Should Student Athletes Be Paid?
The average college student all go through the same things, worrying about grades, dating, studying, and their social life. For most this is all they can handle, it’s tough enough to get good grades even with a bunch of free time.
Now imagine you’re a student athlete, you are expected to pass every class with the stress of practice and games. You have barely any down time and you’re slaving for your university making them a bunch of money while you get none of it. Student athletes should be paid because they have the extra stress put on them and also they are making money for other organizations such as the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) while they don’t get a penny for their play. Student athletes have an increased workload that other students do not have. USA Today says,”Football players in the NCAA’s Division I Bowl Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-A) said they spent an average of 44.
8 hours a week on their sport — playing games, practicing, training and in the training room — compared with a little less than 40 hours on academics.”(Jones 1). It would seem like that number should be flip flopped, student athletes should be more focused on school than sports, because unlike sports you’ll have your knowledge for the rest of your life. Student athletes need extra cash to keep up a healthy lifestyle so they can be good enough in their sports. Most college students get a job to help support themselves, while student athletes already have a job; it’s their sports but they don’t get paid for it.
A huge argument about paying student athletes is scholarships. Only four sports in college offer full ride scholarships; football, men’s and women’s basketball, and women’s volleyball. After this what about the other sports why don’t they have the opportunity for full ride scholarships? Even the full ride scholarships aren’t worth the work student athletes will put in throughout their college life. According to U.S. news, “The average athletic scholarships are only worth 10,400 dollars.
“(O’Shaughnessy 1). So in reality the athletic scholarship is a start to paying student athletes, but it shouldn’t be the end to the conversation about paying college athletes. The athletes are making money not for themselves but for their university. They better they play the more money is made for the television companies, universities, and the NCAA. In 2014 the NCAA made “$912.
8 million of revenue”(IndyStar 1). This was approaching one billion dollars and the players saw none of that money. Another great example is the Alabama football team’s revenue for 2012. They generated “110 million dollars in revenue” while , (less than $6.5 million went to the university to pay for scholarships, faculty support, and the Acts of Kindness fund”(Ethos 1).
All this data supports that the athletes who are making the money aren’t getting compensated for their tough work. They have to live in poverty and always have money being held over their heads. Why wouldn’t you help your athletes out with financial issues when they are your money-makers? The way students are being exploited is unfair. They deserve to be compensated for all their hard work that they put in. For the universities, broadcasting companies, and the NCAA they are literal walking dollar signs.
When are we going to realize that the college players live in the shadow of these organizations and that they deserve to be compensated for their hard work that they put in everyday. Works cited “NCAA Approaching $1 Billion per Year amid Challenges by Players.”Indianapolis Star. N.p.
, n.d. Web. 28 May 2015. “Is College Football Profitable for Universities?” Ethos.
N.p., n.d. Web.
28 May 2015. “Study: College Athletes Are Full-time Workers – USATODAY.com.” Study: College Athletes Are Full-time Workers – USATODAY.com.
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28 May 2015. US News. U.S.News & World Report, n.
d. Web. 28 May 2015.
