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Cody Sasser

CCRO92- Kelley

Debate Essay

Tuesday, November 16th, 2016

Should College Athletes Be Paid?

Every year when college sports are getting set to begin the same debate always comes up

should college athletes get paid or not? In college sports, athletes will repeat a day after day

routine by having a morning workout with the team, going to class and mandatory study hall.

College athletes bring in millions of dollars with ticket sales, jerseys, etc. Why cant the NCAA

pay the student athletes a certain amount of money per month to compensate for all of their hard

work?

The college sports industry generates around $11 billion in annual revenues. Fifty

colleges report annual revenues that exceed $50 million (College Revenue). Five colleges

report annual revenues that exceed $100 million (College Revenue). . Most college revenues

that will be generated throughout the year are passed along to NCAA executives, athletic

directors and also head coaches. Marc Edelman, A writer for the US News once stated that in

2011, NCAA members paid their association president, Mark Emmert, $1.7 million (Should

College). Also, over 44 Head Coaches made over the average salary of 2.1 million.

The NCAA has continued to back up the thought of a full ride scholarship being enough

to compensate for the players. The NCAA claims that if they decide to pay the student athletes

for all of their hard work, then the competitive edge will go down in all sports. Why would the

competitive edge go down? The athletes will not be given millions of dollars per semester.

Athletes should be given a small amount per week to allow them to go out to eat or go get
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groceries for themselves. The competitive edge between players and teams will still be there no

matter what. The drive to get to the NFL, NBA or any professional sport is always the goal for

any athlete and just because a college athlete is making a certain amount of money per week is

not going to change any competitive edge.

The schedule a college athlete goes through is rigorous. College students do not have

time to go get a job during the season. Their job is playing the sport they love. Most athletes start

off the day with a workout in the early morning, which is followed by classes till the early

afternoon. Then, after a 3 hour practice it is followed by meetings and study hall. By the time all

of that is over, it is around 8 p.m. and it is time to repeat the day all over again. The athlete and

coach both put in all of their time and effort into the season. One difference between them is that

most division I coaches are making on average near 2 million per year, while only some athletes

are not getting compensated for anything but school. Not all Student-Athletes have a full

scholarship. The kids that dont have a scholarship have to worry about paying off the semester

cost. This causes the athletes to not have enough money for food, groceries, etc.

The debate between whether college athletes should be getting paid or not can both ways

with a lot of people. For example, Horace Mitchell, also a US News writer stated that students

are not professional athletes who are paid salaries and incentives for a career in sports. They are

students receiving access to a college education through their participation in sports. (Should

College). What is bothersome is that in college basketball athletes can leave after one year. The

plan for every college student should be is to get a degree. If you are a good enough player to get

drafted into the NBA after your freshman year then why should that athlete stay in college

instead of making millions?

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Student athletes go through a ridiculous schedule, in which most colleges are bringing in

millions. The NCAA decided on not bring up the conversation on whether colleges athletes

should get paid or not, but without a doubt the student-athlete should be compensated a small

amount of money per week for all of their hard work and dedication.

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Works Cited

Mitchell, Horace, and Marc Edelman. "Should College Student-Athletes Be Paid?." U.S. News

Digital Weekly 5.52 (2013): 17. Academic Search Premier. Web. 9 Nov. 2016.

"Should athletes share March Madness bounty?." USA Today n.d.: Academic Search Premier.

Web. 9 Nov. 2016.

'Pay for play' model isn't a foolproof solution." USA Today n.d.: Academic Search Premier. Web.

9 Nov. 2016`