critics of college sports argue that these student athletes are being exploited because it is possible for schools to generate revenue from TV contracts and other beneficial arrangements. Ackerman and Scott, both commissioners of a conference/sport, respond by stating “College is a time from learning, and college sports provide young men and women alike a chance to learn, grow, graduate, and achieve great things in life.” The purpose of this article is to educate the audience, critics of

In his article “The Shame of College Sports,” Taylor Branch (2011) describes how universities are focused on advancing and receiving money from major athletics and having star athletes, but how the universities are not caring for the “student athlete.” The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has made college sports into an unmerited business. However, as years progress more athletes are getting smart and are taking the NCAA to court. The more students that challenges the rules by the NCAA and take them to court, the secrets and undermining values of the NCAA come out and the closer the NCAA comes to an end.

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

“College Athletes for Hire, The Evolution and Legacy of the NCAA’s Amateur Myth” written by Allen L. Sack and Ellen J. Staurowsky. In their book, the authors enlighten the reader on such issues as athletic scholarships, professionalism in college sports, and favoritism for athletes as well as many more important legal, and ethical issues that we as a country need to address. In this paper I will not do a standard book report by simply regurgitating the information I read in their book.

"College Athletes for Hire, The Evolution and Legacy of the NCAA's Amateur Myth" written by Allen L. Sack and Ellen J. Staurowsky. In their book, the authors enlighten the reader on such issues as athletic scholarships, professionalism in college sports, and favoritism for athletes as well as many more important legal, and ethical issues that we as a country need to address. In this paper I will not do a standard book report by simply regurgitating the information I read in their

Jolley, D. (2009). Academic Achievement Is Improving for College Athletes. In C. Watkins, Sports and Athletes (pp. 71-78). Detroit: Greenhaven Press.

The NCAA has relied heavily on the age-old characterization of college athletes as “amateurs” who are first and foremost “student-athletes” (Sanderson and Siegfried). Because they are considered students and

Continuing with this big picture view, college athletic salaries are bad news for the quality of collegiate sportsmanship. President of the NCAA, Myles Brand, once stated, “If you start paying athletes, you essentially ruin the integrity of the college game.” What Mr. Brand means by this is that once the motivation of the player is changed to a fixed monetary value rather than the pride and passion of the sport, college athletics become devalued and the level of sportsmanship among players alike is dismantled. A Division I board of director chairman and Chancellor at the University of Kansas agreed with Brand is stating, “even if born of the best intentions, pay for play is the worst of ideas.” This director compares the situation to a “slippery slope” in which college sports would eventually fall to corruption, with new questions and debates being raised and athletes becoming enveloped with the idea of “gaining more money” instead of “winning more games”

There has been a lot of controversy on whether colleges should be paying the paying their athletes. Brian Frederick, a board member of Sports Fan Coalition and an adjunct professor for Georgetown University’s Sport Industry Management Program, believes colleges have a broken system when it comes to athletes. Frederick’s contemptuous tone discredits sports fan, who believe college athletes already get paid enough with their education, by stating “If a student athlete is hurt or unsuccessful, the coaches and administrators suddenly discard the noble ideals of “education” and a player is left with nothing.” With the use of metaphors and similes, Frederick convinces sport fans to take action and make the calls in order to continue college athletics

Collegiate athletes attend college to master their craft before going professional, and should not be paid. This also does not factor in other things such as injury and other issues that could arise. Colleges paying students to perform is not merited and would only cause more problems. Scholarships are important because they allow a student who could not usually attend college for free with the only requirement being that they play on the football team. That is why student athletes should not get paid, because they are already receiving a free education. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) of college football would be nothing without its players. The NCAA is broken up into three divisions, going from best known and talented universities in division one to the least known and talented universities in division three. Depending on the talent of the high school player he can pick from any of the three divisions. If that same player reaches the ultimate goal of a college football player, which is to be recruited to the Nation Football League (NFL) then that player is known as a Premium college player. Universities that would pay college football players would set a precedent that sports are more important than an education, which is why they should not get paid.

Because of the immense amount of hours devoted to their sport, college athletes find it extremely difficult to make time for their studies. While having the title, student-athlete, education should be the first priority for these young men and women. However, as of now, athletics seems to be their biggest priority and their studies little to none. This is where the principle of Amateurism comes in. Amateurism is what distinguishes these young men and women as student-athletes, not professionals. Amateurism helps keep academics the main priority, and sports second. Additionally, Amateurism does not allow for any employee relations or benefits such as professional contracts, salary, prize money, benefits, or other affiliations with professional teams (“Amateurism”). Since they aren’t getting paid as employees for all of their hard work, why put in so many hours? College athletes clearly lack the necessary time to devote to their education

College sports provide a huge source of the universities' income. The school takes in money from ticket sales, television contracts, and sport-related merchandise, just to name a few. The athletes, however, receive their scholarship and 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 evident that it is not enough. The trend for athletes is to leave school early for the professional leagues because of the money. There have been more reports of violations surrounding university boosters and alumni paying players. Furthermore, athletes have been accused of making deals with gamblers and

College athletes arguably possess a similar and often equivalent skill set to that of a professional athlete and may even train just as hard as a professional athlete. However, a college students relationship to athletics is no different than a high school student who participates in their schools athletics program. These young athletes participate in their chosen sport without any expectation of monetary compensation in return. In fact, many athletes at non-professional levels pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars annually to participate in their chosen extracurricular sporting activities (Alderman, 2013). This is their choice and they are not financially compensated for it. These athletes play for the joy of the sport, life lessons and in some cases, the hopes of one day becoming a professional athlete.

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

Student athletes have to deal with a lot being a college athlete and representing their university. Kihl, Richardson and Campisi (2008) argues that athletes encounter multiple of corruptions that they had no part of but suffers greatly for it. Consequences that these athletes may encounter can be lost of scholarship, probation, or loss of revenue. Athletes also have to deal with their will for perfectionism which tends to set high standards for themselves which eventually burns them out (Chen, Chen, Kee, &Tsai,2008).