A question that has been rising to the surface lately is “should college athletes be paid a salary?” One cannot get on the internet now a day and not see some kind of college sport headline. The world of college sports has been changed greatly the past decade due to college athletes. These athletes make insurmountable amounts of money and an unbelievable amount of recognition for the universities. The athletes that provide and make a ton of revenue for the colleges also spend a huge amount of their time practicing and staying committed to sports, and have to maintain good grades in school which requires quite a bit of overtime. Because college athletes generate massive amounts of revenue and put in massive amounts of personal time for their individual universities, colleges need to financially compensate players for their contributions. The colleges that these superstars represent are reaping all of the benefits of the accomplishments the athletes have, yet the big named players are making nothing from what they do.
For many years now there has been a large debate on whether college athletes should be paid or not. A college athlete is someone who participates in an originated competitive sport for where they go to school. Some people believe that college athletes should be paid while others do not. College athletes already receive money for their participation in sports through scholarships. College athletes are also already given more than just scholarships to play sports. Most colleges would not be able to pay athletes anyways because it would cost so much. Athletes should not get paid to play college sports because they are already offered scholarship, they are given everything to them, and paying college athletes would be too expensive for colleges.
I was not really aware of the amount of people who actually concerned themselves with whether or not college athletes should be paid until I started doing research. There is no coincidence between the absurd amount of money that college sports have begun making and the more recent argument that college students should be getting paid. Going into this, I anticipated that there would be an endless amount of articles against athletes being paid for playing sports in college, but I was surprised that when looking through different databases, I found that more people think that they should. As a college student, and a non-athlete, and also as someone who has to pay full tuition, I just don’t really see why they should be able to receive anymore money than the schools are already providing them through room and board, meal plans, gyms, travel expenses and other things that the rest of us do actually pay for. I think it would be good if athletes and other proponents of them getting paid would see that this is already a great, “opportunity to both receive an education and get the exposure to win a major professional contract more than compensates NCAA athletes for their efforts” (Riely, 2008).
College athletes should be paid! College athletes are often considered to be some of the luckiest students in the world. Most of them receiving all inclusive scholarships that cover all the costs of their education. They are also in a position to make a reputation for themselves in the sporting world preparing them for the next step. The ongoing debate whether student athletes should be paid has been going on for years. These athletes bring in millions of dollars for their respective schools and receive zero in return. Many will argue that they do receive payment, but in reality it is just not true. Costs associated with getting a college education will be discussed, information pertaining to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and benefits student athletes receive. First, I’ll start with costs associated with college and most of all why student athletes should be paid!
College athletics is a billion dollar industry and has been for a long time. Due to the increasing ratings of college athletics, this figure will continue to rise. It’s simple: bigger, faster, stronger athletes will generate more money. College Universities generate so much revenue during the year that it is only fair to the players that they get a cut. College athletes should get paid based on the university’s revenue, apparel sales, and lack of spending money.
According to Mark Edelman there are 21 reasons why college athletes should be paid, but I will not list all of them. The first reason college athletes that the typical Division I athletes devotes about 45 hours per week to his or her sport. 45 hours per week is more hours than some regular full-time American jobs. I believe that working that hard per week for that period of time deserves some type of reward for that and, most likely, money would satisfy everyone. Working 45 hours a week takes a lot of dedication on top of your classes, and sometimes that can be exhausting. The second reason college athletes should be paid is that colleges are making millions off of athletic revenue. Of course, the players do receive things during the season such as travel suits, game gear every week, and headphones at some schools. Those things are good, but they are not enough for them to deal with other things like their family who needs them. For example, the University of Alabama reported $143.3 million in 2013 of athletic revenue. That is a lot of money to bring in on a...
Throughout history the big question surrounding the college athletic industry is if college athletes should get paid for the participation in the sport. It has recently over the past few years been brought up as a huge topic in college athletics, a lot of people have their views in if they should or shouldn’t. The big picture everyone has to look at and get an understanding to be the economic aspect of it. There are a lot of factors that people fail to realize that involve paying these athletes such as the supply, demand elasticity, taxes and equity vs efficiency, all of these play a minor role in the impact of the answer people are waiting to get. In my opinion I feel as an athlete myself I feel we should get paid for playing sports. But before we discuss my opinion about how I feel we have to dive into how the big question came about over history.
College football is something that has immensely gained popularity among Americans over the past few decades. Some even prefer it over professional games. The college athletes entertain people on a weekly basis, make rivalries out of best friends, and give Americans a look at what the future of the athletic world will be. Most people would believe that someone who dedicates a huge portion of his life perfecting his bodies and form, along with performing in front of millions of people every week, would be paid, right? For several years, there has been a debate on whether athletes that play in college should be paid or not. Along with an athlete's career being a lot shorter than a normal, everyday job, college athletes are still students that
College athletes are undoubtedly some of the hardest working people in the world. Not only are they living the life of an average student, they also have a strenuous schedule with their specific sport. One of the most discussed topics in the world of college athletics is whether or not student-athletes should be paid money for playing sports. The people who disagree with the idea have some good arguments to make. Primarily that the athletes get to go to school for free for playing sports. Another argument is that if student-athletes were to get paid then it would ruin the amateurism of college sports. People who are against paying the athletes do not want to see the young people become focused on money. “Paying student-athletes would dramatically shift their focus away from where it should be - gaining knowledge and skills for life after college” (Lewis and Williams). This is very understandable because one of the biggest reasons college sports are so popular is because the athletes play for school pride and for bragging rights. They play because they enjoy the game, not because it is their job. Most people that disagree with the idea of paying the athletes fail to realize what really goes on behind the scenes. At most Universities around the country the bulk of the income the school receives is brought in through the athletic programs. In fact the football and basketball teams usually bring in enough money to completely pay for the rest of the athletic programs all together. To get a better understanding of how much has changed in the world of college sports a little history must be learned.
58 percent of people believe that college athletes should get paid to play compared to the 42 percent who think they should not get paid to play (Debate.org). This clashing of whether or not college athletes should get paid to play has been a hot topic throughout the nation for quite some time. Many believe that paying players will not help the players, but will cause more negative energy than positive. Of course all college athletes believe they should be paid because they are looking to make some type of profit for bringing in so much money into the school. Not only are they bringing in money for the school they are also creating a good image for the school and getting the schools name out there. Maybe even interest other young athletes to want to come and play for the school. Throughout the years some players such as Johnny Manziel (Texas A&M) (Berkes) and Cam Newton (Auburn) (ESPN) have been accused of making money while still a college athlete. With this being said, they faced serious consequences if found guilty. College athletes should not be get paid to play for multiple reasons, some being scholarships, some being a student comes first, not an athlete. Poor money management and big schools would dominate little schools in the recruiting process, and may lose on focus of education, or they may get caught up in living the life of a professional athlete.