Imagine, you are a star athlete in college and every time you go on social media you see your name headlined all over about if you are going pro or if you are a bust. Do you think you will get paid because they are using your name to make millions? sadly, you wont see a dime.
In today’s world, college sports teams are becoming even more popular than they were in the past. Why? because of the players schools are recruiting and the skill level of the teams. That causes more viewership not just in ticket sales, but on broadcast T.V. as well. Universities are making millions and millions of dollars just because they have a good sports team. For example, in 2017 college football teams that made The College Football Playoff got paid $6 million. Also teams that have won The College Football Playoff, the following season there revenue increased by 11%. With all this money don’t you think the players should see some of that hit there bank accounts? Well, lets dive deeper into that.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a $1 billion company and they are the ones who get to govern all the rules athletes have to follow so they can play. They specifically say that athletes are allowed to be paid, but they can not be paid past the amount they were given. For example if a school gave an athlete a full ride scholarship, then they are paying him for that, but they cannot exceed that amount or else they are “paying” the athlete. In saying that,
Why Athletes Should Be paid
College athletes are very busy people. They are pretty much working 2 full time jobs and aren’t getting paid for it. There names are being mentioned all over media and those companies are making money off there name. Athletes should have the right to be paid if there name is mentioned. Also, it would attract skillful athletes to be in programs longer, lower tuition rates, it would provide relief for families knowing they don’t have to pay for there kid to go to college, and most importantly it would create opportunities for the athletes for there future.
Why Athletes Shouldn’t Be Paid
The main reason athletes shouldn’t be paid is because they are not in a professional league. They are all still considered amateurs and they don’t have an official contract. If college athletes could get a contract it would ruin the recruiting process for schools. Everyone would just want to go to the school that offers them the most money and schools would become even more of a power house and the equality of the competition would disappear. Also, these athletes are 18-23 years old, they are still young and not considered professional, and shouldn’t have the chance to make millions off a league that is suppose to be for amateurs. Also, if college athletes got paid, then what league or division would they play for. They aren’t professional, nor amateurs so they would have to create a whole new league. Even though college athletes should be paid, it would cause a whole shift in a bad direction for college sports especially now because of how popular the idea has become.
However, The NCAA has made a rule that Athletes in California are allowed to earn money off there jersey sales and endorsements. This is probably going to start a snowball effect with all the other states agreeing to this rule change. Do you think college athletes should be Paid?
By: Eric White
Ms. Harner's EN100 Blog 