Should college athletes earn pay?

Zach Casey
Professor Fielding
Writing 103
15 March 2016
Should college athletes earn pay?
A Line of Inquiry
Zach Casey
James Madison University

Author Note
This paper was prepared for Writing 103, Section 40 by Zach Casey in the class of Shiela
Fielding

Should college athletes earn pay?

Abstract:
The purpose of this assignment was to examine various views and formulate an opinion on the
subject of college student-athletes potentially earning pay or compensation for performance in
their respective NCAA sports. Through the investigation, comparison, and analysis of three
different sources, it becomes evident that the position of support lies on the side of pro-college
student-athlete pay. Athletes clearly deserve the legal right to obtain financial benefits and
various forms of compensation based upon their performance in sport and should not be
interrupted or interfered with by the NCAA or other associations. There exist various forms of
compensation that have been proposed and a system should be put into place in the near future,
allowing athletes more freedom to self-promote themselves through business and ancillary forms
of income. The NCAAs current policy stands as a direct violation and clear infringement of a
basic American freedoms. It is undisputable that these student-athletes deserve these rights and
that the issue needs imminent addressing.

Should college athletes earn pay?

Should college athletes earn pay?

A Line of Inquiry
Introduction:
Every year, millions of spectators take part, in some way or another, in the celebration of
March Madness, the NCAA college basketball playoff tournament. Whether rooting for your
hometown team or simply filling out a bracket, individuals of all ages and backgrounds enjoy the
madness. The tournament originally consists of 68 teams in 4 separate divisional conferences
playing and pans out over the span of a month, ultimately leading to a final national champion.
Annual unpredictable bracket upsets has led to the labeling of the term march madness but
what is even more madness is the idea that millions of dollars are spent on game tickets,
merchandise, gambling, media coverage, and news broadcasting of these games; however, not a
cent of this money goes to the players who arguably are the reason behind all of profit. Every
year, the NCAA, a labeled non-profit organization pulls in billions of dollars, surpassing both the
NBA and NHL, two professional sports leagues for mens hockey and basketball. The problem
lies in the fact that the student athletes who take part in the games are the reason behind such
profits yet they receive no compensation other than school tuition aid. The NCAAs amateurism
model does not allow for contract negotiation or collective bargaining as the athletes are nonpaid athletes, nor can they sell themselves in any way or form to make money. I believe that
college athletes deserve the right to not only earn pay but also earn ancillary benefit from outside
sources. It is important to realize that this topic relates to any individual who is a citizen of the
US and pays taxes. Student athletes earn none of the money that they earn while our tax pay
money covers the costs of the overpaid coaches and staff members of these NCAA universities.
The students deserve the right and their own freedoms should be protected.

Should college athletes earn pay?

Summary of Articles:
Within the scholarly article Pay to play: should college athletes be paid? : Two writers
propose their polar viewpoints on the issue of college-athlete pay. On one side of the argument,
Adele Birkenes (In Show Me the Money) promotes a pro-pay approach to the issue. Adele states
that Many college athletes receive scholarship money, but the average amount of funding in an
athletic scholarship does not even cover all of a student's tuition (Birkenes, 2012). Adele later
adds: "I see athletics on the collegiate level just like a work-study program"(Birkenes, 2012).
Birkenes argues that the problem lies in the fact that many if not all student athletes struggle to
be able to find jobs that comply with their time and schedule demands and constraints (2012).
Believing that a pay will allow for comfortable living and a financial cushion to be able to live
like other college students, Birkenes believes that athletes should be simply considered and
treated no differently than other student employees (2012).
Conversely, Akash Bagaria, within his More Money More Problems segment of the
scholarly article Pay to play: should college athletes be paid? :argues against the payment of
student athletes, proclaiming that a college tuition scholarship is already considered to be a huge
financial benefit to the individual (2012). Akash also believes that student-athletes must
prioritize their education, as that is what the NCAA and college institutions are designed to do
(2012). Playing a sport comes second and is a privilege, he explains. Akash later adds that
paying college athletes would take money away from college budgets that could be used to
invest in research, to hire better staff, or to renovate facilities and technology (Bagaria, 2012).
Within his article published in 2015 in the Huffington Post entitled Solution Regarding
Paying College Athletes or Not is Simple, author Ken Reed explores the complications of the NCAA
to follow legal procedures that align with U.S. law and also illustrates how the system is failing

Should college athletes earn pay?

miserably at the cost of the student-athletes. Reed examines the operations of the NCAA and assumes
the stance of a pro-pay or compensation of athletes, and is in full support of the athletes (2015). Reed
makes the point of how Olympic athletes have been afforded the right to promote, become endorsed
and sponsored, and make money from their popularity and performance and believes that college
athletes deserve that same very right (2015). Reed believes that the NCAA, being an academic related
association, should promote entrepreneurship and marketing to the athletes and possibly even assist
them in those endeavors (2015). But instead, the NCAA deems these actions illegal and aims to claim
all of the money that the athletes generate. Reed exclaims that the NCAA argues against and strongly
opposes his position, claiming that larger and more developed athletic schools will create a
monopolistic type system but Reed argues that this system has already naturally developed (Reed,
2015). These bigger schools already have advantage for recruiting the top and most potential student
athletes (2015). Reed also explains how the NCAA has created and established a type of
discrimination among the college community. He argues that musicians and artists have the privilege
of accepting money for their artwork or performances but college athletes are prohibiting from earning
money from autographs or similar deals (2015). Reed believes that by at least allowing the athletes to
receive money or support from sources external to the school, would be an easy and completely legal
process (2015).
Taking a pro-pay approach, Mike Benedykciuk of The Daily Free Press believes that
high profile athletes or high performing athletes deserve some form of compensation (2015).
Mike states that: According to the NCAA website, there are over 460,000 male and female
student-athletes who participate in 23 different sports across the United States and that
implying that all 460,000 of them should receive some sort of weekly paycheck is ludicrous
(Benedykciuk, 2015). Mike believes that the NCAA, as a non-profit organization that makes

Should college athletes earn pay?

over 11 billion, holds responsibility for corrupting the system and taking advantage of athletes
(2015). The NCAA claim to not intend on making a profit, but do, and do not give back to the
players.

Comparison of sources:
The article found in the Huffington Post entitled Solution Regarding Paying College
Athletes or Not is Simple by author Ken Reed as well as the Gale source by Adele Birkenes entitled
Pay to play: should college athletes be paid?(Show Me the Money) concur on the subject of
discrimination by the NCAA on student athletes in various ways. The NCAAs amateurism
model does not allow for athletes to make contracts with professional teams, accept a salary for
participating in athletics, earn prize money above actual and necessary expenses, play with
professionals, have agents, or accept endorsements or sponsorships (Reed, 2015). Both of the
following sources believe that by not allowing for athletes to independently market themselves
nor allow them leverage their own talent and performance for the purpose of ancillary or
financial benefits, that they are stripping them of both human and legal rights and are
discriminating against them. Ken Reed states that Music students in college are free to accept
cash or gifts for playing a weekend gig at the local club. What makes athletes different? (2015).
Similarly, Adele Birkenes believes that the student athletes deserve compensation similar to that
of work study program students (2015). In fact, the athletes dedicate more time, effort, and
sacrifice more hours and therefore more study time to their sporting activities and also generate
more for the schools, making them more valuable and deserving of higher work-study payments.
Both the article entitled The Blue Line: College Athletes Should be Paid found in the
Daily Free Press by Mike Benedykciuk as well as Gale source, Pay to play: should college

Should college athletes earn pay?

athletes be paid? (Pay to Play) by Adele Birkenes, agree on the topic of paying college athletes a
pay similar or equal to that of college work study programs. Both article believe that it would not
be difficult nor very costly to pay college athletes the same or similar wages to that of students
who work in on campus facilities or at least allow them to earn money on their own. These work
study programs are designed to allow for students to make some money while also keeping their
jobs close or on campus, allowing a safe, and positive learning environment and flexible working
hours. These programs also save money for the institutions by allowing the schools to cut cost
wages if they had to instead pay someone a fixed salary instead of student hourly. The
mechanisms of pay, as Ken Reed describes in his Solution Regarding Paying College Athletes or
Not is Simple, do not require a rocket scientist to figure out. Reed offers a proposal of adopting the
Olympic style model of athletic free-enterprise (2015). Athletes in the Olympics possess the freedom
to exercise endorsements and financial aid in any way. In this style modeled system, athletes would be
able to operate independently of the schools and therefore the schools would even save money
through not having to pay them. The only issue that remains in this situation is the idea that all athletes
are on an equal playing field; however, only high profile athletes will strike deals and endorsements
that will actually benefit them. The rest of the athletes will have to settle for little to nothing.
Within Akash Bagarias More Money, More Problems within Pay to play: should college
athletes be paid? as well as The Blue Line: College Athletes Should be Paid found in the Daily
Free Press by Mike Benedykciuk, the objective of the NCAA to educate first, before provide an
athletic performing platform is explicitly stated (2015). Despite the stance on the NCAAs
declaration of school first and the legitimacy of those claims, both sources do agree that the
NCAA at least says that they promote an educational experience above all other experiences,
whether that be social, financial, athletic, etc. Bagaria believes and makes known that College

Should college athletes earn pay?

athletes should not forget that their main purpose at school is to learn and study, not to receive
money (2012).
Contrast of sources
Of the three sources, three support the payment of college student-athletes in some form
or another. Of the three sources, one is considered a duel source as two opposing viewpoint
authors both gave their impression on the topic of discussion. Within More Money, More
Problems within Pay to play: should college athletes be paid? Bagaria argues against the
payment of student athletes, proclaiming that a college tuition scholarship already provides a
huge financial benefit to the individual (2012). Bagaria also believes that student-athletes must
prioritize their education, as that is what the NCAA and college institutions aim to do (2012).
Playing a sport comes second to education and must be treated as a privilege. Bagaria later adds
that paying college athletes would take money away from college budgets that could be used to
invest in research, to hire better staff, or to renovate facilities and technology (Bagaria, 2012).
On the other hand, Birkenes of Show me the Money within Pay to play: should college athletes
be paid? :advocates for compensation of the athletes and states that Student athletes are often
unable to work part-time jobs. Small salary will help them live comfortably (Birkenes,2012).
Similar to the statements of Birkenes, Mike Benedykciuks The Blue Line: College Athletes
Should be Paid found in the Daily Free Press argues for one to Consider the life of a studentathlete, though. The average Division I football player dedicates over 43 hours per week to his
sport, meaning that he spends more than a typical American work-week training and playing
football, in addition to his classwork (2015). This type of lifestyle is clearly difficult and may
deserve compensation or aid, as Bagaria argues against.

Should college athletes earn pay?

Multiple sources argue on the stance of the NCAA and its true identity and platform
regarding the overall educational experience. On one hand, Bagaria argues that the NCAA truly
wishes to instill an educational experience upon the college students. Conversely, Benedykiuk
states that the NCAA claims that the goal is to educate students yet they generate so much
money and do not compensate student athletes (2015). He (Benedykiuk) later adds that the
NCAA preaches that its main goal is to educate student-athletes, yet it continues to generate
record-breaking revenues from players that must miss their classes in order to play basketball on
national television (2015).
Various sources that support the pro-pay position dispute the means by which to fund
them. Benedykiuk recommends that the NCAA Partition the billion dollars in ad money
received during March Madness so that players can get something in return for their work
(2015). Contrary to this system of compensation, Birkenes believes in the small earning salary of
college student-athletes. Adele Birkenes advocates that all players deserve pay similar to that of a
work study program however Mike Benedykciuk believes that only high profile athletes deserve
compensation which he outlines within the article The Blue Line: College Athletes Should be
Paid found in the Daily Free Press (2015). Benedykciuk believes that high profile athletes
deserve priority and will also allow for less complication of the system.

Evaluation of sources
After examining More Money, More Problems within Pay to play: should college
athletes be paid? by Akash Bagaria, I would disagree with the argument to not fund or
compensate college athletes but would also recommend additional information in order to further
solidify my position. Although making some logical points, the source length does not suffice for

Should college athletes earn pay?

the argument at hand. Insufficient information is provided in order to make a concrete decision;
however, my own personal bias does come into play. Bagarias claims serve equally as valid;
however, lack evident and logical counter arguments to the objections made in the other sources.
Examples of these lack of rebuttals includes the idea that college currently pay an over-priced
salary to athletic directors, coordinators, and coaches. This would make Bagarias argument
regarding reinvesting the money spent on athletes back into the school, research, programs, etc.
invalid. Bagarias believes that paying college athletes would take money away from college
budgets that could be used to invest in research, to hire better staff, or to renovate facilities and
technology (2012.) On the other hand, within Adele Birkeness Show me the Money within Pay
to play: should college athletes be paid, Birkenes provides a few highly convincing arguments.
The evidence that proves most convincing and validates my own views of personal thinking
include the passages stating the importance of college athletes in the sport itself and the
generation of the money in the NCAA. Obviously, without the athletes no NCAA sport would
exist nor money to make from it. Ultimately, the argument in total, from the work study
comparison to the inability of athletes to work part-time jobs to cover expenses beat out that of
Bagarias. Both sources illustrate polar opposite views in a concise manner and effectively
portray points against the opposite argument.
Upon examination of The Blue Line: College Athletes Should be Paid found in the Daily
Free Press by Mike Benedykciuk, I find that the source serves as a legitimate piece of support
for the pro-pay argument. Not only does this article provide valid insight and knowledgeable data
regarding statistics around the subject, but the author also effectively interjects his own opinion
through statements such as there are over 460,000 male and female student-athletes who
participate in 23 different sports across the United States. Implying that all 460,000 of them

Should college athletes earn pay?

should receive some sort of weekly paycheck is ludicrous (Benedykciuk, 2015). The source
provides various statistical information and relates to the current issue, especially regarding
modern athletes and even lists names. There exist no weaknesses in this source as it proves the
most supportive, detailed, and complete. Benedykciuk formulates an incredible counter argument
against a critic of the opposing viewpoint stating that A college education from a top-notch
university such as Duke is an immeasurable resource (2015). He later adds: However,
participating in sports at these universities considerably diminishes the value of any given
athletes education (Benedykciuk, 2015).
When evaluating both the legitimacy and persuasive effectiveness of Ken Reeds article
Solution Regarding Paying College Athletes or Not is Simple, I would give a positive overall
assessment of the source. Reed integrates information from outside sources to further support his
argument. For example, Reed references Joe Nocera, New York Times columnist who stated in his
own article on the subject matter, ultimately agreeing with Reed that The current system basically
screws a bunch of kids, a lot of them disadvantaged kids (2015). Later he adds words from
sports writer Patrick Hruby that Nobody in America has to deal with the restrictions on income
that the NCAA imposes. Actors and musicians can go off to college, be on scholarship, and still
make money off their talent. Its morally wrong, and un-American, to prevent athletes from
doing the same (2015). Ultimately, Reed effectively makes great points against the current
model of NCAA operation and gives examples such as the case of Louisiana State University
star football player Leonard Fournette whose family has reached a financial situation because of
the current system. The only potential weaknesses of reeds case include his inability to address
possible mechanisms by which to pay the athletes and legal issues that would arise with that

Should college athletes earn pay?

process. Title IX rules have many strict policies regarding equal rights, especially in the college
setting revolving sports play.

Conclusion
Through the examination of the three sources regarding college student-athlete pay, my
viewpoint changed. Previous to researching and further analyzing the topic, I believed the idea of
college athlete pay to be an absurd proposition and that those students already receive numerous
benefits. Since investigating the topic, I now believe that college student-athletes deserve various
forms of compensation and benefits. Due to the amount of time spent dedicated out of class, the
value that the athletes bring to the school through media, marketing, and other forms, as well as
the post play repercussions that may follow from playing the sport, including both injury and
lack of an educationally full experience, the college student-athletes deserve countless benefits.
Many of the sources provide insight into new systems of how and what to pay athletes as well as
a process by which to make it happen.
Additional research pertaining to the systems of how and what to install this new system
could benefit the overall argument. Also, compliance with Title IX laws is a similar area that
could use some more researching. With this being said, I have a newly formed, solidified
viewpoint on the subject. Prior to reading and investigating the subject further, I believed that
college-student athletes deserve to be treated as amateur athletes, and do not stand in appropriate
legality of accepting outside payments or endorsements as it would likely influence their college
experience and take away from academic drive to complete a degree. I believed that college
student-athletes should prioritize academics which I still support; however, I do recognize that
the university or college institution should not be able to dictate the course of the life of the

Should college athletes earn pay?

college student-athlete as they cannot with any student. Even though I still believe that college
student-athletes should follow through with and earn a degree, even in the case of having a
professional sports career lined up, I do still believe that due to the low rate of success in
professional sports leagues as well as the short average career life, that these athletes should
emphasize academic development. These athletes still possess the same human capabilities and
rights to decide their future and what serves best for themselves. Providing high profile athletes
with potential agents provided from the University or privately hired by the player in conjunction
with outside endorsements would allow though for the mentoring and facilitated education of the
athlete and personal development needed for sustained financial success and wealth. This would
be provided in an ideal model such as that adopted by the Olympic athletes as mentioned before.
Instead, the NCAA will continue to use its corrupt Amateur model as long as they can make
billions and billions yearly.

Should college athletes earn pay?

References
Birkenes, A., & Bagaria, A. (2012, February 6). Pay to play: should college athletes be paid?
Current Events, a Weekly Reader publication, 111(13), 7. Retrieved from
Benedykciuk, M. (2015). The Blue Line: College Athletes Should be Paid- The Daily Free Press.
Retrieved March 09, 2016, from
Reed, K. (2015, November 13). Solution Regarding Paying College Athletes or Not is Simple.
Retrieved March 09, 2016, from