Pros And Cons Of College Athletes Get Paid

Over 240,000 College Athletes are affected by the law that prevents college athletes from getting paid (NCAA). "Everyone is making money off them except them,"(Reshke).“The United States is a sports-obsessed nation, and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) football and basketball contests are some of the most widely viewed, highly rated, heavily bet on, and highly profitable sporting events in the country,” (Garcia). College athletes fail to get paid, they always put their health at risk when playing, and the sport takes up extra time used for jobs. This gets in the way, and the students can’t afford to buy food, rent, etc. College athletes should get paid, some sports make incredible amounts of money off of tickets, and online programs.
Sports consume a lot of time and energy, the players should be compensated for the amount of work that they put forth to their sport. While people believe that college athletes should get paid, others disagree with the topic. People think that a free education is enough and that compensating the player is just too much. “The reason we have Colleges and Universities is to educate our young people. The colleges expect star performances for their upfront investments, rewarding college players with full paid 4-year college education.”(Newswire). “College sports provide hundreds of thousands of student-athletes the opportunity to play the sports they love while getting the education and skills they need to succeed after college. Paying students to play would turn them into employees, shifting their focus away from academics,” (Nocera & Williams). College athletes were surveyed and only 15% responded saying that they wouldn’t be going to college if it wasn’t for the sport. Of the 480,000 NCAA athletes today, only 2% will become professional athletes, and pursue their dreams of playing the sport that they love. Some of the athlete's scholarships are taken away because the students can’t meet their GPA requirements (Odyssey). Athletes that are in college shouldn’t get paid because colleges are there to educate people not educate them in the physics of sports. Becoming a Pro requires a lot of work and commitment, and in all honesty, it's, not a realistic job for everyone, only the best of the best become Pro’s.

Although college athletes are given a free, 4, year education, it’s not seen as enough.
People believe that the athletes should get paid for the performances they put on, it would help support the athlete through their college years.“In fiscal year 2012–13, the NCAA generated $913 million in total revenue—$769 million of which came from the 2013 March Madness men’s basketball tournament (most of this money came from television networks paying for broadcasting rights). During the 2013–14 fiscal year, the NCAA generated $989 million in total revenue. However, none of this money found its way to the student-athletes whose talents and efforts produced the revenue, even though colleges, universities, and the NCAA market college athletics with the intent of generating revenue,” (Garcia). The money that was generated by the NCAA never went toward the athletes, after all, they were the ones bringing the profit in. The Ohio head coach, Urban Meyer who earns $6.5 million a year, agrees that college coaches are overpaid. “After all, in a violent sport, players risk suffering a career-ending injury. In a normal labor market, employees who take on risks are compensated for it. But the list of NCAA football players who suffer debilitating injuries keeps growing. It's obvious to many that college players should be paid for the risks they take and the value they create,” (Wisconsin State Journal). College athletes put their risk at health and some end up getting injured badly, for
what? The players aren’t getting paid and on top of that, they have to pay for their own injury. Around 5 conferences bring in an average of $250 billion a year, from tickets, bets, and online programs. College athletes should get paid, for the hard work that they contribute to not only their team but, the NCAA. The reason the NCAA makes the money that they do right now is because of the players that put on a show for viewers to watch and enjoy. The United States is a sport-obsessed nation, that means that sport programs are heavily profited by viewers. The NCAA is one of the highest profited programs, they have a $989 million dollar income per year. However, the colleges don’t have enough money for each sport, some sports don’t accumulate as much revenue as others, this would make paying players unfair for some. “The argument in favor of allowing colleges to pay their student-athletes comes down to economic efficiency, distributive justice and a reasonable interpretation of antitrust laws,” (Mitchell & Edelman). People believe that college athletes are college students, which means that they should focus more on their education instead of their sport. Focusing on their sport takes up the necessary time for studying, and completing homework, which then takes an effect of their grades.“Students are not professional athletes who are paid salaries and incentives for a career in sports. They are students receiving access to a college education through their participation in sports, for which they earn scholarships to pay tuition, fees, room and board, and other allowable expenses,” (Mitchell & Edelman). For this reason, people believe that the players should not get paid, it would take the players focus off of academics, making their grades slip.
Players should get heavily profited, the NCAA collects billions in profits each year and none of the money goes to the athletes who work hard, the NCAA would be nothing without the athletes.
“The college sports industry generates $11 billion in annual revenues. Fifty colleges report annual revenues that exceed $50 million. Meanwhile, five colleges report annual revenues that exceed $100 million,” (Mitchell & Edelman). The money collected by the NCAA, goes towards the sports and the programs, not the players themselves, however, the NCAA says that “Student-athletes are at the heart of the NCAA’s mission,” (NCAA). “Some athletes and their supporters believe that college athletes deserve some type of financial payment for their services and contributions to their institutions, an opinion that has lead to player-initiated lawsuits, court cases, and strikes,” (Garcia). "No one can argue that 98 to 99 percent of college athletes are being exploited," Roberts said. "Most benefit. Most Division I athletes that get a scholarship are in sports that generate no revenue." (Reschke). College athletes don’t get recognized and awarded for their hard work, and effort throughout the season. Most athletes train during the off-season, to prepare for their upcoming season; they should be awarded payments for the hard work that they put forth to become
better.
The NCAA brings in billions each year, and the players practice every day and try their hardest at their sport, but in the end, they get paid nothing. Everyone else gets paid except the people that work the hardest, the athletes, they practice day and night to get better but only 2% become professionals. College athletes should get paid, the NCAA brings in billions of money each year, and the athletes put their health, and profession at risk.