The Benefits Of Paying College Athletes

In the past twelve years, the amount of money generated by these two sports has increased nearly 300%. The student-athletes who participate in these programs are part of the reason why these schools stand to make such handsome profits: through ticket sales, endorsement deals, broadcasting deals, and jersey sales. Does it make sense for an academic institution to run a multimillion dollar entertainment business, which is what college football and college basketball have become? (Meshefejian) College football and basketball generate more than the National Basketball Association, a total of more than $6 billion yearly (Brill). College athletes make colleges money while risking their lives, but some say they are too young to receive that amount
The three weeks of the NCAA Basketball Tournament, known as “March Madness,” generate over $770 million in TV rights deals alone. They don’t pay the athletes any of that money. Even with a full scholarship, an athlete may have to pay between $8,000 to $12,000 more than the allotted amount due to travel and other needs. If the athletes don’t have the money, then they can’t travel with the team, and they will miss games. According to the study, in 2005 a draft ready football player is worth $495,000, and a draft ready basketball player is worth over $1.4 million to the NCAA respectively (Brill). If they are worth that much money, they should get paid some of it. As you can see from the points above college athletes provide a tremendous amount of money for their colleges, so why not pay them any of
Athletic scholarships are their compensation and a fair one at that (McCauley). They don't need to be paid if they don't have to pay for a scholarship. Essentially they receive a free education, and in return, they represent the school in a certain sport (McCauley). Since they don't have to pay for their education, they will have extra money to pay for their expenses. College athletes don’t have to worry about student loans, paying for textbooks, the cost of on-campus living, and meal plans (Egendorf 84). Unlike non-athlete college students, they have a free ride without any school expenses. College athletes already go to school for free so why should they be