Should College Athletes Be Paid Essay

Kelvin Miller

Paying College Athletes: Unsportsmanlike A common American dream that is becoming more and more popular is the fantasy of playing collegiate and possibly professional sports. Today’s youth dream of being the best there ever was to play the game, and dedicate hours on hours to achieve that goal. Dedication of time is what gives this dream a chance. College athletes spend multiple hours a day practicing, whether it be actual practice or spending time in the weight room to be physically prepared for the season. If one is very serious about becoming the best athlete he can possibly be, working to be the best becomes a job, in essence. College athletes work tremendously hard and they deserve endless respect. With that being said I do not think that college athletes should receive money from their school, but I absolutely
believe they should be allowed to make money in other ways such as selling memorabilia without NCAA regulations. Major Division I athletic programs are capable of giving out full-ride scholarships, and if they cannot do that they still have large cash amounts to give to their athletes. This is possible because the school earns tens and sometimes hundreds of millions of dollars in athletics alone. For example, the University of Michigan football team brought in $85.2 million dollars in the 2011-2012 campaign, third most among football teams in the nation behind the University of Texas and Ohio State University (Dosh). The majority of this money is made through tickets, which is being bought by fans coming to watch the team play. Money can also be made for the university through marketing, sponsorships, cable rights and more. Although the players are the largest factor in revenue for a university, they still should not be paid. Yes, they do spend hours on hours working hard on the field, in the weight room and hopefully the classroom. But they should their education is being paid for! The average American’s tuition debt is $27,000 dollars (Touryalai), an amount that nobody ever wants to pay. Most people would also say that athlete’s should get money because they do not have time to get a job; well, get your free education and then you can get your job. Athletes may not receive benefits aside from their scholarship (NCAA) and this is something that I disagree with. Athletes should absolutely be able to sell memorabilia to people while they’re competing at their school.
These kids do not have any time for a job and this would be a great way to allow them to earn some extra money aside from what they or their parents may have saved. When you think about it, what is wrong with an athlete signing his or her name on memorabilia for some cash? Nothing. All kids go to a baseball stadium in hopes of meeting their idol and getting an autograph. We might as well make two people happy by letting people get their autograph and the athlete get some money. If colleges were to give money to students, overall commitment from a recruit via love of the game or love of the school would go out the window. The biggest factor for schools to get big elite recruits would be to offer them more money. For example, Western Michigan University’s football program ranks 80th amongst Division I programs, with a total revenue of $27,899,949 in the 2011-2012 season (NCAA Football.) While this would be great for schools with more income, schools with a smaller income such as Western Michigan would probably begin to
suffer. The paying of college athletes is a trending topic and is hotter now than it ever has been. January 30th was a huge step as at this time, some members from Northwestern University started a union to get college athletes paid. Whether or not the union gets some things changed we will have to wait and see. I believe that many schools would suffer from paying college athletes. That is nothing the NCAA should want, nor should its fans. Paying athletes should not happen; however, allowing athletes to accept money through events such as memorabilia signings should become one-hundred percent legal as it would be beneficial to the student athletes of the NCAA.

Works Cited
Dosh, Kristi. "Texas Tops in Football Profit, Revenue." ESPN Playbook 12 December 2012. 3 NCAA. 2013-2014 NCAA Football Rulebook. 1 January 2013. 2 February 2014.
Touryalai, Halah. More Evidence On The Student Debt Crisis: Average Grad 's Loan Jumps To $27,000. 29 January 2013. 3 February 2013.
NCAA Football FInances. usatoday.com 1 May 2012. 3 February 2014.