The National Collegiate Athletic Association

College sports are one of the largest and fastest growing markets in today’s culture. With some college sports games attracting more viewers than their professional counterparts, the NCAA is one of the most profiting organizations in America. Recently there has been controversy in the world of college sports as to whether the college athletes that are making their universities and the NCAA money should receive payment while they are playing their respective sport. Many believe that these athletes should be paid. Others argue that they are already receiving numerous benefits for playing that sport from their universities. Many of the proponents of paying college athletes are current or former college athletes who believe their hard work and hours put into practice and competing go under appreciated. They feel that while the athletes are making the university money, the athletes do not receive any cut of these profits. Opponents feel that athletes already receive numerous perks and should not receive extra compensation on top of the perks they already receive.

College athletic programs are among the most popular sporting events in America. With this rise in popularity, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and its colleges have also seen a rise in revenue in recent years. In 2014, the NCAA made over 900 million dollars in revenue. Some collegiate coaches, such as Kentucky’s John Calipari, have yearly salaries in the millions, not counting incentives and endorsement deals. While, clearly, money is being made, NCAA regulations ban collegiate athletes from being paid. Many question this rule and argue that athletes at the college level earn and deserve pay for play. The debate to pay or not to pay college athletes rages on despite the latest court ruling supporting NCAA policies. Because colleges and universities earn such a profit from sporting events, many fans feel it is only fair to distribute some of the wealth to the players. Supporters of paying student athletes feel that these young men and women should be fairly compensated for the time demanded of the athletes and the stress put on the athletes, physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially. Those in favor of paying college athletes contend that athletic and academic work ethic at both high school and collegiate levels will improve, as well as, fiscal responsibility in these young adults. The NCAA argues that paying athletes would negatively affect their

Abstract:  Collegiate athletes participating in the two revenue sports (football, men's basketball) sacrifice their time, education, and risk physical harm for their respected programs. The players are controlled by a governing body (NCAA) that dictates when they can show up to work, and when they cannot show up for work. They are restricted from making any substantial financial gains outside of their sports arena. These athletes receive no compensation for their efforts, while others prosper from their abilities. The athletes participating in the two revenue sports of college athletics, football and men's basketball should be compensated for their time, dedication, and work put forth in their respected sports.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) governs all laws regarding college sports under the Division I, Division II, and Division III conferences. Its sole purpose is to protect student-athletes on and off the field, and regulate all games and scholarships affiliated with the students. Right now there are 1,121 colleges and universities under the NCAA (NCAA, n.d.), leaving a chunk of schools out—those who do not participate in Division I, II, or III conferences. Since an immense amount of colleges and universities are associated with the NCAA, this organization plays a significant role in regulating college sports. Within these regulations, there is a common issue that lingers around student-athletes and their coaches. This issue has to do with the role that a student-athlete holds, and if he or she should be paid for it. It is an ethical decision that poses problems regarding the education institutions and their members.

Throughout the existence of the NCAA and the realm of intercollegiate competition, one of the largest topics of debate has been the idea to compensate athletes based on athletic performance above any scholarships awarded. Mark Emmert, president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, has previously said “We can never move to a place where we are paying players to play sports for us” (Garcia, 2010, para.9). This statement by Emmert has again sparked several conversations concerning the specifics of what defines amateurism and the exploitation of our young student athletes. The awarding of a salary to athletes is both heavily supported and strongly opposed by players, spectators, coaches, and collegiate

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

Corruption, scandals, suspensions, firings and a systems that is systematically flawed all the while the fact of the matter is that the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a organization that is bringing in billions of dollars each year yet the labor force generating the money gets a scholarship that many athletes believe doesn’t pay enough for everything that is needed on campus so this leads the author to have to take a look at if athletes need to be paid. I will outline numerous problems that are going on in college athletics and possible solutions to problems. I will take a look at the scholarship itself

Capitalism, a system dealing with both political and economical aspects in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by an individual for profit, rather than by the state. One of the largest “money-making” industries in the nation is known as the National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”) (Gregory). College sports have become more popular than ever before, especially with the help of television and modern technology. Making over $700 million a year, this industry has been introduced numerous times over the years to the debate of prohibiting payments to athletes other than athletic scholarships (Goldman). Currently, in order to meet the demand of sports, especially at a Division I University, high school athletes are recruited, and make a decision to play for their team of choice, while giving the schools national exposure. However, many consumers are wondering if athletes in college sports are being properly compensated for the money they bring into the university, for the show they put on for the general public (Johnson).

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

Over the last few decades, the empire of college sports has become one of the all-time great ventures. Division I college football programs typically generate between $40 and $80 million in profits a year, even after paying coaches multimillion-dollar salaries. With so much money, many people -- including the press -- fear these powerful college programs because of their ability and size over the smaller organizations. The NCAA, however, does not. No matter how powerful a program or how popular or important an athlete or coach might seem, the NCAA regularly sanctions athletes, coaches and programs that break the rules. Since the 1950’s, there have been numerous scandals produced by college athletes and coaches including Derek Rose, Jerry

Today more than ever, college sports are not just a game but instead a billion dollar business. The NCAA likes to refer to student athletes as amateurs and believes they shouldn’t be compensated while many others can argue that the players are being manipulated and exploited and deserve to be paid for play. Those who support the NCAA’s decision not to pay the players agree that there is no payment system that would fairly pay all students of all sports. They also believe that students are already being paid through their full or partial scholarships. Those who oppose these ideas believe that athletes are taken advantage of and deserve a cut of the millions they are making for the NCAA and the university they attend. The controversial

College sports is a form of entertainment for students, former alumni and the rabid sports fanatic. The NCAA gives sports fans the opportunity to see up and coming talent blossom and mature well before the player is eligible to join a pro league. While the NCAA benefits monetarily off this talent, the players themselves receive nothing of value accept for a scholarship to the university. Recently student athlete have organized and decided to fight for the rights to establish players unions similar to the pro league. Players have been meet with a backlash against the movement because of the lack of understanding. Although college athletics are considered amateur sports, student athletes should be paid for their services. Student athletes should receive compensation in order to pay for college expenses, to replace lost revenue from lack of endorsements and cover the impending probability of serious injury.

The current position of intercollegiate athletics in the United States is a peculiar one when compared to most any other country in the world. In no other nation will one find varsity intercollegiate athletics programs that pay their athletes to attend the school. Therefore, in no other country will one find quite as much debate as to whether or not these athletics programs should continue to be affiliated with the colleges and universities they represent, particularly if the primary objective of colleges and universities is to educate their students (Beyer, 2000). Moreover, the role of amateurism and whether or not student-athletes should be paid is a controversial issue among college sport fans and scholars in the

In recent years, there has been increased dialogue concerning the topic of compensating college athletes above athletic scholarships. Scholars, the media, and fans have debated this issues of whether intercollegiate athletes should receive remuneration for participation in sports beyond their education-related compensation of tuition, room, and board. Compensation for student athletes, particularly Division I football and basketball poses a greater concern about the moral and ethical conduct of those in leadership. In particular, commercialization of intercollegiate sports where the main focus is to generate revenue in the backs of the student-athletes whom the NCAA and member institutions decline to acknowledge them as worthy employees

The world of collegiate athletics was founded upon the ideals of commercialism and is filled with talented athletes that contain tremendous amounts of potential. Unfortunately, in order to bring in revenue that serves as crucial funding for their universities nationwide, the NCAA exploits the talent of these players and justifies this action by assuming the disguise of “amateurism” while also managing to adopt an indistinct version of professionalism. Instead, the NCAA spends portions of its revenue in order to renovate sports facilities and pay members of the coaching staff rather than providing compensation for the main sources of its revenue-- the players and the attention that their athletic talents bring to this organization. By