Should College Athletes Be Paid to Play
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Athletes around the world compete for the love of their sport, or do they? Sports have evolved from a pass-time of our ancestors to competitions in hundreds of sports all around the world. The introduction of money to the sporting world is nothing new. It changes the way the game is played and how the players participate. If a player receives guaranteed pay prior to beginning a season, would he/she still compete as hard as if they were not receiving money? Either way, the financial aspect of sports is a booming business and is constantly growing. However it is kept out of colleges and universities currently in America. Receiving pay for participation in a sport is not something student athletes should be involved in. It takes away from the game and can be a distraction in the classroom as well.
Professional athletes have the potential to make more money than some top-tier CEOs. The professional sports industry is huge "with combined annual revenue of about $30 billion." according to [Hoover's.com.] Obviously, at this size is a huge part of America's economy. Professional athletes salaries account for a huge part of the overall revenue. With players at the professional level making that amount of money it's no wonder college players are eager to advance. That is, if they possess enough skill. In college sports, players are not paid. It is currently against NCAA rules for college players to receive pay or compensation in any form. [NCAA.org] states "Student-athletes are students first and athletes second. They are not university employees who are paid for their labor." This rule had been somewhat of a controversy due to critic opposition.
There are strict rules on teams to prevent them from compensating players. Many teams fail to follow the rules and their entire program is punished. A recent example of this is USC. They are currently serving a Bowl-Game suspension for 2 years due to a bribery incident. USC Coach Tim Floyd "was accused of giving cash to a middleman who helped steer (OJ) Mayo to USC [ESPN.com News Service]. These punishments not only affect the team, but the entire fan base and school as a whole. This should deter teams from turning college sports into a business. That is what the NFL is for. The players on the field try their hardest so that maybe someone can notice their skill. Because this results in getting paid to play in their near future.
The way things are right now in college sports is likely to stay for years to come. Many fans enjoy watching college football because its players play hard no matter what. They don't need to earn a contract so then they can just play mediocre. They bring a sense of passion to the game that can be felt on no other stage.
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College athletes already get huge scholarships to attend their university - most of which would cost upwards of 30,000 a year. As a student with a 4.0 GPA in high school who paid for her entire education and got no scholarships or even financial aid, I don't think that they should be getting paid to play. If they get a full ride, they are essentially getting paid - they're saving the money that other kids all over the country are paying for their education (and probably will be paying for a good part of their life). Sure, I agree with MarkRFox that perhaps they should be compensated for their likeness or a percentage of jersey sales, but I think they're already getting paid for playing with their free education.
MarkRFox Level 4 Commenter 4 months ago
Yup! The NCAA and the big schools are working together as a big time racket! They are ripping kids off. They should be paid stipends and bonuses if they make the bowl games. They also need to give them a percentage of their jersey sales. I applauded Ed Obannon for suing the NCAA for using his likeness in the NCAA video game without his permission. But plain and simple, college sports suck anyway. They aren't half as interesting as the pros. They make so so or terrible players look like super stars.