Playing A Division One Sport

The NCAA has been around and evolved since the beginning of college sports. This organization is a non-profitable organization, but ironically makes more than millions of profit per year. Branch states “that money comes from a combination of ticket sales, concession sales, merchandise, licensing fees, and other sources—but the great bulk of it comes from television contract”(pg. 228). Meanwhile, the student-athletes do not receive any of this money. This is the start of an unsubstantial business between universities built around amateurism.

Since the inception of high profile intercollegiate athletics, there has been a debate regarding the place of athletics within the structure of higher education. Within the last few decades, this debate has intensified as intercollegiate athletics has transformed into a multi-billion dollar industry that shifted the way athletic departments operate. College athletic departments have been able to generate millions of dollars in revenue through corporate partnerships, television contracts, alumni and donor support, and ticket sales (Toma, 2003). Specifically, this athletic revenue is primarily generated by football and basketball programs. College athletics has entered the “show business phase as football and basketball have evolved into commercial entertainment products (Duderstadt, p.69).” As the commercialization of collegiate athletics continue grow, the concept of student-athlete amateurism has become increasingly strained as there has been a push for providing student-athletes, specifically in football and basketball, additional compensation for their play.

While football players at the University of Illinois are working at their sport or performing their sport nearly 32 hours a week, which is all right after coming from a full class schedule. The NCAA wants to treat student athletes like regular students, when these athletes are the farthest thing from being regular students. These athletes are expected just like the rest of the student body to perform at their highest capability in the classroom, but as well at their peak athletic ability in practice or in a game right after they have spent the day draining themselves into their school

The American dream of making a living in sports at both the collegiate and professional level grows each year. The youth of today’s society strive to join the ranks of the professional athletes they worship, and college is the beginning of that dream. Over the past few decades, college athletics have gained immense popularity across universities in the United States. Intercollegiate sports bring in a surplus of revenue to their respective universities as well as build a reputation for the college. Athletes attending Division I sports go to their particular schools in hopes of fulfilling their dream of making it professionally. There is a long-debated argument on whether college athletes at the Division I level should be paid to attend school

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a multibillion-dollar industry that has the excitement of fans, attention from the medias, million dollar coaches, and slave-working athletes. The NCAA became a bigger business in the last decades of the 20th century drawing broadcast networks, cable networks, commercial endorsement deals, and fans. However, the heart and soul of this business are the student-athletes. Players earn millions to billions of dollars for schools and private companies but must cheat their ways through academics because of demanding schedules. While athletes are contributing, the schools are making. The school employees earn scholarships that pay for tuition and dorm rooms but fall short of the

College athletics is a billion dollar industry and has been for a long time. Due to the increasing ratings of college athletics, this figure will continue to rise. It’s simple: bigger, faster, stronger athletes will generate more money. College Universities generate so much revenue during the year that it is only fair to the players that they get a cut. College athletes should get paid based on the university’s revenue, apparel sales, and lack of spending money.

With the passing of another academic year, fans were able to enjoy yet another nail-biting NCAA Basketball Tournament and a highlight filled football season. Most would agree that the NCAA provides competitive sport as popular as the professionals. In fact, its annual revenue makes that point clear. College football and basketball generate more than the National Basketball Association, a total of more than $6 billion yearly.[1] There is one major difference between the two associations, however. NBA players get paid for the revenue they help bring in, while NCAA athletes receive no monetary compensation. The promise of a free education is not enough anymore if the NCAA wants to act as a money making business, and not reward those who help make it profitable. If the NCAA does not want to pay college athletes, than it should not hold these players back from entering the professional game. However, colluding with the NBA and the NFL, athletes are restricted when it comes to joining the pro ranks. With these two ideas combined, athletes are drawn to the college game out of necessity, and not always desire. Some writers, like Stanley Eitzen, have even compared the system to indentured servitude or a “plantation system.”[2] Concerning the revenue sports of men’s basketball and football, the players should be entitled to some monetary compensation for their work, as well as the right to enter the professional leagues at an age that suits their abilities.

But why haven’t the athletes been able to see some of that extra revenue? After all, without the players there wouldn’t be any revenue. The thought that college sports can be so extremely profitable, especially for the NCAA seems a little ridiculous. Why are they able to keep this much money while also finding a way around paying the athletes who actually bring in the revenue? It is a question that doesn’t seem to have an answer. Athletes are making money and the NCAA doesn’t want to share. One stance that the NCAA has is the argument that “They (college athletes) are students receiving access to a college education through their participation in sports, for which they earn scholarships to pay tuition, fees, room and board, and other allowable expenses. Collegiate sports is not a career or profession. It is the students ' vehicle to a higher education degree”. (Mitchell) It is an easy stance to have when the NCAA doesn’t have to pay for the free education, the universities do.

Collegiate sports have turned into a billion dollar industry and are probably just as popular, if not more popular than professional sports. College athletes put their bodies on the line to play a sport they love, many with hopes and dreams to one day make it to the professional leagues. Athletic facilities are the major money makers for all universities. Colleges bring in billions of dollars in revenue annually, yet athletes do not get paid. Some fans believe athletes should not get paid due to their sports level being “amateurish.”; however, this is far from the truth. There is much more to being a college athlete than just practicing and playing games. These student-athletes must practice, weight lift, go to meetings, travel, go to tutoring and study groups, all the while maintaining sufficient grades. This is very tedious work and is very time consuming. College athletes have a high standard to live up to (Frederick Web; Huma Web; Patterson Web ).

Since its inception in 1906, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, commonly known as simply the NCAA, has pondered the burning question of whether student-athletes should be compensated for their play. Currently, the NCAA employs an amateurism policy, an eligibility regulation that all potential Division I athletes must abide by to participate in their respective sports. This set of rules prohibits players from receiving any form of compensation, whether that be as a result of participating in a sport, being awarded prize money, or signing with an agent. Athletes are allowed to accept financial aid administered by the university, but this generally small subsidy for education is accompanied with uncertainty, and is the only form of “payment” they are permitted to collect. However, there is sufficient evidence that college athletes should be paid as compensation for the money they make for the NCAA, the negative effects that sports have on the players ' lives, the benefits that the sports bring to the school, and for the potential profits missed on social media because of NCAA regulations.

For over a century, college athletics have thrilled generations of fans; from alumni gathered in stadiums to armchair quarterbacks, the fervor of team loyalty reaches spiritual proportions. This popularity is evident from the gigantic economy college athletics have created, with the NCAA raking in nearly eleven billion dollars last year (Edelman 7). A problem overlooked in spite of this boom is the exploitation of the people who make this venture so profitable: the players. Although it has not always been the case, the majority of players now are grossly undercompensated for contributions to their alma maters, the sport, and the burgeoning economy created by the two. College athletes are exploited when universities refuse to acknowledge

College sports are everywhere in today’s world. Turn on ESPN and you will be surrounded hearing about Jay Bilas’ final four predictions or possibly Jon Gruden’s Heisman candidates. College sports have turned into a multi-billion dollar industry with consistent growth. Despite of the fast growing business, the NCAA remains non-profit and labels the players “student-athletes” to mark them amateur. With this label, athletes are recognized as student first and athlete second. Scholastics are supposed to be prioritized over athletics, however with the growing industry the lines are being blurred. The NCAA is considered to be an amateur league, however, groups of people are pushing for players to become paid due to the high revenue. While one

As writer Jon Saraceno would say, “The NCAA [National Collegiate Athletic Association] is a tax-exempt organization that operates as a monopoly, its rulebook denser than the New Testament” (Saraceno 38). He explains that the NCAA has various rules, and coaches and players do not know what is right or wrong. Others view that athletes are already receiving pay with scholarships. Athletes in higher revenue generating sports, comparable to basketball and football, are usually more likely to earn a full-ride scholarship. Full-ride scholarships allow an athlete to attend institutions at little to no cost. Without full-ride or partial scholarships, certain players could not afford to attend school. This is due to the poverty in areas where

The obscurity of what student athletes should get paid is the major problem. Many people would see it unfair for a quarterback of a powerhouse college team to receive $5,000, but a tennis player of a college e team to receive $ 1,500, NCAA officials mentioned that fewer than 7% of Division I athletic programs made money between ’04 and ‘10 (Dohrmann). Dohrmann agrees that “the books are cooked “(qtd by Ross). With revenue from national televised games and tickets sales, it is estimated that the 7% should be up to around 80%. The NCAA approved for schools the option to raise the student athlete’s scholarships by $2,000, but several schools pleaded that could not afford to do this.

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.