Should College Athletes Be Paid 

Is the NCAA president scamming players, do you think NCAA players should get paid? Patrick Hruby says College football has the money to pay players, the playoffs proves it. (December 30, 2017).Is it true that the NCAA is ripping of the athletes? Being a college student-athlete is a full-time job, bouncing between the weight room, the court/field, classes, and film sessions. College athletics are extracurricular activities, but the schedules of the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) tournaments require an extended period in which the student-athletes must miss school (Madisen Martinez March 20 1017). Lavar ball made and basketball league for top high school recruits, that want to go to college but want to make money at the same time. College schools have enough money to pay college athletes, and they don’t, and this is wrong. the NCAA pulls in nearly a billion dollars in revenue each year, but the athletes who make it all happen aren’t paid for all the work they put in. Critics say the NCAA is exploiting student talent to make huge amounts of money and it’s time to pay student-athletes a fair wage.

The NCAA says the vast majority of the money it generates goes back to the players in scholarships or some other form. What do you think? (Mark Emmert 5/25/18). Since student-athletes also bring in revenue for their team and college or university, especially in the championship games, those who debate in favor of paying them say the students could receive a small portion of the profits. Yes, pay would vary, just as the universities with the more successful teams receive more television time or money than those with less successful teams. Since student-athletes also bring in revenue for their team and college or university, especially in the championship games, those who debate in favor of paying them say the students could receive a small portion of the profits. Yes, pay would vary, just as the universities with the more successful teams receive more television time or money than those with less successful teams Madisen Martinez March 20 1017).

It’s no secret that athletes bring in revenue to their universities. According to a conversation by The Aspen Institution, the projected revenue for major conferences in 2020 (like the Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC) exceeds $2.8 billion. Going further down the list, 76 percent of Division I schools make less than $50 million in athletic revenue, and 44 percent make less than $20 million. (By Isabelle Robuck, Swimming World College Intern). In the 2013 NCAA tournament Louisville player Kevin Ware suffered a horrific injury to his lower right leg while attempting to block an opposing player’s shot. Six months later, Ware was healed and back to practicing. He was lucky. There have been instances of players becoming paralyzed by hits or tackles on football fields or other injuries that have ended player’s careers before they even get started. These athletes are sacrificing their bodies and physical health at a chance to play a game they love, and possibly make it to the professional level.

The NCAA is unfair because they by players life on the line by playing football and they don’t even get a sum of millions of dollars the program there playing for. Especially if the team makes the playoffs the school can make up to 5 million dollars of playoff revenue. The big money sports–football and men’s basketball– are big business, and there’s nothing inherently wrong with that. There is something wrong with the fact that the players aren’t paid what they’re worth (Art Carden, Jul 26, 2018). Being a college student-athlete is a full-time job, bouncing between the weight room, the court/field, classes, and film sessions. College athletics are extracurricular activities, but the schedules of the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) tournaments require an extended period in which the student-athletes must miss school. Not only do they miss class, but they are absent for nationally televised games that make a lot of money and receive millions of viewers, according to Marc Edelman in his article. College football and men’s basketball programs earn far more than any other athletic program, so these athletes would likely earn more as well.

This may not be considered fair pay, but many of those who argue in support of paying college players point out that team popularity and consumers generally determine what is “fair.” These sports also tend to support other less popular sports that do not bring in a lot of money on their own (Carden, March 2017) People can argue that Paying college players can be bad and lead to players not focusing on the game and just about money, money can distract players from going to class and being a stable human because they know there going to get paid regardless. While not all student-athletes are on scholarship, many are, particularly those who are playing for schools we see winning national championships. In addition to free tuition and room and board, these college athletes also often receive stipends to help towards books and other basic needs. This money does not have to be paid back. Most other students are not receiving these benefits, and will come out of school with a great deal of student loan debt. Thus, in comparison, student-athletes already have it easier, financially, than most of the students at their school. A college scholarship might just be enough to not have to pay the college athletes.

Let me declare up front I wouldn’t be the slightest bit interested in distributing the funds equitably or even paying every college athlete. I’m interested in seeing the people who produce the revenue share a teeny, tiny slice of it. That’s right, football and men’s basketball players get paid; lacrosse, field hockey, softball, baseball, soccer players get nothing. You know what that’s called? Capitalism. Not everything is equal, not everything is fair. The most distinguished professor at the University of Alabama won’t make $5.9 million in his entire tenure in Tuscaloosa; Nick Saban will make that this year. So, I don’t want to hear that it’s ‘unfair’ to pay the quarterback of Alabama more than all the sociology students in the undergraduate college (Wilbon, July 18, 2011). This is a good rebuttal to y claim, but I believe that the athletes if the college are putting their body on the line, but some people feel like that doesn’t matter and sociology college students but they’re not putting their body on the field

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