Paying College Athletes

The world of college sports continues to grow each and every year. This brings in a great deal of money to the schools and their sponsors. With that being said, this leads to my argument on if we should pay college athletes. Many individuals believe that athletes who are at school on a scholarship are already getting paid, and that they should not receive additional money. I am going to argue that they should be getting money from their school. College athletes bring in a great amount of money for their schools. In 2015 a study was performed of the two hundred thirty one NCAA Division 1 schools. There was a grand total of 9.15 billion in sales during the 2015 year. There are over 24 schools who make over 100 billion in sales, but most of them make a great deal less than that. Of the 231 D1 schools in the United States, 76% of them make around fifty million in income from their sports alone. I feel that players should be receiving some of this money, because it will help keep them motivated to play their hardest for the school. The college athletes are the ones who are helping bring in these great amounts of income, so I feel they should be receiving some of the benefits of it. A great deal of college athletes come from extremely poor backgrounds. In 2013 a study was conducted that showed that around 86% of college athletes in the USA live below the poverty line. If the schools would consider paying the athletes, it benefit everyone. This would make future athletes want to go to college, which in return would bring in money and revenue for the schools. Most college athletes struggle to find time to try and balance school, practice, and some even try to get a job. This could lead them into accepting illegal gifts such as money, cars, clothes, etc. Many college athletes unfortunately will not go on to the NFL, which can leave them at a disadvantage, since they do not have a great deal of work experience. While most people who enter into the work force from college do not have experience anyways, athletes I feel, are at a greater disadvantage, over non-athletes. They have the time to get internships, job shadowing hours, etc., to give them some hands on experience in their desired field. It is also known that most college athletes are on the extremely poor side, or close to it. As Marylandr's Gary Williams said some of these guys are pretty poor coming here, and a lot of college students have some money, you feel out of place, you dont feel competitive academically sometimes, and I think it could do a lot of good. (Sweaty Gary on Players Getting Paid, 2010) What Williams is saying that most college athletes are very underprivileged, and that they live below the poverty line. They also cant take school seriously because of it. They have to worry about other things such as helping their family out, trying to get a job, etc. While most college kids are sometimes poor, the reason that it is such a bug deal to athletes is because some of them, the only way they can afford to go to school is athletic scholarships. College athletes should get paid because it is extremely hard for them to get jobs, and be able to successfully balance practice, work, and most importantly, school. If the athletes are able to find time for a job, the hours are most likely late at night, which could put them at a higher risk of being tired at practice the next day or falling asleep in class. I feel that athletes should be able to get a student assistant, someone who can help guide them into the working field, and give them interview tips, etc. One of the main arguments as to why athletes should not be paid, is that they are already getting an education for free, and that is the main reason they are attending college in the first place. If the college athletes start getting paid for sports, I feel like other organizations, such as greek life, clubs, etc., will start asking for them to receive payments also. I feel like the payment of athletes will create tension among the student body, and divide them. Most college athletes are at school on a athletic based scholarship. For example, Notre Dame gives grants to student-athletes which add up to about 5 million dollars each year. The athletic games alone generate a large income for our bigger D1 schools. Student athletes also receive tons of gear for being on a sports team. There are also a great deal of grants available to students. There are plenty of reasons as to why college athletes should not, and should be paid. I feel that as soon as the NCAA starts paying our college athletes, it will turn their concentration from their education, and put most of it into sports, which is not the main reason as to why they are there. Student-athletes at colleges across America receive the benefits of one of the best education in the world. Student-athletes are students first. Their education comes first. As soon as they start getting paid, education will go to the back burner and their sport will be their main focus. I feel like paying the athletes will boost their ego, and make them feel like they are superior over their fellow peers. Once college athletes start getting paid, sports will be the main focus for them. A great deal of athletes already leave school early to go to the pros. For all the athletes that go pro, less than 2% make it to the big leagues other than baseball, which there is a 11.6% chance on making it to the Major Leagues. This makes many athletes not finish their education. The athletes will have very good jobs that will bring in lots of money, because they will not think about completing their classes or even graduating from their college. At the exact same time if the athletes are getting paid then why should they finish college? Since there are a variety of opinions concerning the athletes payment issue, more very thought out discussions should be made in the future. Whatever the decision ends up being, it should really consider the rights and the needs of the college athletes as well as all of the available opportunities in their futures.

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