Analysis: Should College Athletes Be Paid

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Should College Athletes Be Paid? In America, there are over 460,000 NCAA student-athletes every year who compete in 24 sports. Some of these positions come with scholarships. But because of the NCAA and their strict rules, payments aren’t allowed for these athletes. Though there are people who agree with the given scholarships and the rules that the NCAA has in place, there are still those who don’t believe that scholarships are enough and that these players deserve more. This raises up the question for debate: should college athletes be paid? The main argument of those who disagree with paying college athletes is that they are already receiving scholarships. With these players receiving payments instead of or in addition to scholarships, …show more content…

These athletes not only play a sport, but are also part of the school’s advertising team and they also bring in a ton of revenue for the team and college. The coaches of these athletes work hard no doubt. But it’s the players who do the real work and get on the field to play. Yet the coaches still get paid for what the players do and even get bonuses for big wins (Martinez). In addition to the games and practices they take part in, the students still have to go to the weight room, classes, filming, etc. Plus, sometimes they even have to miss their classes to go to NCAA games where millions of dollars are made. But none of that money goes to the players. (Marc …show more content…

College athletes used to be featured on EA Sports video games but were wanting payments for their face, name, jersey number, etc. being used on the games. This is understandable because professional athletes were getting paid for the same thing. But the NCAA has strict rules that forbid players from permitting “the use of his or her name or picture to advertise, recommend or promote directly the sale or use of a commercial product or service of any kind.” (Peter Berkes) Therefore, EA Sports did away with using college players on their video games altogether. This NCAA rule previously stated also means that these player can not even sign as much as a football or tshirt if the products will be sold in order to make a profit. In 2010, five football players from Ohio State sold championship rings, jerseys, and awards in order to make a profit. When the NCAA found out about it, the players were suspended for the first five games of the next season. In addition, they reportedly were receiving benefits a couple years prior from a tattoo parlor. These athletes are not even allowed to use their persona to get personal benefits.

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