Should Student Athletes Be Paid?

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 ).

It is mid-February and for college athletes and fans everywhere that means that the College Football “Bowl” season is over and “March Madness” is around the corner. The “Bowl” Season is a series of college football games from the elite teams, sponsored by various corporations and “March Madness” is a 68 team single elimination tournament to decide who the best team in college basketball is. For the students involved they get a chance to have their legacy live on forever and for some it is a chance to show professional teams they have what it takes to compete on the next level, but for the universities it is a chance to bring in millions of dollars in revenue. As a student-athlete, and a volunteer basketball coach, I believe that it is unfair that student athletes across the country have decided to give their lives to these sports in hopes that they get lucky and “win the lottery” by making in into professional sports. I believe that student athletes have earned the right to be compensated for their hard work, dedication and commitment to these universities across the country.

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.

In America sports wherever there is people, there will also be sports. Sports have played a major role in American history. To some people sports is all they have. It is just the way that things are. The issue in sports now is that the NCAA exploit the sports world and the very backbone of the corporation is the poorest. It is an issue that has been around for quite some time now. The issue is that the sports world face is the fact that college athletes are not paid, although they perform in a multibillion dollar industry. The NCAA basically has a monopoly on college athletics, and generate about one billion dollars a year. College sports are extremely demanding both in and out of season, and these athletes put their future on the line. The NCAA should be legally obligated to compensate athletes, based solely on the fact that the money made, is from their performance.

More and more it’s discussed daily on whether if college athletes should finally be paid, or remain unpaid, this topic is very important because college sports are very popular in the United States. College athletes should remain unpaid because it wouldn’t be fair to the other less watch sports that don’t bring in a lot of revenue, it wouldn’t be fair to the female athletes they wouldn’t be paid equally, college athletes already have advantages and receive benefits, and paying the athletes would only benefit the big named universities and not the smaller schools. College athletes were all recruited out of high school to play a sport for a university of their choosing, if the athletes were good enough they would receive a scholarship, that comes with a free education, free housing, and a free meal plan. A discussed topic is should college athletes be paid because of all the hard work and revenue that they bring towards their universities, or should they remain unpaid because they are already receiving enough. In the article “Pay to play: should college athletes be paid?” Many get scholarships, which help pay for their tuition, supplies, housing, and sporting equipment. According to the NCAA, college athletes often receive grants worth more than $100,000”. (Birkenses & Bagaria Par. 8) A free education is already enough, college athletes get to go to school for free just because of their athletic abilities, which also

The idea of paying college athletes to compete is not new, unlike most people think. This debate has been around since the 1800’s. The college sports industry makes about $11 billion in annual revenues. Fifty colleges report annual revenues that exceed $50 million. Nationally in 2010-11, the top 15 college basketball programs generated roughly $293 million, less than a third of what the top 15 football programs generated, baseball makes very little money compare to basketball and football according to Jeffrey Dorfman. These revenues are coming from multiple sources, such as ticket sales, sponsorship, and broadcasting rights. The National Collegiate Athletic Association recently sold broadcast rights to its annual men 's basketball tournament for upwards of $770 million per season. At the University of Alabama, the head football coach, Nick Saban, recently signed a contract paying him $7 million per year; more than 91 times the average wage of an Orange County public school teacher. However, the facts I have mentioned so far concerns football only. Football and basketball are the biggest sources of athletic revenues in the majority of universities. So with all this money involved, should student athletes get a percentage of the revenue their sport brings to the university?

One of the most controversial subjects we as individuals hear about this day in age is whether or not college athletes deserve to be paid. Many people argue that these athletes do intact, deserve to be paid for their time and hard work. NCAA athletes create a name for themselves by playing and performing well on their college teams. The better these athletes perform, the more publicity the school revives. This then leads to higher ticket sales and stores around campus selling jerseys and other clothing items with athletes names and numbers on the back. NCAA schools have become comfortable with using athletes’ names to bring in a revenue for the school, and yet the athletes never see any of that money. On the other hand, many people believe that these athletes do not deserve, nor should they expect to receive payment in return. They believe that these scholarships and the education are payment in itself. Some even bring up the question on if it is affordable or even realistic to pay college athletes.

What has been a hot topic for several years now is why the NCAA still refuses to pay their student athletes as well as ban them from making any financial income off their names. The amount of time put in to athletics can interfere with performance in the classroom. They are students first and athletes second and the purpose of the scholarship is to get an education while competing in athletics. A highly controversial topic for several is the amount of time put in to athletics can interfere in the classroom while at the same time, they are students first and athletes second NCAA athletes have gone on for several years trying

All Division 1 athletes put their heart and soul into the sport that they work so hard for day after day, week after week, month after month. For many years, athletes’ passion and hard work for the game that they play has gotten them an opportunity to attend a university where they are able to showcase their talent and ability at one of the highest amateur levels of athletics. When one makes it to the Division 1 level, playing sports is more or less a business. The job that one has as a student athlete is to play sports and make a profit for the college he or she attends. In the past years, there has been one controversial question that lingers in the minds of athletes, sports analysts and fans across the nation. Should Division 1 athletes be paid to participate? Division 1 student athletes should not receive payment or a salary for competing in college athletics.

There is a debate on whether college athletes should be paid. It has been known that the fewer scholarships given to student-athletes increase their competiveness on the field, which shows us that keeping money away from student-athletes makes them more competitive (Baird 2). There is also a case that student-athletes are being robbed because they are not receiving compensation for their own likeness (Holthaugh JR. 1). Television networks are paying millions for the rights to show big games on TV, which shows us that student-athletes are the entertainers with no compensation (Bowen 1). Allen Sack informs us that there have been cases where some athletes in the NCAA get injured before they finish their career and don’t make it to the pros due to the loss of their scholarship, which shows us that the NCAA is exploiting student-athletes Sack 2).The NCAA should require schools to pay for sports-related injuries in any serious injury, because it can determine if they will make it to the NFL (Huma 1). Athletes are accepting illegal pay, because they see the universities making all of the money, which shows us that poor student-athletes are in need of compensation (Porto 1). Adrian Peterson thinks that college athletes should be paid because he fought through injuries and did not make a penny from his years at Oklahoma, which shows us that student-athletes who make it to the NFL have injuries that they are fighting through during the combine (Haislop 2). Joe Theisman thinks that

Imagine that you just graduated high school, as the star athlete. You played all three seasons of sports and you were the best player. You may be agile and strong, but how will people view you if you received poor grades? At Euclid High, some of our great student athletes are not where they need to be academically. If you are going to participate in extracurricular sport activities, you will need to have good grades! Euclid High School should require student athletes to maintain a minimum G.P.A. of 2.5 to participate in a sports program.

In recent years, the issue of paying college athletes has come to the forefront. There is an entire market for college sports and the associations that oversee these college teams, the ones that broadcast their games on television, and the sponsors that support them make a huge profit. This brings the question, why aren’t the students who are giving their time to these sports being paid? There seems to be a misconception that college athletes aren’t being paid and that is wrong. Just in Florida, to be a student at high profile institutions such as the University of Miami, Florida or Florida State University costs an arm and a leg. Adding on the cost of living, books, and miscellaneous expenses, students are burdened by higher and higher costs of getting education, even if they have the intellect for it. Those who qualify as good enough to be athletes for these schools however get a free pass. Many athletes, especially football or basketball players, have the four years of their university expenses taken care of simply because they have the talent that the school wants. They not only get “a full, free ride… [they get] tutors, study tables, human alarm clocks...[their] game is their resume” (Daugherty). I believe that because of all the perks that college athletes get for playing for a university, they should not get paid to play on top of all that.

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”- Nelson Mandela. I believe that college student-athletes should receive special education privileges such as more time on projects or special tutoring. There is only a small percentage of student-athletes that will be graduating college. In addition to the graduating dilemma, only a small amount of athletes will be going to a professional level. A student-athlete barely have the most stressed life due to athletic and academic reasons. If these athletes were properly educated then these student-athletes would not lead their lives to crime and drugs. I am writing this essay because being a student-athlete myself, it is difficult to balance my school life and my athletic life. I know how college student-athletes feel and I want to help give them a better future.

Sports have many effect on children through their life. Sports and play have been linked to better cognitive abilities and being healthier. Sports teams may also give a player a family away from home becoming closer to others and being a better-rounded individual. I’m of the belief that sports bring many advantages to students not only in school but out of it too.

In, recent years, there has been much controversy over whether college athletes should be paid. The argument has primarily consisted of whether college athletes deserve special monetary treatment over the other students at universities. Some athletes are starting to feel exploited because the universities are using the players in their advertising campaigns. These students aren’t receiving any financial compensation for their images being used in the media. These athletes are bringing in millions of dollars to their schools in sponsorships, but what are they getting in return? College athletes should have their full tuition, meals, and housing paid for, but the school should not be responsible for giving these student athletes money for playing. The school should not be responsible for paying the athletes because college athletes are financially irresponsible, college athletic programs cannot afford to pay athletes, playing sports is a privilege, and it would remove athletes’ competitive nature and passion for the game.