Why Do Student Athletes Get Paid

College athletics assume a large role in the entertainment industry of America. Each week, millions of people tune in to watch their favorite team, buy tickets to go to the games, or spend money on university athletic merchandise to show their pride. The NCAA and universities benefit enormously from college sports. The top 10 total revenues generated by universities were all well over the $100,000,000 mark in 2012 (“College Finances 2012”). The University of Texas tops the list with $163,295,115 total revenue from athletics (“College Finances 2012”). Last football season, Texas A&M University quarterback Johnny Manziel won the Heisman Trophy. As the first freshman to ever win the trophy, he propagated over 1.8 million media impressions which translated to $37 million of media exposure (Cook). The University’s licensing revenue jumped 23% this past year due to the success of one player (Cook). The NCAA itself generated $871,600,000 in revenue from the championship games (“College Finances 2012”). All of this revenue is impossible without the student-athletes. The NCAA is strict on making sure that athletes should be treated no different from any other student (Blias). However, the athletes are involved in a heavily commercialized multi-billion dollar industry. As amateurs, athletes remain restricted solely to scholarships as the only form

First, some say that college athletes should be paid because of the fact that the schools and the NCAA make billions. In an article from USA Today, it stated: “NCAA made more than $1 billion for the year” (Mama). On the other hand, they should not be paid because tons of the athletes get scholarships, they are rewarded with a free education, and they are technically getting around twenty-thousand dollars a year. First, in an article from Scholorshipstats.com in statistics from 2015 regarding the amount of scholarship money that was given out was nearly 2.2 billion dollars.

NCAA is a national business this day of time. At least half of the world is watching a college game when it’s on NCAA, They make over at least 3 million dollars every game. The college’s players get none of that money that’s getting paid to NCAA. The players are the ones that are putting in the work, staying overtime, and killing their body.

I believe that college sports should be considered a profession. Athletes deserve to be paid for their work. College athletics are a critical part of America’s culture and economy. At the present time, student-athletes are considered amateurs. College is a stepping-stone to

Year after year fans enjoy nail biting moments produced by the NCAA basketball tournament and football season. Many would argue that the NCAA provides a product that matches up with the professionals both competitively and financially. The only difference is that professionals get paid for the revenue that they bring in while NCAA athletes do not. It is time for change, college athletes should be monetarily compensated because they are the ones who have made the NCAA profitable for many years.

They should get paid because of all the hours of hard work they put in each week. They should be paid because it’s against the law to not let them earn any type of money from people other than family and relatives. They should be paid because they lose the value of education for the NCAA to earn money. Student-athletes put in so much work and their coaches, administrators, athletic directors, the NCAA and its affiliates earn billions of dollars off of them every year. From using their image, televising and marketing them. They do all this for money and don’t even care about these players except for if they started losing money because of the players. They promise education and then give no-show fake classes, to keep you eligible and able to focus on training for your sport. They claim you don’t need money from your sport to survive because they pay for your tuition and sports equipment. But how would you feel if you were treated like a slave day in and out and then someone claims that you don’t need money for your hard earned

College sports is one of the most popular things to watch on television. With a lot of people watching means it is bringing in a lot of revenue. Where does this revenue go to? This money goes to the people at the top such as administrators and coaches. Shouldn’t the ones performing be getting a cut of this huge chunk of money? Sure they get scholarships and their education paid for, but some players bring in far more money than what their scholarships cost. These athletes make these schools so much money and they don’t get a fair cut of the pie. These athletes work so hard and perform so well to not get what they deserve. With all of the money in the business

College sport wouldn’t exist without athletes, and it is not fair that these hard working individuals don’t get to benefit from the sales attributed directly to them. Imagine you are a college athlete and your daily routine is to wake up early in the morning and practice and doing this routine for 7 days a week for your team including running and weight lifting. With a busy schedule like this, they have no time to make a living or get a part-time job. After the practice you have to go to all of your classes. Lastly to finish your day, you have to attend another practice which will likely end late at night.

In light of the outbreak of scandals and bribery occurring in college athletics, the average person would most likely agree that paying college athletes would escalate the desire for extreme NCAA neglect, which would be an extreme job in all aspects. However, there are even more efficient problems to consider. For example, how much should college athletes get paid and what will those payment increments be chosen by? What if a student-athlete on scholarship ends up with a severe injury halfway through their sporting season? What if a student-athlete does not end up being as superior as thought to be and, although still remaining on the team, does not start or even play at all? These are all problematic things that should surface far more questions. According to College Express, it has been shown that only a fraction of Division I football and men’s basketball programs turn a profit. The other Division I football and basketball programs, as well as baseball, softball, golf, hockey, women’s basketball, and just about all Division II

Furthermore, where should the money come from? Is it the responsibility of the school to pay these athletes or the NCAA? Other questions include how much should students-athletes be paid, how often, will it work in a similar way that professional contracts work, etc.? All these questions reveal how difficult it would be to change the college athletic system to compensate college athletes. Regardless of what number of individuals feels that athletes ought not to be paid for their ability, there is pretty much the same number of individuals whom feel they ought to. There are numerous reasons why individuals think a student athlete ought to be adjusted. Some of those reasons incorporate; individuals feel that frequently the college utilizes these athletes as boards for their school. Additionally, the universities are "offering the athletes' names and achievements for the schools own acknowledgment. “Athletic organizations are utilizing college athletes to offer their items, along these lines the athletes ought to see a portion of the money that is earned. It has even been demonstrated that promoting through understudy athletes extraordinarily impacts more youthful

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 ).

Student athletes should not be paid. A misconception is that all athletic programs in the NCAA make head-over-toe profit. There are three divisions of intercollegiate athletics, and frankly division three athletic programs don’t make as much or have a profit when compared to division one programs. “Critics of paying college athletes note that only a small number of them compete in sports or on teams that actually generate revenue”. (Paying College Athletes) The truth is only a fraction of athletic programs are actually profitable, while most pose a cost to the institution. The question arises primarily in division one programs and typically in the sports of basketball and football. The argument is made that these institutions receive millions of dollars from their student athletes’ performance, in return they should be paid.

Imagine getting up at 6 a.m. for a morning working, going to class from about 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., having practice from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., and then going to study tables for about two hours after practice. This is just a typical day in the life of a college athlete. During the seasons they are putting in upwards of 12 hours a day into their school work and sport, and have only a reduced tuition and the pride of representing their university to show for it. College athletes are working full time jobs and providing universities with billions of dollars, its time that these athletes should have the opportunities they deserve. Whether that is to either go directly in professional sports, or be paid by the NCAA. This topic is often brought up in the world of college sports and is continuing to pick up steam as college athletics gain popularity. While these athletes do sign letters of intents stating that they are still amateur athletes and must remain amateurs throughout their years of competing in college, that it goes against our American belief that allows everybody a chance to pursue their dreams. The system in place now requires these young athlete to sacrifice a year of their professional careers to go to college and without any intentions of graduating with a degree.

Student athletes, supported by colleges, bring in some of the most significant amounts of money to their college, but what do they get in return, nothing! What would it feel like to work so hard at something you love and are good at, but get nothing back from it. College athletes bring in enough money to the college to be able to get a little something back for the effort it takes. The amount of time college athletes spend on their sport takes away a huge chunk of time that could be used for more time on school work for a better education. Some might say that division 1 athletes are already getting paid by the amount of money going towards their scholarship to attend the school. Also people consider them amateurs and not professionals

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