The Northwestern University Football Team Case

Paying student athletes has become a growing disputation among college athletes in recent years. College athletes have gained immense popularity among Americans over the past few decades. This has resulted into increased revenues for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and its participating colleges. This often fuels the ongoing debate of whether college athletes should be compensated beyond their athletic scholarships. Because of the amount of income student athletes bring into schools, student athletes should be paid based on the amount of success, revenue, and popularity they bring to the school.

For about a decade, the debate between whether collegiate athletes should be paid while playing has been contemplated. Now, the focus has moved from all sports to two specific areas, football and men’s basketball. Sprouting from many court cases filed against the NCAA to some ugly sandals dealing with the athletes themselves. In the 2010 – 2011 time frame, this controversy really sparked up chatter; eventually leading the current pled for sport reformation. Our student athletes are the ones who are at the expense here stuck in between this large argument. Over the past 10 years, there has been minor things done for either side and the players themselves have started taking things into their own hands. The year 2010 a total of 7 student

If the student-athletes are paid a salary, in addition to receiving a scholarship, which includes, tuition, books, housing and meals, it would be grossly unfair to non-student-athletes because tuition costs would be increased dramatically and ultimately be unattainable for the non-student-athlete. Without reasonable tuition costs, less students will attend and in turn this loss of

College athletics are becoming more like the professional leagues except for one big issue, money. Student athletes bring in a vast amount of revenue for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) not to mention recognition and notoriety regarding the athlete’s university. However, the debate continues as to whether student athletes should or should not receive payment for playing college sports.

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.

In the United States, college athletics are growing larger by the minute. College athletics contribute not only to the recognition of colleges and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), it also contributes to the income of colleges and the NCAA. Without student athletes, these colleges and the NCAA would not reap the benefits of college athletics, such as: increased awareness of colleges, higher application rates, and of course the revenue brought in from game and event tickets, apparel, and contracts for licensing and television rights. Since the student athletes, who devote a great deal of time to their sport, are the cog in the machine that is the NCAA and college athletics, they deserve the fair and rightful compensation that they certainly do not currently receive. Here is exactly why student athletes in the NCAA should be compensated for what they do for their colleges, on and off the field of play.

Many believe that paying college athletes is wrong because they are amateurs, or students first and athletes second. With tuition continuing to raise the average athletic scholarships aren’t covering the costs anymore. There is a misconception that most college athletes on athletic scholarships are getting everything paid for, in reality that’s actually false. For example, a Division I basketball team is granted thirteen scholarships each year. Of those thirteen scholarships the University is allowed to split them up however they feel. These scholarships are for incoming students from high school and returning student athletes that had their scholarship picked up for another year. According to author Mark Kantrowitz, less than 20,000 students a year receive an entirely free ride to college (O’Shaughnessy, 2011). That number is students total, not student athletes, that is a very small number when you see that there were 453,347 NCAA student athletes in 2012-13 (Brown, 2013).

Every year in the United States, thousands of collegiate student-athletes participate in a variety of different sports, and currently they do not receive paychecks for their performances. College athletics have attained an extensive popularity increase among Americans over the past few decades. This has resulted into increased revenues for the National Collegiate Athletic Association [NCAA] and the participating colleges, which has fuelled the debate of whether or not college athletes should collect an income. College athletes should not be paid to play because it will negatively affect their college experience. Rather, they should be compensated for their dedication to the sport. Many student athletes accept scholarships to play at a

In the spring of 2014, the Northwestern University football team did something that has never been done before in the history of college sports. Several scholarship players voted on whether the team should unionize. These same players believe that they should be compensated for their play on the athletic field. Countless collegiate sports fans also believe that college athletes from around the country should be compensated for playing sports; however, paying college athletes would cause multiple problems in college athletics. Most people do not understand how much student athletes are given to them free of charge just to attend a university, while the majority of other average students are stuck with the burden of paying for their education. College athletes should not be paid since schools do not have the money to pay student athletes, it would not be fair for athletes who do not play football or basketball, and they have athletic scholarships that allow them to receive a free education.

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

As the debate of whether or not athletes should be paid grows, it is understandable why some people would say they shouldn’t. For example it would basically be an unfair playing field as you will have teams such as Alabama worth approximately $683 million dollars compared to a much smaller college like a Missouri State at $66 million. This will cause a major problem and only further the uneven gap that bigger schools already have over smaller ones. Another argument is the benefits the athletes receive from scholarships. Some will argue that athletes who are attending school on scholarships will say that they are basically getting a free education, including free books, and sometimes free or reduced living through the dormitory system provided by the universities

In the spring of 2014, the Northwestern University Football Team did something that has never been done before in the history of college sports. Many scholarship players voted on whether the team should unionize. These same players believe that they should be compensated for their play on the athletic field. Many collegiate sports fans also believe that collegiate athletes from around the country should be compensated for playing sports; however, paying college athletes would cause multiple problems in college athletics. College athletes should not be paid because schools do not have the money to pay student athletes, it would not be fair for athletes who do not play football or basketball, and they have athletic scholarships that allow them to receive a free education.

Intercollegiate sports have been around since the 1850s to promote athletes to play for the love of the game and not for income. Recently, two different decisions have endangered this tradition: the decision by the National Labor Relations Board to recognize the Northwestern University football team as employees of the university and a federal judge’s decision regarding payment to football and men’s basketball players. Both decisions favor the idea of paying NCAA athletes because their games generate massive income; from ticket sales, merchandising, and TV and marketing contracts, that benefit the university, but not the athletes themselves (Majerol). Nonetheless, NCAA athletes should not be paid because of the problems that would arise from

Every Saturday this fall, quarterback C.J. Beathard puts on his uniform of black and gold for the University of Iowa football team and works hard at his job for his beloved Hawkeyes, all the while being battered and bruised in his line of work. Similarly, quarterback Tom Brady of the New England Patriots in the National Football League (NFL) faces comparable work-related physical abuse in his job as a football player. Although these two athletes are alike in many ways, there is one major difference. Tom Brady is paid over $20,000,000 per year, while C.J. Beathard is working for free being compensated only by an athletic scholarship. Imagine getting paid for playing the sport you love. Professional athletes can. They are highly paid for their skill and expertise. They are a symbol for their organization, have name recognition, and represent commercial interests for lucrative contracts. When athletes make money for their teams, they deserve to be compensated for their efforts, which professional athletes are. College athletes, on the other hand, do not receive the same sort of consideration. In major college markets, athletes represent their schools and have key name recognition. The schools make money from the hard work of these student athletes. Fans from all around come to see their favorite school and athletes play to win against the hated opposition. Colleges and universities earn substantial profits from the commitment of their sports teams’ players, but pay out little

Student athletes commonly go to school for one reason: their love for the sport they participate in. These student athletes get scholarships from large Division 1 schools, which means things such as schooling, board, and food will be paid for by the school so the student athletes do not have to pay for these benefits themselves (Patterson). If college athletes are to be paid, it will cause unfair compensation between players who are valued or played more than others. When student athletes are rewarded with a scholarship, they have nothing school related that they would need to pay for. This can lead them to blow all of their income on unnecessary or dangerous things such as drugs and alcohol which could get them removed from the team they