Essay College Athletes Should Be Paid

Many believe that college athletes should not be paid. The main debate against compensating college athletes is that they are at the university for educational purposes and playing sports is a benefit. The NCAA states, “Student-athletes are students first and athletes second. They are not university employees who are paid for their labor” (McCauley 10). Universities get all the financial benefits of the money earned from sports played from things such as team jerseys, sports passes and tickets, etc. Many argue that it is only fair to give a portion of the profit to the players that earned the money. It is very important when arguing for or against paying college athletes to not take into fairness, but to hold

College athletes generate millions of dollars for their schools each year, yet they are not allowed to be compensated beyond a scholarship due to being considered amateurs. College athletes are some of the hardest working people in the nation, having to focus on both school courses and sports. Because athletics take so much time, these student-athletes are always busy. College football and basketball are multi-billion dollar businesses. The NCAA does not want to pay the athletes beyond scholarships, and it would be tough to work a new compensation program into the NCAA and university budgets. College athletes should be compensated in some form because they put in so much time and effort, generating huge amounts of revenue.

Most people don’t know that college athletes are already getting paid in different ways than just direct money. "A student athlete at a major conference school on a full scholarship is likely receiving a package of education, room, board, and coaching/training worth between $50,000 and $125,000 per year depending on their sport and whether they attend public or private university"(Dorfman). These athletes get training and coaching for free that professionals pay $2,000-$3,000 per week for. They also receive free schooling if they received scholarships from the school. They can also have free room which means the athletes don’t have to pay for their houses. The average college student pays $20,000 in tuition that these athletes get

Although athletes would be able to leave college with more than just a degree, they can take other classes to increase knowledge to earn more degrees. Even a little bit of money would be really helpful for these athletes who do so much for their school. It would help them out on their new path. Many athletes expect and believe that they should get paid more than just a fully-funded degree. For the athletes that work 90 hours a week for their time in college, the end of their college years, it may seem as if it was a burn out and can be damaging to the athlete. Paying the student-athletes would help them leave college with a little bit of money to help them out on there new path (“Top 10 Reasons College…”). If they stay in school just a couple more years instead of transferring to the pros, it would help them out in the long run so much because

“The average full-scholarship athlete accumulates $3,200 in debt for each year they’re in school, according to a recent study, because meal plans and other incidentals often aren’t fully covered”, says Veronica Merjerol. Some college athletes don’t have the money to pay for some food for themselves or they can’t buy the essentials they need to be healthy. The thing is athletes that take money handout from boosters and other people get suspended by the NCAA. The only reason that the person took the money was just so he could go buy some soap or toothpaste or any other essential you need to stay healthy. Some may say well they could just get a job but they really don’t have the time between practices games and being a college student there really isn’t time for a job in between those

One of the main reasons that people believe college athletes should be paid, is because of how much money they bring in for the school.

Your dream has come true; you're at college playing the sport you love, and at what cost? None. You are free to live your college life worry free and have been given the opportunity to continue your sports career. After you have completed your college education you can get a job, with no college loans that you have to pay off. You are also able to start making money right out of graduation. You get to experience this less stressful college life. The lives of athletes that walk-on and athletes not on a scholarship are stressful ones with many different things to worry about. Those athletes have to worry about how to pay for college and the loans they will have to pay back after graduation. They will have to pay for all their meals, books and the cost for dorms. But what got you here? There were many factors, but one that helped you the most was that you were a diverse athlete.

Actions towards paying athletes are being taken and according to the TCU Daily Skiff, “There’s a legislation being passed around in the Big 12 states to provide athletes with an extra stipend in addition to their all-expenses paid education. The idea is that these students are producing truckloads of revenue for the university and should see some of the fruits of their labor.” (Jennings, par. 2) Because athletes aren’t paid for producing such money, supporters feel some of the money made should go towards helping with extra expenses. An average student athlete has to pay for phone bills, transportation, entertainment, laundry, toiletries and other things. While the typical college student has the opportunity to work, athletes don’t. Some students in college receive academic full ride scholarships, which are the same as athletic full rides, but they have time to earn extra money on the side. If these students are receiving a full ride scholarship and have the opportunity to work then an athlete should be paid a compensation for his or her efforts on the playing field.

College athletes should be paid because of the hard work, dedication and effort they put into their respective sports. These athletes are a major source of income for their schools and they are not receiving a penny for it. These college athletes deserved to be paid, colleges are using these athletes to get money and they are never given anything but a pat on the back and a good job. College athletes work and train extremely hard to perform at the highest level possible. In most cases, they spend more time training and preparing for their sport than they actually do learning and studying. They put so much on the line to play and they get nothing in return. These college athletes literally make their schools millions of dollars every

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

Athletes simply can’t fit a part time job around their hectic schedule of attending their sports training and practices while also keeping up with their classes and school work. This inability to hold a job leaves many college athletes in a murky situation. They don’t have time to hold a job and generate spending money for themselves, schools aren’t allowed to provide them much beyond the essentials of a scholarship--such as books, food, and room/board, and they aren’t allowed to sign endorsement deals or profit off of their own likeness in any manner. The NCAA is holding college athletes in a state of financial purgatory. To exemplify this point, Bill Plaschke, a writer for the Los Angeles Times, writes

There have been ongoing arguments over the past decade of whether or not college athletes should be paid to play. Many argue that they do not have time to get real jobs because the requirements for the sport that they participate in are far too demanding. Others cite that these athletes are provided full scholarships to attend the schools at which they are playing the sport. However regardless of the argument, I still feel that college athletes should NOT be paid to play.

Student athletes commonly go to school for one reason: their love for the sport they participate in. These student athletes get scholarships from large Division 1 schools, which means things such as schooling, board, and food will be paid for by the school so the student athletes do not have to pay for these benefits themselves (Patterson). If college athletes are to be paid, it will cause unfair compensation between players who are valued or played more than others. When student athletes are rewarded with a scholarship, they have nothing school related that they would need to pay for. This can lead them to blow all of their income on unnecessary or dangerous things such as drugs and alcohol which could get them removed from the team they

Player’s compensation will not only, help competitors with their college necessities, but for outside food, college events, and activities. Keep in mind, some of these College athletes weren’t born with a silver spoon in their mouths; they are coming from less fortunate families. The point is a scholarship doesn’t equal the same amount of cash. Even with any type of scholarship given, college athletes are essentially broke. But on the other hand, take a second, to ponder about how much funds NCAA executives are producing off of these amateur athletes. Mark Emmert, the CEO of the NCAA has a compensation of forty-five percent is and an increase pay raise with higher insurance cost, nearly making a billion dollar per year. While the CBS Network,

“They are the ones that took the agreement upon themselves to play without being paid, so their for these athletes know for themselves that when they start playing at the college or university there was not going to be any type of for pay. Scholarships that are awarded to these players are their paychecks technically because it pays for their schooling, like their education, books, meals, and etc. A normal college that is attending a college or universities without giving a scholarship are the ones that end up in debt when they graduate. Students are having to pay for all their needs including books, meals, and also education. The average cost of college is roughly between $9,500 and $35,000. Most students have to work and have parents help with paying for college, and that is why college athletes are pretty much being treated with pay when it comes down to all the college expenses that they have to offer. Even though these athletes have a busy schedule while attending college, research shows that if these athletes was to be paid it would throw all the athletes off task and that they wouldn't want to participate as much because their minds would just focus on the money and instead of the games