Essay Why Student Athletes Should Be Paid

Improved Essays
Amongst Divisions I, II, and III, an average of 66% of student-athletes receive some form of financial aid or a scholarship. Paying college athletes is a controversial topic that has been debated for years. Some people say the student-athletes deserve compensation for their hard work. Others think that they should not because they are at college to learn and they already receive funding in scholarships. NCAA president Mark Emmert says, “These individuals are not professionals. They are representing their universities as part of a university community” (Sara Ganim). Jake Fischer and Jake Smith from the Arizona Wildcats, Chase Garnham from Vanderbilt, Darius Robinson from Clemson, and Moses Alipate and Victor Keise from Minnesota have joined a federal …show more content…
They are already paying the people that run the sports teams, and there is no way to pay all of the athletes and sports equally. Colleges do not have enough money after they spend what they need to in their athletic budgets to pay every athlete. They have to pay their athletic directors, coaches, athletic trainers, medicine physicians, and so many other jobs. Also, colleges cannot afford to pay all sports and athletes equally. Texas A&M’s total revenue is $192,608,876. After they spend some of the money for expenses, they have $83,295,225 (USA SPORTS TODAY). That seems like a lot of money, but when you think about it, there is no way they would be able to pay the athletes and the people that run the sports teams at the same time. An athletic trainer's salary starts at $53,000. A coach's salary is usually around $46,500 to $70,000. A doctor of medicine, or an MD, receives a salary of about $241,000 (How Much Money Can You Earn In A Sports Job). The list doesn’t stop there. That is only a portion of the money that colleges pay their sports employees. With paying these employees, there is no way you can pay all

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    John R. Thelin, a professor at the University of Kentucky, wrote an article for Time.com titled “Here’s Why We Shouldn’t Pay College Athletes”. Throughout the article, Thelin refers to athletes strictly a part of college men’s football and basketball and explains why replacing a full-ride scholarship which amounts to 65,000 dollars with a 100,000-dollar salary does not make sense economically. Thelin also highlights the difference in state taxes which may make some colleges more appealing than others due to the benefits of keeping more of the theoretical 100,000-dollar salary. I believe that Thelin in his article is making a valid point that students should not be paid as employees of the university in which they attend, and that a 100,000-dollar scholarship should not replace a full-ride scholarship. However, in this article, Thelin is putting the readers under the impression that all college athletes are under full-ride scholarships.…

    • 471 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    But is more evident that no time soon will colleges be paying student athletes, there are multiple reasons why it will not work. Although Reed Karaim makes some valid points the NCAA cannot pay all college athletes. It is clear that, in addition to their academic course loads, student-athletes’ physical conditioning, practice, travel and competition schedules make it difficult for many of them to take on part-time employment to supplement their institutional aid as do other students, but they took on that responsibility when they continued to compete; but student athlete’s should not be…

    • 818 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The NCAA is a billion dollar organization. Out of all the money generated from tickets, jerseys, fan apparel, and lucrative contracts,deals the NCAA doesn't spread any of the wealth to any of the college athletes. “Then there’s March Madness on CBS and its neat $1-million-per-commercial rates for the Final Four”(204). And yet the college athletes receive no pay. Most athletes are awarded a scholarship for their…

    • 430 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Without The people who actually play the sport, the school would get no money whatsoever. “The Alabama Crimson Tide sports department earned $123,769,841 in the 2008 season, but gave no money to the players” (“College Athletics Revenue…”). Alabama has so much money to use, but doesn’t give any to the people that actually earn it. “Last year, the NCAA men’s basketball tournament generated $1.15 billion in television ads” (Johnson). Remember, this $1.15 billion is just in television advertisements.…

    • 1079 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    But the fact to say that colleges and big universities can’t afford to pay their athletes is ridiculous. According to Joe Nocera at the New York Times, the college football and college basketball enterprise together make a total of $6 billion dollars combined. That is more that the National Basketball Association. The second argument deals with Title IX which deals with discrimination against gender in education. There is a large group of people that argue that how can you pay just the men and not the woman.…

    • 1423 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Should college football players get paid? Many people do not know college football players don’t get paid, they spend 44.8 hours a week on their sports with less class time and no time for a job. College players have been wanting a cut of the money because the lack of time for a job. Being a college football player is s fulltime job. College football players should get paid because some college kids are poor and is an unsafe job that can have a long term consequences it is a multimillion dollar industry.…

    • 632 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    I have several friends who play college sports. They love playing but, they spend a lot of time practicing and conditioning. They hardly have any time to themselves and they don’t have any money. College sports are very time demanding and the athletes don’t get any money for their participation. I think that’s wrong.…

    • 275 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    According to Scholastic, “NCAA says top athletes get other benefits, like scholarships often covering tuition”. This says, athletes are getting help with their tuition so there is no need for them to be payed. One piece of evidence to back this up from The New York Times is, “The athletes at the University of Texas already received 3.1 million dollars in scholarship money”. This shows that scholarship athletes shouldn’t be paid because they are already receiving funds to assist with tuition.…

    • 437 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    These students revive free tuition along with a high caliber college education. Playing in college athletics is an experience like no other. There is no other feeling of playing in front of tens of thousands of people. It is a lot of pressure but the fact that these are the top players in the country shows that the pressure doesn't matter. These kids are also young and have not yet experienced the type of money of a professional athlete.…

    • 1695 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Should College Athletes Be Paid For Their Performance? College Athletics bring millions of dollars to some of the biggest universities around the country. Coaches get paid immense salaries based on the performance of their players and due to the increasing attention in college athletics it will only continue to increase. Huge sums of money are generated through college sports and college athletes should be acquiring enough to live comfortably aside from their athletic advantages.…

    • 640 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A question that is often asked is “Should college athletes be paid for playing their sport?” The answer to this question is no, but technically they are already being paid. College athletes are being paid by their scholarships. This might not seem like a payment, but actually it is a great one. The scholarships student athletes get pay for their college education, usually their dorm, and it also can pay for their meals.…

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Should Student Athletes Be Paid Essay

    • 1778 Words
    • 8 Pages
    • 7 Works Cited

    Unfortunately what critics lack to admit is that normal student’s face these same issues, being involved in on campus clubs and other ordeals those normal students face no one truly has a lot of time to get a job. Athletes have built in connections that non-athletes do not have, so being on an athletic team is by far more advantageous then simply being a student. So why should student athletes be the only students benefitting monetarily for their hard work (College Athletes). No one is enslaving nor, “forcing these athlete-students to play football. Don't hand me the garbage about it being their only opportunity in life.…

    • 1778 Words
    • 8 Pages
    • 7 Works Cited
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    College athletes, whether they play basketball, soccer, softball, baseball, or run track, and regardless of whether they are male or female, all have the opportunity to receive money while taking part in the privilege of being a student-athlete. In recent news, the Northwest football team recently petitioned to be labeled as employees in order for them to unionize. The argument from the players included that they’re seeking better medical coverage, concussion testing, while including the subject of the possibility of being paid. Although, NCAA chief legal officer Donald Remy expressed, “We frequently hear from student-athletes, across all sports, that they participate to enhance their overall college experience and for the love of the game, not to be paid.” Along with this issue he went on to explain how ridiculous it would be throw away a system that has helped millions of students over the past decade along to attend college.…

    • 1687 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    The Problem Of Paying Student Athletes

    • 2586 Words
    • 11 Pages
    • 5 Works Cited

    This results in many people trying to sue the NCAA because they believe this isn’t fair but that is another discussion. College athletes deserve to be paid based on all they do for their university. Works Cited Edwards, Harry. “Share the Wealth” 16 December 2011. Web.…

    • 2586 Words
    • 11 Pages
    • 5 Works Cited
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Due to this, college athletes should not be paid. Works Cited "Crossfire: Should College Athletes Be Paid?" YouTube. YouTube, 20 Mar. 2014.…

    • 1302 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays