Should College Athletes Be Paid?

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.

On July 21, 2009, Ed O’Bannon filled a lawsuit against the NCAA for profiting off of student athlete’s likeness. This lawsuit is still in the process of appeal to this day. However, as now (November 2, 2015), it appears O’Bannon has won the case. This is giving permission to universities to allow stipends to student athletes. A stipend is an allowance for players that is essentially paying players for playing college sports. Most division one programs are jumping on the ability to start paying their players because they do not want to fall behind the ability to bring in top athletes. The NCAA is still in the process of appealing the ruling to pay student athletes. One of the problems that O’Bannon is reaching out for college athletes is

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 ).

College sports is a business that brings in a lot of money to schools and athletic programs. Division I college athletes, particularly football and basketball players, get many perks for contributing to the team’s season and devoting so much time to the sport. What is not often thought about is the money that football and basketball brings in and what the athletes get in return for bringing this money to the university. Many athletes are taken advantage of because the schools use the money for their own benefit, do not take into consideration the athletes busy schedule and not having time for a job, their living and medical expenses, and how important they are to bringing in money for the school.

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 excitement of Bowl week in The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is again upon us. This week brings out the die-hard fans all excited and tailgating, but with it comes big business. This business in 2010 broke the $1 billion mark in profits for colleges as reported by CNNMoney.com. With those kinds of profits always dangling in the wind it leads to a question that is asked and argued year after year. Should the stars of the show “the collegiate athlete” be paid for his/her services?

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.

College entertainment has become more widely known in today’s society. College athletes these days are bigger and stronger than there were in the past. Knowing a former athlete one might say that most people do not realize the pressure and stress college athletes face every day. College athletes, being the size they are today, make a more high risk of injury. They play a great role in university revenues depending on their performance. Sports also play a great role in our economy such as the NFL, NBA, MLB, and the NH which are professional sports that are allowed to receive a set paid salary rate making millions each year, doing the same they did as college athletes. So why not pay them? Many people do not realize the pressure college athletes are under all school year and in the summer. When a player takes on the challenge of committing to the responsibility of being part of a program and representing a university, it becomes is a full-time job. Collegiate athletes have to make sacrifices, good choices, and maintain their promises to their team and to uphold requirements of them in the classroom. Collegiate sports entertainment has been the world’s fastest revenue source in history. College sports are televised on network stations in America. College level sports bring in billions of dollars every year. Although people argue that college athletes should get paid compensation because they lack the time to pursue jobs, they are the source of most of the schools

At a time when colleges all over the country are having to cut back on educational expenditures, justifying spending additional amounts of money on collegiate sports, as well as the players, has become a very hot pressed topic in which the collegiate athlete is losing out on much of the money generated by their performances either on the field or the court. Because many of these players help bring in money to the university, they believe that a portion of that money should be given back to them. Millions of dollars are made each year in collegiate sports but few of those dollars have been given back to the players, who are the one’s actually playing the sports colleges participate in. Merchandise with players names, video games using a player’s likeness, and all the obligations involving media interviews, as well as maintaining ones grades can cause a collegiate athlete to believe that their efforts are not being rewarded in a monetary sense. Now colleges and universities around the country are rebutting that argument by having all of the college athletes expenses paid for. They believe giving them a free education should be enough. Colleges believe that being a student should trump all other obligations, including sports, so helping a young adult pay for college is something universities hold in high regard. Universities are a place for higher learning, not a place where athletes are supposed to come and make money. Also, many colleges would have a burden paying their

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

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.

The hot topic in amateur sports has been as to whether or not college athletes should be paid. The NCAA amateur rule states that an athlete in college sports cannot be paid other than their athletic scholarship. These athletes spend a tremendous amount of time at school practice and then working on schoolwork after practice. The NCAA is an organization that oversees all of the athletes that make up the basic unit of intercollegiate sports. The success of the NCAA whether it’s through the sale of merchandise, game day revenue or NCAA tournaments that each individual sports has, despite the absolute success of these tournaments these athletes receive any monetary compensation .Some of the main reasons why the NCAA lack of payments are that it wants to maintain its amateur status and

The NCAA later penalized the university forcing them to suspend Rick Majerus’ salary for two years (Norwood). The NCAA’s argument was that a coach could not give an athlete something he does not give to a regular student. Such actions seem incredibly arbitrary and at times heartless only to justify the ideals of “amateurism”.

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