Analysis: Should College Athletes Be Paid

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POS 1041 Dr. Kupfer 27 January 2014 Should College Athletes Be Paid? In recent years, the amount of college sports fans and viewers has skyrocketed. College sports fans know that Saturday’s in fall are NCAA football game days, and the month of March is March Madness for NCAA basketball teams. Fans and students look forward to college sporting events because of the fun-filled entertainment and amateur aspect that the athletes still represent while proudly playing for their school. Recently, however, college athletes have been upset with the NCAA and their policy on prohibiting pay for college athletes. Many of these athletes think that they should be paid for their athletic performances and because they bring in tons of revenue for their…show more content…
First off, college sports bring in millions in revenue to big-name universities. Many collegiate athletes think that since they help bring in ridiculous amounts of revenue to their schools, they should receive pay. The logic behind their decision is that they would be less likely to accept illegal gifts (Pay for Play, para. 2). Another reason why collegiate athletes should get paid is the fact that tons of team merchandise, specifically jerseys with athletes’ names on them, is being sold every day with absolutely none of those profits going back to the athletes. “College athletes do not necessarily need to receive a paycheck directly from their universities, but they should retain the ability to use their name, likeness and brand to generate uncapped income during and after their college career,” said Emmett Gill, assistant professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio (Paying College Athletes, Pro/Con table). Student athletes believe that they should receive a portion of those profits because without them, athletic teams and their corresponding universities would be nothing. Collegiate athletes should receive pay because although they are on full scholarships, they still have to pay out of pocket for somethings, whether it groceries or school supplies. In a recent article, freelance writer Reed Karaim stood behind college athletes saying that full scholarships pay tuition and room and board but can fall short…show more content…
First and foremost, collegiate athletes should not be paid because they are going to school to get an education, not to be paid. In some ways, college athletes are already paid in the aspect of receiving a full ride scholarship. “Instead of giving college athletes a salary, we need to do a better job of encouraging them to finish their degrees and utilize the educational opportunities in front of them” (College Athletes Shouldn’t Get Paid, para 11). Another argument against paying college athletes is that they are still considered amateurs. Besides the difference in pay, what would differentiate college sports from professional sports? The whole idea of playing college sports is still, and will continue to be considered amateur until the NCAA comes to their resolution to the issue. NCAA President, Mark Emmett, says, “The camaraderie of game day, the tailgating, the atmosphere of a stadium packed with nearly 100,000 fans, and the pride of cheering for a university team go hand in hand with the model of amateurism, and if amateurism goes away, so will the games as we know them now” (Paying College Athletes Would Hurt Traditions, para. 8). Paying college athletes would be unfair to other college athletes because some sports bring in more revenue than others. For instance, Florida State football and basketball teams bring in more revenue than their track and swimming teams, so how would the university
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