Should College Athletes Be Paid? | Teen Ink

Should College Athletes Be Paid?

April 30, 2015
By SpeedBaller BRONZE, Waukesha, Wisconsin
SpeedBaller BRONZE, Waukesha, Wisconsin
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

A few weekends ago, the final four of college basketball was going on; there were two winners in the final four, and they faced off in the championship game. Ultimately Duke won the championship game; fans all over the U.S will be watching the game. Schools, the NCAA and even the coaches will be generating lots of profit, but the real people that the fans come to watch don't get a cut of the profit, "the players". College players should clearly get paid because  College players generate money for the college through ticket sales , Tv marketing and contracts, ticket sales and merchandise. 

 

If college players got paid for doing college sports, then they would probably stay in college longer.  Former college football player from the University of South Carolina Jadeveon Clowney states, “ If I would have had the chance to take care of my family through college I would have probably stayed in college longer”("11 Legitimate Reasons"). He does not have any money to spend on himself or his family; if the school has enough to pay the coaches why can't they pay the players even a little profit?  Former college basketball player from the University of Connecticut Shabazz Napier states, "there are nights I go to bed and I'm starving"("11 Legitimate Reasons").  Athletes go from weight training everyday to bed and don't have any money to spend on food. Even if the players got 100 dollars a game it would still let them pay for clothes, house payment and food. This is why college players should get paid; not just for them staying there at college longer, but for them to have some extra money to live off of.


Usually when you play college sports you don't have time to have a second job, because the athletes are either practicing, exercising or at school. According to CNN  players are devoted 14 hours a day on football related activity, it consists from 8:30 AM to 10:30 PM ( CNNMoney) . In the offseason the athletes practice about 50-60 hours a week, but when the season starts and classes begin it goes down to 40-50 hours a week.According to Kareem Abdul- Jabbar a former NBA player "I was always too broke to do much but study, practice, and play,”(Eromosele, Diana Ozemebhoya).  This shows that players can not work a second job, while playing college sports.

Third, playing in the NCAA could be the end of their basketball career. According to a 2015 article published by Inside Higher Ed by Jake New titled "A long shot", 1.2 percent  of college basketball players will be drafted by a National Basketball Association Team. Also Jake New states only 1.6 percent of College football players will be drafted("College Athletes"). There is a very slim chance college athletes will be drafted and make it to the professional level, so college sports might be their last time playing a college sport. This also really affects the players because their spending 4 years playing college sports and they have no money to show for it.

Opponents of paying college athletes often argue that college athletes receive full-ride scholarships which should be reward enough. Although some players receive scholarships to go to a certain school it still does not give them money to live off of. According to 2012 article published by USA Today, scholarships are handed out to the best recruits and are usually worth 29,000 dollars("Reward College Athletes,") . According to scholarshipstats.com, teams can hand out about 63 to 85 scholarships a year as there are usually about 85 players on a college football roster(" Scholorship Stats.com."). Scholarship are used to pay for the school not for extra money for players to spend on house payment, clothes and food. The only rewarding thing to a scholarship is that they don't have to pay for a college.


In conclusion, college players should get paid on the grounds that, college players would stay longer at that college if they got paid, college sports is their only job and playing in the NCAA could be their last time playing competitive sports. The positive about not paying the athletes are, the schools have money to give players scholarship to that school.This argument clearly states that college players should get paid for playing sports.

 

Works Cited

"All Classroom Magazines." Should College Athletes Be Paid? N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2015.
Website


"Economists Argue It's 'unfair' That College Athletes Aren't Paid." USA TODAY College. N.p., 18 Feb. 2015. Web. 14 Apr. 2015.


Siebold, Steve. "Stop the Rip-off, Pay College Athletes: Opposing View." USA Today. Gannett, 13 Jan. 2015. Web. 14 Apr. 2015.



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