College Athletes Shouldnt Be Paid

Don’t Pay To Play

Every year, colleges send out recruiters from their schools to search for the most talented, unique, and determined athletes all over the world. Some students come from halfway across the country, or even half way across the world just for the privilege of attending, studying, and most importantly, playing a sport for a universities sports team. Some of these students can barely speak English, or hardly passed high school, but in the end that is all irrelevant because these colleges take these students mostly based on their performance on the court, field, or rink. These universities such as Alabama, LSU, or even our own University of Maryland understands that they get most of their money from the sports department, especially from their football team. Alumni, students, and other fans of these sports spend money to watch their team play basketball, football, soccer, and many other athletics. Although these universities obtain most of their funding through the sports play of the student athletes, college athletes should not be paid for doing an activity that got them into college in the first place. There has been a lot of controversy over the past decade whether or not college students should be paid for playing sports at a collegiate level that produces larges amount of cash for the university. Currently, it is illegal for college athletes to receive any compensation or pay under the table for playing sports. There have been a lot of scandals of student athletes receiving money and gifts illegally such as former University of Southern California running back, Reggie Bush. “A sports marketer will give NCAA investigators financial records and other evidence linking Reggie Bush and his family to nearly $280,000 in benefits while he was enrolled at Southern California, according to a report Wednesday (ESPN). As a penalty, some of these universities may be stripped of titles, forced to forfeit games, or even suspended the entire university of competing in the playoffs or bowl games. Bush was receiving these benefits because he was poor at the time and his family had a difficult time paying rent. Reggie Bush ultimately denied all of these allegations that were made against him receiving unfair benefits. These student athletes such as Reggie Bush should not receive these benefits because they already given free education and a chance to audition playing sports at a professional level making millions of dollars after their college careers. By paying these athletes, the goals and the morals of these colleges with diminish because they would turn into a company, hiring athletes to play sports for their universities. If this were the case, colleges would also be allowed to fire these same athletes at will. Another issue would be finding a salary or wage for these athletes to be paid without creating controversy or issues. These wages would need to comply with all the universities around the country, which would be an issue for some. The purpose of a university is to achieve a degree and further enhance your education. Hiring athletes would completely defeat the purpose because these athletes will have no incentive to achieve a higher level of education while being paid for their athletic play.
There are many complications that may arise from paying these student athletes. The most important issue is that most school won’t be able to afford to pay their athletes. Not every school has the money these huge public and private universities do such as Duke or University of North Carolina. Some of these schools are division three schools that simply cannot afford to play their athletes or even offer them scholarships because they aren’t competitive in the sports department. Yes, we could make it so that we only play student athletes that go to division schools but then there would be no one left to play at the division two or three level. “The most recent survey of public university athletic departments found that only 22 out 227 schools made a profit at the end of the year. The rest broke even or had to borrow money from the school 's general fund” (Atlantic Wire). This proves that the common perception wrong that universities make so much profit without paying their players. Although universities such as Alabama and Michigan make tens of millions in revenue from sports a year, that doesn’t account for the hundreds of other schools who don’t make even close as much as these big time universities do. Another issue is how will they be able to split the revenue they receive from the NCAA sports video games. The last video game that was released by NCAA and the platform supporting it was in 2010. “A lawsuit against the NCAA that could have huge ramifications on the future of collegiate sports should finally have a verdict by June 1. Ed O’Bannon, a star player for UCLA in the mid-1990s, is suing the NCAA for profiting off his likeness, which was used in a video game well after his playing days were over.” (Josephsoninstitute) This is one of the reasons why college basketball had to discontinue putting out video games. Lawsuits were being fired at the NCAA organization for making money off the player success. Furthermore, “O’Bannon and his fellow plaintiffs (which include NBA greats Bill Russell and Oscar Robertson) are seeking a 50-50 split in revenue. The NCAA believes they aren’t owed a dime, arguing that the players were compensated when they received scholarships to play.” (Josephsoninstitute). “If a court, Congress or the National Labor Relations Board ruled college athletes were employees, a host of new issues arise, as do costs. In addition to the compensation provided to athletes, as an employer the athletic department would have to pay the following for each athlete: Social Security at a rate of 6.2% on the first $106,800 of compensation (in 2011), 1.45% for Medicare, with no cap, federal and state unemployment tax and worker’s compensation insurance, which varies in expense by state by averages 2-3 percent.” (Businessofcollegesports) This would be the case of student athletes were paid to play. This shows that college universities would not be able to afford the cost to pay these athletes.

One of the results if college athletes were to be paid would be that other sports that do not generate the same profit that the big time sports generate would be cut. For example, track & field, tennis, water polo, and volleyball would all be cut because they would not generate enough revenue for the universities to make profit off these sports. Yes, the big-time football and basketball players do work hard to earn money for their universities but paying them would result in cuts in other sports where players work just as hard. Another result if colleges were to be paid would be the concern of character issues. It would be much harder for coaches to get a grip on their players because these player already know they are getting paid so why do they need to put in the extra effort in practice. It is very difficult to learn discipline when these student athletes are getting paid money when they aren’t even playing at a professional level.
Finally, student athletes are in college for school and preparation for professional sports.
These athletes play for the opportunity to reach the professional level where they can make a career and money out of sports. These athletes are being provided with a lot of free benefits already such as coaching, equipment, tuition, food, and the opportunity to make it professionally. This issue has come to rest after “NCAA President Mark Emmert met with over 50 university presidents in the first day of a two day retreat.” He announced, “There was an absolute, complete consensus that we would never move to pay-for-play. No one, including me, believes that paying student-athletes is even remotely appropriate in the collegiate model. We talked directly about that and there’s not a single president that I’ve ever met that thinks that’s an appropriate thing to do and certainly not this group here.” (Businesssofcollegesports). In the end, paying athletes will only lower the standards of universities. Prospects will be looking to pick the college they want to attend based on their pay instead of the education that they offer.
Works Cited

"The $5 Million Question: Should College Athletes Buy Disability Insurance?" The Atlantic. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. <http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/04/the-5-million-question-should-college-athletes-buy-disability-insurance/274915/>.
"The Auburn Plainsman - What Should Be Done Student Athlete Compensation." The Auburn Plainsman - What Should Be Done Student Athlete Compensation. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. <http://www.theplainsman.com/view/full_story/22223850/article-What-should-be-done--student-athlete-compensation->.
"College Athletes Should NOT Be Paid." BDL Sports. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. <http://bdlsports.net/2011/07/19/college-athletes-should-not-be-paid/>.
"Florida Gulf Coast Is the Best Argument Against Paying College Athletes." The Atlantic Wire. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. <http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/03/florida-gulf-coast-best-argument-against-paying-college-athletes/63657/>.
|, Ivan Maisel. "Paying Players Might Create havoc." ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. <http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/6768571/legal-issues-arise-paying-student-athletes>.
"New York Magazine." The Sports Section. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. <http://nymag.com/daily/sports/2011/11/chait-why-paying-student-athletes-wont-work.html>.
"Opinion: Why College Athletes Should Not Be Paid | USA TODAY College." Opinion: Why College Athletes Should Not Be Paid | USA TODAY College. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. <http://www.usatodayeducate.com/staging/index.php/opinion/opinion-why-college-athletes-should-not-be-paid>.
"Pac-12 Football." Bleacher Report. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. <http://bleacherreport.com/articles/847672-college-football-players-you-are-already-being-paid>.
"Post Column: College Athletes Should Not Be Paid." The Post. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. <http://thepost.ohiou.edu/content/post-column-college-athletes-should-not-be-paid>.
"Report: Marketer Claims Bush Received $280K in Benefits At USC." ESPN.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2013. <http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3056397>.
"Should College Athletes Get Paid?" Sportsmanship Blog. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. <http://josephsoninstitute.org/sports/pvwh-sportsmanship/2013/03/should-collegiate-athletes-start-getting-paid/>.
"Stanford Daily | Sawhney: Why Student-athletes Should Not Be Paid." Stanford Daily RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. <http://www.stanforddaily.com/2010/10/27/sawhney-why-student-athletes-should-not-be-paid/>.
"United States Sports Academy - "America 's Sports University"" Point/Counterpoint: Paying College Athletes. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. <http://www.thesportjournal.org/article/pointcounterpoint-paying-college-athletes>.
"Why College Athletes Will Never Be Paid." N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. <http://businessofcollegesports.com/2011/08/10/why-college-athletes-will-never-be-paid/>.
"Why College Student-Athletes Should Not Be Paid." Middletown Patch. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. <http://middletown-ct.patch.com/groups/opinion/p/why-college-student-athletes-should-not-be-paid-2>.
"Why College Student-Athletes Should Not Be Paid." Windsor Patch. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. <http://windsor.patch.com/groups/opinion/p/why-college-student-athletes-should-not-be-paid>.

Cited: "College Athletes Should NOT Be Paid." BDL Sports. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. &lt;http://bdlsports.net/2011/07/19/college-athletes-should-not-be-paid/&gt;. "Florida Gulf Coast Is the Best Argument Against Paying College Athletes." The Atlantic Wire. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. &lt;http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/03/florida-gulf-coast-best-argument-against-paying-college-athletes/63657/&gt;. |, Ivan Maisel. "Paying Players Might Create havoc." ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. &lt;http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/6768571/legal-issues-arise-paying-student-athletes&gt;. "New York Magazine." The Sports Section. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. &lt;http://nymag.com/daily/sports/2011/11/chait-why-paying-student-athletes-wont-work.html&gt;. "Pac-12 Football." Bleacher Report. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. &lt;http://bleacherreport.com/articles/847672-college-football-players-you-are-already-being-paid&gt;. "Post Column: College Athletes Should Not Be Paid." The Post. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. &lt;http://thepost.ohiou.edu/content/post-column-college-athletes-should-not-be-paid&gt;. "Report: Marketer Claims Bush Received $280K in Benefits At USC." ESPN.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2013. &lt;http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3056397&gt;. "Should College Athletes Get Paid?" Sportsmanship Blog. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. &lt;http://josephsoninstitute.org/sports/pvwh-sportsmanship/2013/03/should-collegiate-athletes-start-getting-paid/&gt;. "Stanford Daily | Sawhney: Why Student-athletes Should Not Be Paid." Stanford Daily RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. &lt;http://www.stanforddaily.com/2010/10/27/sawhney-why-student-athletes-should-not-be-paid/&gt;. "United States Sports Academy - "America 's Sports University"" Point/Counterpoint: Paying College Athletes. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. &lt;http://www.thesportjournal.org/article/pointcounterpoint-paying-college-athletes&gt;. "Why College Athletes Will Never Be Paid." N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. &lt;http://businessofcollegesports.com/2011/08/10/why-college-athletes-will-never-be-paid/&gt;. "Why College Student-Athletes Should Not Be Paid." Middletown Patch. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. &lt;http://middletown-ct.patch.com/groups/opinion/p/why-college-student-athletes-should-not-be-paid-2&gt;. "Why College Student-Athletes Should Not Be Paid." Windsor Patch. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. &lt;http://windsor.patch.com/groups/opinion/p/why-college-student-athletes-should-not-be-paid&gt;.