Analysis: Why Division 1 Football Athletes Should Be Paid
Division I college football is a very popular sport, with many stars all across the nation. Some of these stars are essentially well known celebrities, yet they make the same amount of money as a newborn. This is what Division 1 football players deal with during their times at school. This issue has become a well-known argument, with many attempts by different groups in support of the players receiving a salary. However, the NCAA has been strongly against the idea of paying the players. Division 1 football athletes bring revenue to their schools and commit much of their time to their sport, so they should be paid for their work.
Under NCAA rules, Division I college football players cannot be paid. However, this rule goes beyond the players …show more content…
not receiving a salary. Student athletes are not even allowed to sign autographs, and do not earn any money from their jerseys or other merchandise being sold. They are not allowed to accept anything from their coach, or even a fan. A Division I football player cannot accept even a free hamburger from a coach or a fan, because it is in violation of NCAA rules (Nocera). This shows just how dumb the rule is, that something as small as a hamburger can cause a player to be suspended. The NCAA justifies these rules by claiming “The student-athlete's participation in college sports is voluntary” (Pestano). One example of this rule being applied is with Texas A&M QB Johnny Manziel. Manziel was suspended for the first half of his home opener against Rice because of signing autographs. The NCAA and the school determined that Manziel did not personally accept money for the autographs, but regardless the NCAA suspended Manziel for failing to realize that brokers could profit (Gregory). This reveals just how asinine the NCAA’s rules are, that a player can miss playing time because of signing his own name. This rule of college football players not getting paid has also led to a few legal situations. One case, filed in 2009, targeted electronic arts and the NCAA. The video game used player's likeness without paying them, therefore the game was ended. Players were paid somewhere between less than $100 to $9300 (Berkowitz). Another situation was the Northwestern University football players, who attempted to form a union. Ultimately, they were blocked from forming this union, as the board held that letting a single team form a union would not promote stability in relations across the league (Pestano). People opposed to the players getting paid often point to the fact that the student athletes obtain scholarships. However, statistics show that the average scholarship does not cover the full cost of college. “The average athletic scholarship is less than 11,000 dollars a year” (Zissou). Also, it is not like many of these players play their sport after college. According to the NCAA, less than two percent of college athletes compete professionally (Zissou). This leaves many Division I college football players in a poor situation with a limited amount of money. While Division I college football players earn no money for their play, college football in general gains a huge amount every year in revenue.
Division I college football brings in tons of money each year in revenue, yet none of it goes to the players, who play the main part in bringing in this revenue.
To show just how much money college football brings in, in 2010, the SEC, a conference in Division I college football, became the first to make over a billion dollars in athletics. The Big Ten brought in $905 million dollars that same year (Branch). These astonishing numbers show just how much money a single conference can bring in during one season. It is not just conferences and teams that make money off the players, it is also the NCAA. “The NCAA itself takes in nearly $800 million a year” (Nocera). However, the NCAA is very hypocritical, as it uses the players to make money without paying them any of this. For $29.99, the NCAA offers DVDs of more than 200 famous games (Branch). This proves again the NCAA’s hypocrisy, that they think the players do not deserve money for playing, yet they will make money from selling DVDs of games. Another example of the NCAA using players to earn money is on their official shop website. By typing “Manziel” into a search box, a number 2 Texas A&M jersey with no name pops up (Gregory). It is a rule that schools cannot sell a player's jersey with their name on it, but by typing in the name that would be on the back of the jersey, it pops right up. This is another act of hypocrisy by the NCAA, by selling players jerseys without the players themselves earning any money. Not only does …show more content…
the NCAA make money, schools themselves make lots off of football as well. “The University of Texas football team netted a profit of $77.9 million in 2011-2012, on $103.2 million in revenue. Michigan made $61.6 million from football, on $85.2 million in revenue.” (Gregory). This number has surely grown even more in the past few years, further exemplifying the amount of money that Division I football brings in. In addition to the revenue from the team, conferences like the SEC and Pac-12 signed lucrative TV deals. For example, the Pac-12 signed a three billion dollar contract over twelve years with ESPN and Fox back in 2011 (Gregory). The University of Texas and the Big Ten have even created their own networks, while major companies like Chick-fil-A and Coors give millions of dollars for college sports (Nocera). This is just an example of another way college football brings in money. All of this money that the NCAA, the conferences, and the schools bring in, and not a single penny goes to the paying the players. Instead, the money goes to practice facilities that cost millions of dollars (Connolly). A lot of the money is kept by the NCAA and schools for other uses, like construction or renovation of university facilities. This money could, however, be used to pay the players. “According to a recent study, if CFB operated under the same revenue-sharing model as the NFL, each of the 85 scholarship players could see a paycheck of $225,000 per year” (Gregory). This is the best way to use the money, as every player would certainly earn a fair amount of pay for their work. Not only does college football make millions of dollars in revenue without paying back to the players, the players also dedicate most of their lives to playing the game.
Division I football players spend the majority of their lives during their years at college to football. From training and actually playing, it takes up a significant amount of their time. “Students can spend up to forty hours a week practicing, training, and competing” (Zissou). The players dedicate an important amount of their life just to train. In addition to this, they take time away to play the games, and spend a sizable amount of time traveling for away games. This leaves the student athletes with no time to get a job. Despite the fact that many of these student athletes are on scholarships, even full-ride scholarships do not cover the full cost of school. Athletes need money for ancillary expenses, tuition, room and board, books and fees. This often leaves them a few thousand dollars short (Gregory). Because of the time commitment, the football players do not have enough time in their lives to pursue a job, therefore they cannot make money throughout the week. Without getting paid for their hard work and dedication to football, they earn nothing. Many college football players end up broke after college, as they do not have a large amount of time to dedicate to their academics. If the athletes did receive payments for playing, they would be earning the money by their commitment to the sport every week. While the football players get paid nothing, Divison I college football coaches get paid copious amounts of money.
Division I college football coaches earn ridiculous amounts of money.
“The average compensation for the 108 football coaches in Division I is $1.75 million. That is up 75 percent since 2007” (Connolly). This number has most certainly increased in the past few seasons. The salaries of the highest paid coaches in the nation, however, are even more outrageous. Nick Saban, head coach of the University of Alabama, will earn a guaranteed $55.2 million during his eight year contract (Connolly). Also, Ohio State University’s Urban Meyer signed a six year, $24 million contract (Nocera). These two contracts highlight the insane amount of money that the top college football coaches earn. This is all while the players that they coach earn zero dollars. However, it is not just head football coaches that make ample amounts of money. Division I assistant coaches earn a respectable amount as well. “Salaries for assistant coaches have commonly exceeded $200,000, with top assistants in the SEC averaging $700,000” (Branch). It is ludicrous that all of this money is spent on coaches, who would not have a job without the players. The main cause for the high coaching salaries is that the players cannot earn any of this money. Colleges and their athletic departments are non-profit, so the money they make must be spent. Because of the inability to pay the players, schools spend a vast amount of their profit from football on the coaches and other athletic staff (Connolly). This cash could be better
used towards paying the players, who have earned it. Division I football coaches are paid a substantial amount of money, while the players earn nothing. Division I football athletes getting paid is an important topic. Many football players live at or below the poverty line. Without more support from people, college football players will never earn the pay that they deserve. College football brings in billions of dollars in revenue, but none of it goes back to paying the players. These student athletes spend up to forty hours a week training or actually competing, leaving no time to work for money. Finally, college coaches are paid a significant amount of money, yet the players get none. Division I football athletes should be paid for their work because they commit much of their time to the sport and they bring in a large amount of revenue for the school and the NCAA.
Under NCAA rules, Division I college football players cannot be paid. However, this rule goes beyond the players …show more content…
not receiving a salary. Student athletes are not even allowed to sign autographs, and do not earn any money from their jerseys or other merchandise being sold. They are not allowed to accept anything from their coach, or even a fan. A Division I football player cannot accept even a free hamburger from a coach or a fan, because it is in violation of NCAA rules (Nocera). This shows just how dumb the rule is, that something as small as a hamburger can cause a player to be suspended. The NCAA justifies these rules by claiming “The student-athlete's participation in college sports is voluntary” (Pestano). One example of this rule being applied is with Texas A&M QB Johnny Manziel. Manziel was suspended for the first half of his home opener against Rice because of signing autographs. The NCAA and the school determined that Manziel did not personally accept money for the autographs, but regardless the NCAA suspended Manziel for failing to realize that brokers could profit (Gregory). This reveals just how asinine the NCAA’s rules are, that a player can miss playing time because of signing his own name. This rule of college football players not getting paid has also led to a few legal situations. One case, filed in 2009, targeted electronic arts and the NCAA. The video game used player's likeness without paying them, therefore the game was ended. Players were paid somewhere between less than $100 to $9300 (Berkowitz). Another situation was the Northwestern University football players, who attempted to form a union. Ultimately, they were blocked from forming this union, as the board held that letting a single team form a union would not promote stability in relations across the league (Pestano). People opposed to the players getting paid often point to the fact that the student athletes obtain scholarships. However, statistics show that the average scholarship does not cover the full cost of college. “The average athletic scholarship is less than 11,000 dollars a year” (Zissou). Also, it is not like many of these players play their sport after college. According to the NCAA, less than two percent of college athletes compete professionally (Zissou). This leaves many Division I college football players in a poor situation with a limited amount of money. While Division I college football players earn no money for their play, college football in general gains a huge amount every year in revenue.
Division I college football brings in tons of money each year in revenue, yet none of it goes to the players, who play the main part in bringing in this revenue.
To show just how much money college football brings in, in 2010, the SEC, a conference in Division I college football, became the first to make over a billion dollars in athletics. The Big Ten brought in $905 million dollars that same year (Branch). These astonishing numbers show just how much money a single conference can bring in during one season. It is not just conferences and teams that make money off the players, it is also the NCAA. “The NCAA itself takes in nearly $800 million a year” (Nocera). However, the NCAA is very hypocritical, as it uses the players to make money without paying them any of this. For $29.99, the NCAA offers DVDs of more than 200 famous games (Branch). This proves again the NCAA’s hypocrisy, that they think the players do not deserve money for playing, yet they will make money from selling DVDs of games. Another example of the NCAA using players to earn money is on their official shop website. By typing “Manziel” into a search box, a number 2 Texas A&M jersey with no name pops up (Gregory). It is a rule that schools cannot sell a player's jersey with their name on it, but by typing in the name that would be on the back of the jersey, it pops right up. This is another act of hypocrisy by the NCAA, by selling players jerseys without the players themselves earning any money. Not only does …show more content…
the NCAA make money, schools themselves make lots off of football as well. “The University of Texas football team netted a profit of $77.9 million in 2011-2012, on $103.2 million in revenue. Michigan made $61.6 million from football, on $85.2 million in revenue.” (Gregory). This number has surely grown even more in the past few years, further exemplifying the amount of money that Division I football brings in. In addition to the revenue from the team, conferences like the SEC and Pac-12 signed lucrative TV deals. For example, the Pac-12 signed a three billion dollar contract over twelve years with ESPN and Fox back in 2011 (Gregory). The University of Texas and the Big Ten have even created their own networks, while major companies like Chick-fil-A and Coors give millions of dollars for college sports (Nocera). This is just an example of another way college football brings in money. All of this money that the NCAA, the conferences, and the schools bring in, and not a single penny goes to the paying the players. Instead, the money goes to practice facilities that cost millions of dollars (Connolly). A lot of the money is kept by the NCAA and schools for other uses, like construction or renovation of university facilities. This money could, however, be used to pay the players. “According to a recent study, if CFB operated under the same revenue-sharing model as the NFL, each of the 85 scholarship players could see a paycheck of $225,000 per year” (Gregory). This is the best way to use the money, as every player would certainly earn a fair amount of pay for their work. Not only does college football make millions of dollars in revenue without paying back to the players, the players also dedicate most of their lives to playing the game.
Division I football players spend the majority of their lives during their years at college to football. From training and actually playing, it takes up a significant amount of their time. “Students can spend up to forty hours a week practicing, training, and competing” (Zissou). The players dedicate an important amount of their life just to train. In addition to this, they take time away to play the games, and spend a sizable amount of time traveling for away games. This leaves the student athletes with no time to get a job. Despite the fact that many of these student athletes are on scholarships, even full-ride scholarships do not cover the full cost of school. Athletes need money for ancillary expenses, tuition, room and board, books and fees. This often leaves them a few thousand dollars short (Gregory). Because of the time commitment, the football players do not have enough time in their lives to pursue a job, therefore they cannot make money throughout the week. Without getting paid for their hard work and dedication to football, they earn nothing. Many college football players end up broke after college, as they do not have a large amount of time to dedicate to their academics. If the athletes did receive payments for playing, they would be earning the money by their commitment to the sport every week. While the football players get paid nothing, Divison I college football coaches get paid copious amounts of money.
Division I college football coaches earn ridiculous amounts of money.
“The average compensation for the 108 football coaches in Division I is $1.75 million. That is up 75 percent since 2007” (Connolly). This number has most certainly increased in the past few seasons. The salaries of the highest paid coaches in the nation, however, are even more outrageous. Nick Saban, head coach of the University of Alabama, will earn a guaranteed $55.2 million during his eight year contract (Connolly). Also, Ohio State University’s Urban Meyer signed a six year, $24 million contract (Nocera). These two contracts highlight the insane amount of money that the top college football coaches earn. This is all while the players that they coach earn zero dollars. However, it is not just head football coaches that make ample amounts of money. Division I assistant coaches earn a respectable amount as well. “Salaries for assistant coaches have commonly exceeded $200,000, with top assistants in the SEC averaging $700,000” (Branch). It is ludicrous that all of this money is spent on coaches, who would not have a job without the players. The main cause for the high coaching salaries is that the players cannot earn any of this money. Colleges and their athletic departments are non-profit, so the money they make must be spent. Because of the inability to pay the players, schools spend a vast amount of their profit from football on the coaches and other athletic staff (Connolly). This cash could be better
used towards paying the players, who have earned it. Division I football coaches are paid a substantial amount of money, while the players earn nothing. Division I football athletes getting paid is an important topic. Many football players live at or below the poverty line. Without more support from people, college football players will never earn the pay that they deserve. College football brings in billions of dollars in revenue, but none of it goes back to paying the players. These student athletes spend up to forty hours a week training or actually competing, leaving no time to work for money. Finally, college coaches are paid a significant amount of money, yet the players get none. Division I football athletes should be paid for their work because they commit much of their time to the sport and they bring in a large amount of revenue for the school and the NCAA.