College athletes
Anida Palavra4A COMM 1020
Is it time for colleges and universities to pay their althletes?
I believe that colleges should be allowed to pay athletes. The players risk injury, devote their time, may forego earnings while playing and will not, in most cases, be able to play professional ball. Colleges make often over 50 million-100 million dollars in revenues because ticket sales, sponsorship rights and the sale of broadcast rights. The NCCA sold broadcast rights over to its annual men’s basketball tournament for over $770 million per season. In 2011, NCAA members paid their association president, Mark Emmert, $1.7 million. Head football coaches at the 44 NCAA Bowl Championship Series schools received on average $2.1 million in salaries. The highest paid public employee in 40 of the 50 U.S. states is the state university's head football or basketball coach. After all this money that the college profits, none of it seems to go to the college athletes, many of the players seem to not graduate from college and therefore shouldn’t they get paid for all of their hard work.
Not only are the NCAA rules immoral but they are likely illegal, according to the Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, in pertinent part, states that "every contract, combination … or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce … is declared to be illegal” meaning that any agreement among NCAA members to prohibit the pay of student-athletes represents a form of wage fixing that likely violates antitrust law.
A better way to solve this problem would be to simply let the NCAA set a budget for each division and let the sports program use the money as it will. More of the money would be spent on the players less money would be spent on coaches after all don’t the players make the team. Although this would mean that the coaches’ salaries would be reduced but it would not reduce the quality of coaching. Most coaches do not have alternative opportunities that pay this well so therefore they would
Is it time for colleges and universities to pay their althletes?
I believe that colleges should be allowed to pay athletes. The players risk injury, devote their time, may forego earnings while playing and will not, in most cases, be able to play professional ball. Colleges make often over 50 million-100 million dollars in revenues because ticket sales, sponsorship rights and the sale of broadcast rights. The NCCA sold broadcast rights over to its annual men’s basketball tournament for over $770 million per season. In 2011, NCAA members paid their association president, Mark Emmert, $1.7 million. Head football coaches at the 44 NCAA Bowl Championship Series schools received on average $2.1 million in salaries. The highest paid public employee in 40 of the 50 U.S. states is the state university's head football or basketball coach. After all this money that the college profits, none of it seems to go to the college athletes, many of the players seem to not graduate from college and therefore shouldn’t they get paid for all of their hard work.
Not only are the NCAA rules immoral but they are likely illegal, according to the Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, in pertinent part, states that "every contract, combination … or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce … is declared to be illegal” meaning that any agreement among NCAA members to prohibit the pay of student-athletes represents a form of wage fixing that likely violates antitrust law.
A better way to solve this problem would be to simply let the NCAA set a budget for each division and let the sports program use the money as it will. More of the money would be spent on the players less money would be spent on coaches after all don’t the players make the team. Although this would mean that the coaches’ salaries would be reduced but it would not reduce the quality of coaching. Most coaches do not have alternative opportunities that pay this well so therefore they would