Why College Athletes Should Be Paid

What most people don’t is that not all athletes get the full-ride scholarships that people think of. Most collegiate sports don’t even offer full-ride scholarships; instead they have a set amount of money that they can do whatever to give scholarships. According to a U.S. News article, “The average athletic scholarship is about $10,400. Only four sports offer full rides to all athletes who receive scholarships: football, men’s and women’s basketball, and women’s volleyball” (O'Shaughnessy). Just to put this into perspective, there are twenty-four total college sports, and only these 4 offer full scholarships. This showcases the rarity of a full-ride in college athletes. Looking into it even more, most of those college athletes come from low income families, “86 percent of college athletes come from below the poverty line” (Hayes 1). A college athlete's schedule is also very hectic. In an article showing the schedule of a football player, it lists, “6am-7am: Wake up,

In her article she emphasizes the fact that paying college athletes would be completely unfair to other students that attend school. She argues that the student athletes have almost everything provided for them in college and how regular students don’t have some of the opportunities that they do. She also goes on to say that the scholarship that the school provides for their athletes is payment enough, whether it is a full or partial scholarship. She also hints on the fact that being broke and having no money is all a part of the “college experience” and that everybody is struggling to make ends meet and that it everybody is working hard to make money and that a majority of the people who attend college cannot afford to go out and overindulge and spend money on the things that they want, so college athletes should not have this privilege either. Also, smaller colleges would not be able to shell out money like larger colleges could so a large school would be able to pay more for a player than a smaller college would, therefore putting the smaller college at a disadvantage.

Actions towards paying athletes are being taken and according to the TCU Daily Skiff, “There’s a legislation being passed around in the Big 12 states to provide athletes with an extra stipend in addition to their all-expenses paid education. The idea is that these students are producing truckloads of revenue for the university and should see some of the fruits of their labor.” (Jennings, par. 2) Because athletes aren’t paid for producing such money, supporters feel some of the money made should go towards helping with extra expenses. An average student athlete has to pay for phone bills, transportation, entertainment, laundry, toiletries and other things. While the typical college student has the opportunity to work, athletes don’t. Some students in college receive academic full ride scholarships, which are the same as athletic full rides, but they have time to earn extra money on the side. If these students are receiving a full ride scholarship and have the opportunity to work then an athlete should be paid a compensation for his or her efforts on the playing field.

College sports is a multi-billion dollar industry. Each year thousands of high school students are recruited to play college sports, but under strict conditions. Students are required to do well in athletics while keeping up with their academics. College athletes spend up to forty five hours per week on practices, training, and games. In addition, they spend roughly forty hours on their academics. The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletics Association) does not think it is necessary to pay these athletes because they want to maintain the “amateur sport” status. According to Stanley Eitzen in his “College Athletes should be Paid, “The universities and the NCAA claim their athletes in big-time sports programs

How much harder would athletes work if they were paid for their performance on the field, track, or court? College athletes are put to the test each and everyday, they risk their health to entertain millions day in and day out. College athletes deserve part of the money due to the revenue they bring in for their schools and for the NCAA, they deserve the money because they do not have time to get a job because they are practicing and training at least 40 hours a week, they should also get paid because they are used as marketing models for the ncaa and for their universities. College athletes also should not get paid because they are already getting paid in scholarship money. College athletes deserve to get paid because they are putting their bodies on the line just so the NCAA and their sponsors can make money.

As for myself being a college football player, I know what it is like to struggle with income in college and not having money to pay for certain/basic needs of the college life. Stating this, being a football player and attending school enrolled as a full time student as well, we are basically putting forty-plus hours of work every week. By putting so much time and effort into the love that we have for this game, we cannot possibly find time to get a minimum wage job to help pay for the necessities of college life. I haven't even mentioned the traveling factor that we go through, that’s another stressor of being a college athlete. “Because of the amount of hours we put in and the dedication we have to our sports, a lot of us don’t have enough time to go out and get a job like normal students do. I know we are not professionals, but we have expenses to worry about and don’t have the same amount of time or opportunities to make money

College sports can determine a person’s lifestyle. Determines whether or not they can go pro or get a job. Paying athletes can give them a better sense of money. They can learn how to save their money up, learn how to spend it correctly, and a great sense of financial awareness. The problem is that many

While people may have the opinion that college athletes should be paid, the debate for

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.

When it comes to college athletes their days start out about 5:30 a.m. to get a morning lift in before they have to go sit in the class room for a five plus hours. After sitting in class all day they have to go to practice and then watch tape, after all of this is done usually almost all of the students will have homework to accomplish for the next day. There is definitely not enough time in one day for a student-athlete to hold down a part-time job to help them pay for college. Without being able to hold a part-time job because of the length of their days, how are athletes suppose to pay for school?

Over the last few years there has been renewed controversy about whether college athletes should be paid. The idea of paying college athletes goes back to the early 1900s with one of the first inter collegiate competitions between Harvard and Yale. The modern position of the National Collegiate Athletic Association is that athletic scholarships provide a free college education in return for participating on the university team. Many college athletes dedicate more than forty hours of training per week. College is expensive. How can we expect college athletes to pay for books and other basic necessities if they are busy practicing or participating in home games or traveling to away games? The NCAA needs to start paying these athletes to supplement

Despite devoting “forty to sixty hours per week to their sport most of the year, which is more than many full-time jobs, Division I football players aren’t considered employees and lack basic economic rights under the NCAA’s cartel restrictions” (Johnson). The NCAA made “$912.8 million dollars last year and are now poised to top the eye-popping mark of $1 billion in annual revenue” (Clotfelter). These types of figures prove that revisions must be made when it comes to paying student athletes. To be clear, “student athletes do not need salaries or monthly paychecks, even though the NCAA runs just like any other professional sports league” (Johnson). Rather than, they should simply be allowed to live within their means like anyone else in America.

Year after year fans enjoy nail biting moments produced by the NCAA basketball tournament and football season. Many would argue that the NCAA provides a product that matches up with the professionals both competitively and financially. The only difference is that professionals get paid for the revenue that they bring in while NCAA athletes do not. It is time for change, college athletes should be monetarily compensated because they are the ones who have made the NCAA profitable for many years.

First, No college athletes should not be paid because Not all colleges have enough money to pay their athletes. Some colleges barely have enough money to pay for books and school supplies so if they start paying college athletes some schools will start going out of business and will close down and students From that College will go to another College and the same

Another argument in the case for college athletes to be paid would be that the scholarships that are offered to athletes aren’t enough to cover the lost wages they would gain from working a job. Even though some athletes are offered full ride scholarships to great universities, they aren’t enough to pay their rent and other bills that they have. With athletes committing so much time for sports they do not have the time to get a job and pay for their bills and other things they need. This puts more strain on the athletes and can cause them to drop out of their respective sports and when that happens they ultimately lose their scholarships. College athletics are more demanding than a full-time job should pay their athletes for their services provided to the university they play for. The wages lost by athletes at universities are even greater than those working typical eight-hour days. Since athletes, football in particular, commit an immense amount of time to their sports they could be obtaining a wage far greater than the amount of the scholarship they obtained for attending and participating in sports at a university. Another point to be made would be that only a small portion of the people associated with college athletics receive full scholarships. This means that not only are athletes committing so much time and effort for sports, they must pay out of pocket for the portion that their respective