Should College Athletes Be Paid?

What college athlete would not want to be paid to play the sport that he or she loves? The real question is, though, should college athletes be paid for their roles in a college’s athletics? They are many points to each side of this recent controversial topic, which is why this has been made into such a hot debate in the past couple of years. As of right now, these athletes are not getting paid, but many of them truly believe that they should. Others believe that they already are being paid through certain types of scholarships and don’t deserve anything more than that. With that being said, there are two sides of this topic that have quality points.

The NCAA dates back to the early 20th century when president Theodore Roosevelt encouraged reforms to college football practices, which had resulted in a lot of injuries and deaths. Henry MacCracken of New York University arranged meetings about the football rules and regulations. On December 28, 1905 in New York, 62 education institutions became members of the IAAUS (Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States), which is now better known as the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association). The NCAA started out as a rule making body. Finally in 1921 the first NCAA championship was born: the National Collegiate Track and Field championship. Later more championships were formed, including the big “March Madness” basketball tournament in 1939.

Debating to pay college athletes for their time, effort, and the money the help generate for the school they attend has been an ongoing debate for countless years. This issue has become more prevalent in recent years because of the expense of living in today’s economy, and the fact that big-time college athletes contribute but do not receive any of the millions of dollars generated by their sports. Stanley Eitzen, a professor emeritus of sociology at Colorado State University, former president of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport, and the author of Fair and Foul: Beyond the Myths and Paradoxes of Sport, stands up for athletes and demands that society and the NCAA [National Collegiate Athletic Association], reconsider

In America we feel comfortable deciding how much somebody should get paid or if in fact they should get paid. We like to make decisions like that because it gives us power over somebody else. There are numerous ways where throughout history we have tried to influence how much a group of people get paid, or to influence the how much a certain race should get paid. We want to give everybody the same opportunity to succeed not depending on race, religion, or ethnicity. To give everybody a fair shot in life doesn’t always work out because you can’t always please everybody. You might work hard and put in a lot of effort, but to reach a certain outcome doesn’t always home to fruition. Being an elite level athlete and studying in school is one of

Should college athletes receive pay for what they do? You’ve probably seen this pop-up a million times, and thought about it. You’ve probably figured why should they? Aren’t they already receiving benefits from a full-ride scholarship? But then an athlete will get caught up in a scandal like Johnny Manziel, where he signed footballs for money. then you think well why shouldn’t he receive that money? And you then contradict yourself. But shouldn’t they receive money from outside sources, and then the benefits from the school. Not get a salary from the school just the benefits they’re already receiving, and money from sponsors. Wouldn’t that make sense considering the money they’re making the school? According to an ESPN report Alabama University makes $123,769,841 in total revenue from sports. (College Athletics Revenue) Yes ONE HUNDRED & TWENTY-THREE MILLION. Yet an athlete from Alabama can only receive benefits from a scholarship. That doesn’t seem right. You would want to be payed when the opportunity arises. It should only be fair these players get a piece of the revenue pie, after all they are the ones creating the revenue. The players should be getting benefits to allow them to pay for basic college needs, grow up to be responsible adults, and allow the NCAA to thrive. This would allow for the NCAA to truly thrive as a sporting association.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is one of the biggest sports organizations in the United States. One of the most divisive issues relating to the NCAA over the last several years has been the issue of athlete compensation. There are many sports—particularly football and basketball—that bring in incredible amounts of revenue to colleges across the country; therefore, whether or not athletes should be compensated for their role in college sports has become a topic of debate. While scholarship athletes are already compensated by their access to tutors, meals and a free education, the concept of the student-athlete has deteriorated over time and thus athletes should be able to make money by signing autographs or making public appearances while they are in school. In addition, the big four American professional sports do not give amateurs an opportunity to play aside from Major League Baseball, which funnels athletes to college sports and in turn ushers them into a place where they cannot profit from their athletic ability. The issue is clearly a complex and unethical one. It would be difficult for schools to pay athletes fairly as certain sports would appear entitled to more money based on profitability; however, players should undoubtedly be able to benefit from their athletic prowess by selling merchandise and profiting from their stature in general. The NCAA’s stance hindering players’ ability to sell autographs and other memorabilia is just as important to this

Two heated debates arise when considering faults in modern-day college athletics. The first is in college football whether or not a playoff system should be implemented in order to determine a definite Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Champion. This major issue in college football has been temporarily solved with the approval of a four-team playoff starting in 2014 and ending in 2025 (Dinich 1). Though it remains highly exclusive to the top four ranked teams at the end of the season, there lies an opportunity to grow its structure. Second tier, Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) expanded the playoff from 16 teams to 24 teams by giving the top eight seeds a bye in round one. The second most controversial question recurring in college

College athletes have been giving their all on their respective fields for decades without reasonable compensation. Often times, these athletes have been training since elementary school and some even before that. Each and every day they train and compete while risking their potential future career without any pay. These athletes deserve to be rewarded for their hard work, dedication, and most of all, profitability.

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.

Centuries ago in the 1770s the first sport known as cricket originated in England. As time passed by more sports began originating in England such as football and basketball. These sports became very popular worldwide and were incorporated in Universities as extra-curricular activities. As more students started playing some students demonstrated more talent than others. One of the sports students played was football which in the United States college football became a national obsession. More people became intrigued by football and this sport began bringing a lot of money by filling up the stands. The issue of paying these athletes began arising, so the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) decided to give them a free education

There are a few things that separate professional athletes from college athletes. What separates them is that professionals receive money for their hard work and dedication to their specific sport. When you think about it, the professional athletes get paid for what they do best while the college athletes juggle academics, social life, jobs, etc. To me, that is absurd. However, college athletes are receiving pay for the time they spend playing their sports. The college athletes pay is actually an education. Therefore, despite the salaries of college coaches, the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) annual income, the responsibilities of

There is no doubt some of the highest salaries in America belong to professional athletes. Whether it’s LeBron James’s $19.3 million dollar salary with the Cleveland Cavaliers or Matt Ryan’s $42 million dollar deal with the Atlanta Falcons, professional athlete’s salaries prove just how valuable the players are to whatever organization they are a part of. (Forbes.com) In 2014 the average professional football franchise was valued at $1.4 billion and the average professional basketball franchise was valued at $1.1 billion so it’s no wonder why athletes can be paid such high sums of money.(Forbes.com) Besides professional sports American’s love college athletics, college football in particular. Drawing in an average of 44,997 fans per game

When will loving a sport be enough to play? When will athletes feel like their work is being recognized? When will athletes quit demanding more: more chances, more freedom, and now, more money? When will student-athletes truly become “student-athletes”, without putting athletics before academics? Do student-athletes deserve to be paid a salary, in addition to their scholarships? How would a salary effect the way collegiate sports are being played now? Paying a college athlete a salary goes far beyond simply writing a check to the student. Paying a college athlete would consist of determining the rate of pay for all athletes and all sports, the changes it would bring to the athlete’s life, and even the overall academic commitment of these athletes.

Being a college athlete myself, the one question that tends to be asked by most of the

College athletes do not have time to have a job to be able to provide for themselves the things that scholarships do not cover.