YOU DECIDE: Should College Athletes Be Paid?
Credit: ©Radius Images/Alamy; As the number of college football controversies grow, more and more people question how these athletes should or should not be compensated.
If you’ve ever watched a March Madness basketball game or a college football Bowl game, you know that college sports are big business. This is causing some to ask whether it’s time to start paying college athletes who are, after all, largely responsible for the wins and losses. Others believe this action will cause more problems than it solves.
YES
College football alone brings in billions of dollars each year, much of it in broadcast revenue. Companies paid $700,000 for one 30-second spot aired during the last Final Four championship game alone. College athletes are under a lot of pressure to perform, investing a huge amount of time and risking life-long injuries.
While many schools offer scholarships, there are caps on what can be included. (For example, supplies, transportation, and entertainment are not included.) Players should also be allowed to earn money on their own likeness. (Right now, merchandise such as jerseys cannot include a player’s name, only his number.) Paying players will eliminate secret recruiting tactics that are said to be rampant at colleges with the best performance records. Schools could deposit a percentage of revenue into “student athlete trust funds” that could be accessed after graduation. They could also allow professional agents to pay the players an “advance” on the hope that they will be recruited into the NFL.
NO
Student athletes already earn an education, housing, and meals. They also receive benefits not available to the regular student body, such as access to state-of-the-art facilities, specialized training by an expert coaching staff, free medical attention, preferential class enrollment, academic counseling, and professional development. Depending on the sport and school, this can add up to around $200,000.
Out of all of the college sports, only a few of them make money, mostly football and basketball. Only 23 of 228 Division I athletic programs earn any kind of revenue for their schools. Paying every athlete would bankrupt many programs and force colleges to eliminate those sports not turning a profit. Paying only those athletes from programs that do earn revenue could lead to dishonest bookkeeping.
If compensation was based upon performance–such as dollars per point, sack, touchdown, trips to bowl games– determining who would get paid could get very complicated. Even if you did pay athletes (probably minimum wage to keep in line with other campus jobs), it would not be enough to deter the influence of under-the-table practices. College is not a requirement for entering the professional sports market; players who want to be compensated for their abilities can go professional.
What Do You Think? Those on both sides of this issue can agree that the system needs to be fixed. Do some research. Pick two schools in your home state, preferably one that has a large athletic program and one that does not. Find out their opinions on this issue.