Should student-athletes be paid to play an NCAA sport? This is a topic that is being talked about more and more. The two main sports that it surrounds are football and men's basketball, the two most profiting college sports. In particular, football players at the big name scools help their athletic department earn millions of dollars thru game attendance, tv deals, sponsorships, and school recognition. All of this money is brought into the university but the athletes legally earn $0 outside of a scholarship, housing, clothing, and food. Add it all up and that value isn't anywhere near the amount of money some football or basketball players earn for their school. So does this mean college athletes should get paid to play?
Why they should get paid
-Star athletes in sports such as football and men's basketball bring in millions of dollars for the school so they should receive some of that money, not just the university.
-Paying athletes will help keep the students in school longer and allow them to earn a degree rather than leaving for the NBA after only one year in college.
-Paying the athletes might stop somek of the illegal payments from boosters and agents.
-The poor athletes will have a way to support themselves while attending school and playing a sport. Many athletes can't hold a job due to the lack of free time outside of school and sports.
-Athletes risk injury while playing a college sport so paying players will help cover that risk.
-Athletes make money for sports networks such as ESPN. They make money for clothing companies such as Nike and they also earn money for companies such as EA Sports. However, the athletes don't earn any money from any of these companies.
Why they should not get paid
-Title IX is implemented in colleges and high schools. Title nine is an equal rights law that states "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance..." If schools pay football and men's basketball players, there would be a lawsuit filed if women athletes also aren't paid.
-The Title IX lawsuit would lead to another problem. Most NCAA sports are 'non-profiting' sports. At most schools, only football, men's basketball, and baseball earn a profit for the school. So how would a sport like women's soccer afford to pay it's players?
-Paying players won't necessarily end illegal payments to players. In all likelihood, paying players will just increase the amount of money the athletes have available rather than end illegal payments by boosters or agents.
-Paying athletes would have to be spread out among all athletes evenly. Therefore, the star quarterback of a football team would earn the same amount of money as the punter. This will likely cause problems and lead to the quarterback seeking more money from illegal sources.
-A scholarship that leads to a college degree is priceless. Most people graduate college with thousands of dollars in loans. College athletes can graduate without having any loans. Shouldn't this be good enough?
-One way that college sports are appreciated more than professional sports is the idea of amateurism. The athletes are playing for school pride rather than for money. Paying the players will eliminate this advantage of college sports.
Bottom line
The debate about whether or not college athletes should be paid will go on for a while. Everyone has a different opinion on the topic. Even those who agree with paying athletes have different opinions on how it should be done. Only time will tell if one day college athletes will earn an income for playing a sport they love at a school they attend.
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