College Athletes Are Being Consumed By The World Of College Athletics

Collegiate athletics is a multibillion dollar business. Competition across basketball, football, and other popular sports generate just as much money as they do excitement and entertainment to sports fans and the casual viewer. The driving force behind this behemoth are the athletes that don the uniform of the competing universities. These athletes, the most of which are black, dedicated time synonymous to working a full time job on top of being student in order to serve this money machine. What is so damning about this system then? The truth is that the student-athletes do not see a penny of the millions they earn for their schools. On top of that, they are stretched beyond reasonable means in order to serve their athletic program. In return, they are compensated with scholarships to attend the college. However, what might seem like a coveted opportunity is not what it seems.

“SLAVES OF BIG-TIME COLLEGE SPORTS” by D. Stanley Eitzen explains that college athletes are not being treated fairly and we need to change for the athletes best interest. First off, it states that players are exploited economically, making millions for their teams, but provided only with a subsistence wage of room, board, tuition, and books; they are controlled with restricted freedoms; they are subject to physical and mental abuse by coaches. Later in the text, it explains how “These rules reek with injustice. Athletes can make money for others, but not for themselves.” (Eitzen 3) This source will be used to describe and give examples of the opposing views and skewed image of these college athletes lives and privileges.

Its no secret that college sports brings in the big bucks, and without the athletes preforming day in or day out universities would lack the funds to support a school needs. The college sports industry makes 11 billion in annual revenues (Mitchell, Horace, U.S. News Digital Weekly). 11 billion dollars made off of college sports alone is enough its self to pay these student-athletes for their contribution to a school’s success because without them there wouldn’t be this much income. They need these athletes and the NCAA should quit exploiting them for their talents and compensate them. Student-athletes are amateurs who choose to participate in intercollegiate athletics (Mitchell, Horace, U.S. News Digital Weekly). Indeed, they are amateur but in sports the word professional has a different meaning since in all sports there is a 1-2-year stint before an athlete can go from the college level to a professional standpoint. Meaning it only takes a year or two

Thesis: As the popularity, and revenue continues to grow in college sports, the debate will be taken to new heights about whether or not college athletes are being exploited, and if they should be compensated monetarily.

Howard Chudacoff raises the controversial question of whether or not college athletes should be paid during a time of the year when people are most focused on college athletics, March Madness. Chudacoff is a firm believer that college athletes are given enough amenities as it is and do not deserve extra compensation or paychecks. His main arguments to support his position revolve around the royalties that power five athletes receive in regards to education centers, training facilities, and the fact that these players receive a free education. Chudacoff paints the picture of these facilities throughout his article and appeals to the reader’s pathos by descriptively showing the reader how college athletes really do live like millionaires.

In the last few decades a crucial question raised around collegiate athletics and the student athletes who compete within the NCAA. Some argue that college athletes should be paid because of how valuable they are to their school, and because of how hard they work to manage both their sport and school work. However, others believe college athletes don’t deserve payment because of the many benefits they already receive due to playing sports. Therefore, supporters of paying college athletes say they deserve compensation due to their dedication and amount of revenue they bring to their universities; yet, the opposite side argues athletes already enjoy many luxuries along with their scholarships that other college students do not receive.

Since the 1950’s the NCAA has promoted an idea that student athletes that are given a full scholarships are receiving a free ride for their education. In this article Ramogi Huma, and Ellen Staurowsky highlight controversial issues about how college athletics are run. In the article it is noted that 45% of football, and 52% of basketball players do not graduate. The two programs that revenue the most money for an athletic program are Men’s Football, and Men’s Basketball. The article debates that the NCAA uses the money that athletes in men’s football and basketball generate from their play to assist in funding other programs in the athletic department. While athletes are generating millions of dollars for their universities, the athlete spends on average of $3,222 in out of pocket expenses. While attending these universities these athletes live at or under the poverty line. If these athletes were allowed access to the fair market like the professional athletes, the average FBS football and basketball player would be “worth approximately $121,048 and $265,027 respectively (not counting individual commercial endorsement deals)” (Huma). The NCAA maintains that these athletes are amateurs and to keep their eligibility to participate in college athletics they can receive zero compensation for their talent. By maintaining this view point the NCAA allows athletes to only receive grant-in-aid’s which reward the athlete with free tuition, and room and board and can receive no other

Over the past few decades college sports has grown in popularity across the United States. But it hasn’t been until recent years that many Americans have started to argue about the big revenues generated by many of the elite sports programs. However the big question that stands out is: should the athletes generating millions of dollars worth of profit a year for their University receive any of the money for their performance? Even though student athletes don’t receive a big paycheck at the end of the month, in one way or the other they do receive rewarding benefits through scholarships and grants because of their ability to be successful on the playing field. Thus, college athletes should not be paid because they are receiving a free education through scholarships and earning countless other benefits for being part of the university’s athletic program.

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.

Some people believe that college athletes should be paid due to a concern of exploitation. However most college athletes are already compensated for their athletics with scholarships and countless benefits. They already receive significant scholarships worth upwards of “$50,000 per year” at some of the most highly regarded education institutions in the nation (Text

Imagine this you wake up at 7:45 am Monday morning so that you can make it to work (in this case practice) by 8:30 am you start your day with demanding labor. That ends around 1:30pm after you head to the weight room for an hour and a half to better yourself. You’ve trained your body now it is time to train your mind so you study for 2 hours. Your day began at 7:45 so you’re exhausted you decide to grab some dinner and go to bed. This is the routine college athletes go through every day and that is not accounting for their schooling. Let’s face it there is no time for work in that already packed schedule, so how do college athletes get money to survive. They can’t work, many come from rough backgrounds, and nobody cares, which is not acceptable when you look at the amount of money college athletes bring to their respective universities. Big time college athletes deserve to be paid in compensation for their time and abilities that they give to colleges. When you look at the capital that is generated from division 1 sports there is room to pay the athletes something to help them get through college.

If the athletes get done with college, and have spent all of their time practicing, that means they may not have had a job to save for when college is over. The college athletes are playing for big reasons, to make it to a professional level and for a title. Being at a professional level means making money, so they should be able to in college as well. The players would give up just about anything to be on the team they give their blood, sweat, and hard earned time for. They could be studying or out hanging out with other college kids, but they are putting their time in gyms and on fields for their team. This is why college athletes should be paid for their talents and work, not just given a

“I’ve been writing about this issue for several years now calling for college athletes to be paid the wages that they deserve and am sad to acknowledge that very little has changed since I was a college athlete at UCLA, so poor that I and most of my teammates could barely scrape by. But just as with every injustice, wrongs don’t get righted unless we keep raising our voices again and again. So, once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more” (Kareem Abdul Jabbar Guardian Par 2). They fail to acknowledge how much our college athletes work and how we fail to even give them a single cent for how hard they work for their respective schools. The Guardian talks to Kareem Abdul Jabbar about his views on the recent controversy about how the schools

If you have ever wondered why college athletes are not paid, you are not alone. If you are a sports nut, then you may have even gotten into arguments over the topic. Economic experts do not seem to agree either. If you listen to each side of the argument the answer seems gray, but if you look at the evidence the answer may become clearer. The National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) should pay Division I student-athletes who participate in men’s basketball and football, because of the amount of money they accumulate for the school and NCAA, because the sport they are a part of is a full time job, and also because many student-athletes struggle financially.

College athletes are financially exploited by the NCAA and universities by not being properly rewarded for their services. In the area of college athletics, exploitation should be defined as, “an individual gaining something by taking an unfair advantage of another individual” (Miller). Exploitation in college athletics is especially problematic because student-athletes are not being justly compensated for their services to their school nor are they receiving a true education. Players are compensated for playing with much less than what they are worth because of strict NCAA rules that are in place to protect athletes “from exploitation by professional and commercial enterprises” (NCAA). The NCAA protects it’s athletes through its core value of amateurism, which refers to the fact the athletes, “do not receive remuneration for their athletic services” (Miller). The organization is hiding behind their claim of player amateurism to escape the demand for player payment. Although it is a non-profit organization, the NCAA, “has evolved into a multi-billion dollar industry where many of the schools’ annual revenues reach above $260 million” (Miller). Universities and athletic departments, “have gained huge gate receipts, television revenues, national visibility, donors to university programs, and more as a result of the performances of gifted basketball and football players” (Rheenen). When there is a surplus, none of it goes to increasing scholarships, it is used to pay for