Essay On College Athletes

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 ).

In his article “The Shame of College Sports,” Taylor Branch (2011) describes how universities are focused on advancing and receiving money from major athletics and having star athletes, but how the universities are not caring for the “student athlete.” The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has made college sports into an unmerited business. However, as years progress more athletes are getting smart and are taking the NCAA to court. The more students that challenges the rules by the NCAA and take them to court, the secrets and undermining values of the NCAA come out and the closer the NCAA comes to an end.

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.

With the universities pulling in more than twelve billion dollars, the rate of growth for college athletics surpasses companies like McDonalds and Chevron (Finkel, 2013). The athletes claim they are making all the money, but do not see a dime of this revenue. The age-old notion that the collegiate athletes are amateurs and students, binds them into not being paid by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). This pay for play discussion has been talked about since the early 1900s but recently large steps are being made to actually make a change. There are many perspectives on the payment of collegiate student athletes coming from the NCAA, the athletes themselves, and the university officials.

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

College athletics are the backbones of most colleges in the United States. Sports on the college level hold the biggest influence over potential students and the campus’ overall performance. The purpose of this argument is to explain how influential college sports are to the actual college. This particular topic should be discussed and brought to light because not only does it provide a better understanding of college sports, but it also enlightens readers that programs in college are not all about academics. College athletics serve as a major attraction for potential students in respect to enrollment issues, students’ major choices and ultimately their careers, an opener for commercial use and the receiving of charity donations,

Big-time sports in college has become one of the most impactful experience for the college’s fans and students. In the past two decades the boom of college sports such as football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, softball and volleyball have grown exponentially. Some the reason why this has happened is the scholarship sanctions the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) put into effect a few years ago; what the sanctions established were that the “big” schools such as the University of Florida, University of Texas, University of Alabama among other school similar to them couldn’t offer all of their scholarships to the top athlete coming out of High School, making all the smaller schools more competitive on the national level.

Every week between August and December there is at least 1 collegiate football game that airs on National TV. Doctors, Teachers, garbage men, nurses people from all over the country watch college football during the week The games or shown everywhere, from local bars, airports, barbershops, stores, and in local business. Millions of people watch a group of college student-athletes compete on a football field as entertainment. Entertainment with friends, family, or coworkers, football is watched. People may spend hundreds of dollars per season some a week on a college football game. From admission to the game, parking, food, buying merchandise of their favorite college player, to the tv ratings, tv companies receive from the millions of viewers. Money is being spent on collegiate football rather it is directly at the game or indirectly from watching it at a bar in the local neighborhood. The players on the field, training year round to perform and put on a good performance to put their team in the best situation to win. Win for the people watching, buying tickets to come to the game, buying jerseys, spending their money on high end suits just to watch their team win against any component. Players training to win for their university, more winning for the university means more fans come to support. More fans come to support, more money the school makes from the game. The change in excitement and income for the fans and the university, but the same outcome in return for the

Many student-athletes go to college all four years before going pro, some go one or two years, some do not go at all surprisingly this is a common option. This was done by future hall of famer and basketball great Lebron James. In his case, it was a success but for others, they did not have the same result. Many players are superstars in high school but it takes more than skill and ability to be successful at the professional level. Maturity and work ethic are definitely equal factors.

n college sports are important for the physical body, finding jobs when done with college and

There has been amplified debate on the treatment, education, training of the college athlete. To avoid exploitation of athletes, “The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), formed in 1905, set bylaws requiring college student-athletes to be amateurs in order to be eligible for intercollegiate athletics competition” (Schneider n.p.). Intercollegiate athletics have dramatically changed over the last several decades. Currently, intercollegiate athletics generate tremendous amounts of revenue, remarkably in football and basketball. College sports in America is a

Athletes today are exhausted, enfeebled, and broke. They are at the peak of their career performing before countless fans, yet what are a large portion of them receiving in return? Only a few players go ahead to profit from contending professionally in their sport and most athletes don't seek after a career in their major. This is on account of they are frequently grouped into majors that won't enable them to prevail in life, rather the major makes it simpler for them to concentrate on their individual sport. According to ljworld about Baylor’s football team: “51 percent of players major in general studies, compared with just 1 percent of all other undergraduates.”. Understudy athletes ought to be paid in view of the requesting way of

Currently, in America, there is a business in which the laborers put their bodies and health at risk while bringing in billions of dollars in revenue. One could not be blamed for assuming that these laborers must earn a fantastic living for themselves, yet this could not be further from the truth. College athletes are considered amateurs and therefore are entitled to zero financial compensation. While bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars for their schools, these athletes receive only a place to sleep and tuition-free education at the school. In America today the mostly white profiteers of this system are legally committing fraud and profiting off of thebacks of young minority athletes; in this way

Growing up as a young boy in a very athletic family, for a very long time it was my dream to one day attend college and play for a university, a sport of my choice, where one day I would make it to the pros and I would play a sport, not only for fun, but as a career. This dream of mine is often shared by many young boys/girls or even young men/women alike, the dream of playing a game for a living. We soon find out that the quickest way to professional sports is through college, where you can get an education, hone your craft with top of the line coaches, and raise interest for yourself as a player. All of these opportunities and more can be awarded to you by simply attending college, at least that is the facade that we are led on to believe. Upon further inspections, you find all the contingencies that are associated with the scholarships. These universities offer you an “education” and in return you make them billions of dollars. Much like professional sports, the NCAA is littered with dirty money, gambling, bribery, and exploitation, just to name a few. Young adults are tricked into signing four years of their life away at the prospect of a professional career in athletics, for the chance to achieve their lifelong dream of playing a professional sport. However, the lack of rights, security, and overall risk of being a college athlete is quite risky when you are at a universities disposal. The NCAA’s oppression has gone far enough when it enforces brutally severe rules on

At many colleges and universities, there is a significant difference between the life of a student-athlete and the life of a non-student athlete. A number of institutions that are regulated by the NCAA(National Collegiate Athletic Association), mostly larger schools(Divisions I, I-AA, and II) apply their focus solely on their athletic programs opposed to their athletes themselves. Yet, this is not the case for every college or university. There are also schools that are known for their academics, such as Ivy League schools that produce top scholars. Yet, very few schools are known to give the absolute “best” of both worlds per say. Many of the larger schools put their efforts into developing elite athletic programs in order to gain capital. For decades this has been a major concern for many. The same athletes that are performing to build their schools have not been reaping, nor acquired access to, the benefits that they are promised nor that they deserve. Colleges and universities should focus on giving “student” athletes more of an education and less of an athletic experience because the odds of becoming professional are unlikely, college athletics bring in enough revenue to support the athletes, and student-athletes should be as informed and supported in academics as they are sports.