College Athletes Should Not Get Paid

College athletes should not get paid. You might think I’m crazy or selfish, but I am neither. College Athletes get so many great benefits until they really do not need a pay check. Most college athletes receive scholarships. Even more many college athletes receive “full ride scholarships.”
According to www.bigfuture.collegeboard.org Division I is the biggest and most competitive NCAA division. Colleges that compete in Division I must offer scholarships — many of them full — to their student-athletes. According to www.ncaa.com more than 150,000 student-athletes receive $2.7 billion in athletic scholarships each year from NCAA member colleges and universities. “Full ride” means the athletes get full scholarships which include, fantastic
medical plans. For example according to the NCAA, they partner with the U.S. Department of Defense have embarked on a landmark $30 million initiative to enhance the safety of student-athletes and service members (www.ncaa.com). The athletes also receive free housing, free meal plans, tuition, and other school supplies. According to www.1045theteam.com There are 80 scholarship players on each of the 112 Division 1-A teams. This means it costs a university $16,000,000 to pay for an entire roster over 4 years. To some having a full scholarship might not mean much, but it is a big deal. According to www.collegedata.com the average tuition cost for one year of college is $22,203. Still might not seem like much, but for four years according to www.collegedata.com the average tuition is $200,000. According to www.ncaa.com and USA Today they have determined that a full men’s basketball scholarship can be worth at least $120,000 per year, when factoring in goods, services and future earnings. Many would argue that they still need clothes, shoes, and other necessities. They do need these things, but they should already have clothes and shoes, and if they need anything else they still have parents and other family members. Some colleges even supply athletes with spending money so they can purchase things. During their sport’s off season they can get jobs to help them out. And though they will still have workouts or light practices and class, they must learn how to manage their time.
In high school the athlete works hard to make it to the collegiate level, and they do not get paid. They work so hard because they know they may possibly get into college for free.
That’s the greatest incentive to a high school athlete. Once in college, they work around the clock to improve their skills in hopes of making it to the pros. That should be the greatest incentive for college athletes. If they were to get paid in college that might alter their motivations for going to college. The most important goal in college is to get an education in a chosen field and to establish a long term career. Athletes can not play professional sports forever. A lot of people like to argue that the university receives so much money from the athletic department that the players are entitled to some of that money. According to www.usatoday.com last year the University of Alabama football brought in a total revenue of $143,776,550. Now if you take this number and subtract the amount of a full scholarship for 50 players, it is easy to see that most of the money does go to the players. According to www.bbstate.com last year The University of Kentucky made
$86,570,576 just in men’s basketball. The money colleges make from sports does not sit idle in a bank account. The money gives them the opportunity to give out more scholarships, upgrade training facilities, acquire medical equipment, team supplies
and equipment, and stadium upgrades. Therefore, each player does benefit from the money. The players may not be able to have it in their pockets, but they can see it around them every day.

Do all people go to a football game just to see the team? No, some people come to see other groups that come together to make the game what it is. So if you pay the football players, many would argue you would have to pay the marching band members, the cheerleaders, the softball, baseball, soccer, and other sports participants because they are also reasons why money is received. Granted the men’s basketball teams and football teams bring in the bulk of the revenue to colleges. If colleges were to pay every athlete than there would not be enough money to allow the college to run as efficiently as it should.
Michael Wilbon of www.ESPN.com argues that players should get paid. He believes that only those football and basketball players that bring in the revenue should be paid.
Wilbon states, “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.” But he himself agrees that it will be hard to pay athletes without violating Title IX, which banned sex discrimination in schools, especially breaking down the barriers in sports for women and girls.
On a couple points I do agree with Wilbon.
The NCAA has put millions into a fund for student athletes who are in need. The fund covers clothing purchases, emergency travel, and medical expenses. If the NCAA were to put more money into that fund and make it more accessible to athletes for their daily expenses, it would be a great help. Like Wilbon, I also agree that scholarship athletes should be allowed to use their likeness, name, and such to earn money. Even when an athlete is punished, for violating the rule, they usually don’t receive a great degree of punishment. Unlike Wilbon, I do believe there should be a limit on the number of deals and amount of money they can earn. There would have to be some kind of regulations put in place.
Molly Block, an opinion columnist with The University Star, makes many valid points in her opinion piece “College athletes should not receive payment for playing.” Many athletes seem to think they should be paid. They argue that they dedicate so much time to practice that they do not have time for a part-time job. So what if they are broke. Most college students are broke. Unlike the scholarship athletes, these poor students work just to pay for tuition, food, and
rent.
The average college student is going to college to pursue a degree to better his or her life. College athletes should go for that reason and the love they have for the game. If they are going to get paid “big bucks” in college, many will go to college just to get paid. As with many presently, they would not focus on academics.
Another valid point that some have made is the fact that paying athletes will lead to a more obvious difference between small and large universities. The smaller universities cannot afford to pay athletes as much as big universities. Therefore, most athletes would choose to go to larger universities. It leaves the smaller universities struggling to bring in good, solid athletes. This in itself will create numerous issues.
It is clear that the NCAA has “buckets of money”. There is a $10.8 billion deal between the NCAA and CBS/Turner Sports for March Madness between 2011 and 2024. The BCS has a four year deal with ESPN for $500 million. Those two deals is an incredible amount of money. And yes, the athletes are the reason for the huge revenue. However, the fact remains that the purpose of going to college is to get a degree, establish oneself in a career, and become a productive, tax-paying, law abiding citizen. Not to say that athletes are none of those things.
It is worth repeating that I believe college athletes should be very well-taken care of while in college. More money should be put aside to provide them with all the things they need on a daily basis. If there is a family hardship, the college should do what it can to help the situation.