A debate for many years has been whether to pay college athletes for their athletic performances beyond just a scholarship. The college sports industry brings in a general revenue of about 1 billion dollars a year. Those numbers are mind blowing to me and none of the money goes to the athletes who are actually performing and make their college sports teams successful. They are risking their health and also putting in hours a day being an athlete. On the other hand athletes are given a full education, a place to live, meal plan, and chance to showcase themselves on a national level.

An article from Bleacher Report talks about how college athletes could be getting paid millions of dollars for how much money they rack up from television and also from sports gambling. Also student athletes have no time to get a job because their lives consist of their sport and school work mainly. Even though they have the off-season off they still have to train for hours in the offseason for their craft. Most athletes are also putting their health on the line because one injury could ruin everything including a scholarship that a college will just give to the next guy in line. Also people pay lots of money to watch these athletes play especially football and basketball. Some tickets can get up into the thousands which is mind blowing for a college game, and none of that money goes to the players performing. They don’t need to to get paid a ton of money but just a little amount would serve justice for the players because once again they can’t make any money or get a job. Also there are jerseys sold of the players numbers and in some case their names which once again the players don’t make any money from. The clothing brands who make the jerseys are the ones getting paid for the players jerseys. For example I have a Johnny Manzel jersey with his name and number, but he did not make a single penny off of it. Also most college athletes do not make it to the pros and will never get that pro money. Another note is that some players are so severely injured from different injuries that they are in wheelchairs or in extreme cases lose an arm or even a leg, but that is a rare occasion. There are also players who die every year from heat stroke, cardiac arrest, brain damage, and sub-dermal hepatomas. There are so many injuries that come with sports and the athletes are really risking a lot to entertain us on t.v. or at the games. Also paying athletes even a little amount would take away athletes getting paid secretly and having their coaches and themselves who get caught to face serious consequences like suspensions and never being able to play again at that particular school. The NCAA said that if a athlete were to get injured they can take their scholarship away and they would have to pay full tuition and housing along with other expenses.

Above is an image of a Johnny Manzel jersey that he made zero money off of, but the school and the Adidas clothing brand made thousands of dollars from this jersey.

On the other hand many people think that college athletes should not get paid for various reasons. An article from Eastern Washington explains these reasons. For one most athletes are on a scholarship which is thousands of dollars off of tuition which includes housing and also a meal plan. Also if college athletes were to get paid they would have to pay taxes at a young age, and taxes could sky rocket depending on how much they make. It would also make the recruitment process a lot different because then every athlete would just chose the school that pays them the most money. College sports would become a business instead of just college sports. This would also persuade athletes to go to colleges that would not necessarily have the best education. If players were to get paid there would be salaries instead of scholarships which would be more money and completely different than it is now. This would also be very complicated to perfect and would make universities have to pay a lot more money than scholarships. For college athletes it is not just about playing their sport, they have to maintain a certain grade point average to remain eligible to play their sport. College athletes have little time to study for school because they are always busy working out, traveling, and attending practices. Eastern Washington did a study where they studied over a thousand college athletes and found that they were less prepared for school than an average college student. It also has been proven that 97% of athletes will not make the pros but 3% will. Even though they are not getting paid they are given the chance to showcase their skills on the highest level of college sports.

An article from college madness strongly agrees that college athletes should get paid. They have many similar ideas that agree with the bleacher report article, but also different ideas. One of their reasons is that if college players are paid they will feel more motivated to perform at the highest level they possibly can. A couple reasons that agree with bleacher report are playing a college in college is a full time commitment and takes hours and hours out of ur day which causes athletes to take time away from studying and focusing on their sport instead. Some more reasons that college madness talks about is that college coaches get paid a lot of money in their salary. Coaches also get paid a more significant amount than professors and workers at colleges which some say is unfair, their salaries are extravagant compared to everybody else. Nick Saban the coach at Alabama University make 11 million dollars a year being the head football coach while the players don’t make a penny. It doesn’t make sense how the coach gets paid millions and the players who actually perform get nothing. College athletes also have to pay for certain accessories out of pocket and almost all of them do not have jobs. They are on scholarship, but it does not pay for everything, for example their wardrobe for special events and also food. Some players have come from a rough background and may not have parents that support them. College sports is a highly profitable industry considering there are billions of dollars a year brought in each year. The football, baseball, and basketball industries bring in millions of dollars to their college’s department each and every year. The money that is earned does not benefit the players at all because they do not get paid and also the money does not go towards research or educational funds. As I said the coaches get massive salaries and the athletic department as a whole. Also having good sports programs such as football and basketball increases the status of the University. The better the status of the University based on academics and the sports team they can increase their tuition based on popularity. The final reason that this article talked about is that players can learn and benefit from having a salary. They can leave college with not only a degree, but they also could have saved money that they can use right out of college. Not all athletes make it to the pros so having some additional money from your college sport would be helpful considering they cannot get a job with there time commitment to their sport.

In California they are allowing athletes to get paid for their endorsement deals. The governor passed this law in September of 2019. This basically means players can get paid for making commercials or wearing clothing brands and what not. The Washington Post talks about how the Fair Pay to Play act could be the start of a movement around the country. Similar laws are being proposed around states across the country, but California is the only state to put it into reality and actually make the law. California did this because it will give them an extra leg in recruiting the top players in the country because they can get paid. Although from my knowledge I have not seen any of the top recruits commit to California schools. The student athletes can hire agents to get them endorsement deals. Although the athletes cannot get paid by their schools or have any endorsements that contradict their school’s scholarship policies. This is relevant because California is trying to start a movement to get college athletes paid and this is just the start.

This chart blows my mind because the athletic departments at some of the top Universities are making over 100 million dollars a year. This chart is a few years outdated but it just goes to show how much money the departments make and that they for sure have the money to pay their athletes even a little amount. The scholarships only cost about 1/9 of what the department makes and all that money goes to the staff and just the department in general not the people who are brining in those millions of dollars.

In all the debate for whether to pay college athletes has been going on for years. There are several pros and cons to both sides. There are many reasons they should be paid like that college sports brings in billions of dollars and athletes are spending all their time to their “job” which is the sport they play and have no time to get a job. There are also arguments to why they should not be paid like college sports would turn into a business and become very complicated to work everything out and also the fact that athletes would go to the college that pays them the most nit based on their sports team or their education.

Work Cited:

Roshaun Colvin, J. (2019, November 18). Analysis | California’s ‘Fair Pay to Play’ law for college athletes has other states racing to join up. Here’s why. Retrieved November 15, 2020, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/11/18/californias-fair-pay-play-law-college-athletes-has-other-states-racing-join-up-heres-why/

Rivera, Says, K., Says, H., Says, G., Says, J., & Says, B. (2018, November 10). Rivera, Malik. Retrieved November 15, 2020, from https://inside.ewu.edu/engl201-20/college-athletes-should-not-be-paid/

White, J. (2017, October 02). College Football Players Should Get Paid Starting Now. Retrieved November 15, 2020, from https://bleacherreport.com/articles/810551-college-football-players-should-be-paid-starting-now

Top 10 Reasons College Athletes Should Be Paid. (n.d.). Retrieved November 15, 2020, from https://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/18319