Analysis: Why College Athletes Should Be Paid

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Many wonder if college athletes should be paid. The people who say no just do not realize the struggle a student athlete goes through. The athletes should be paid because being an athlete is a job (Edelman, “21 reasons why student-athletes are employees). Plus, the ncaa makes billions every year (Edelman, “Why the NCAA's 'No Pay' Rules Violate Section One of the Sherman Act”). Also, students have to often miss some classes for away games and tournaments (Martin, “Should college athletes be paid for performance?). These athletes deserve a pay for the sacrifices they have to make. They put in a lot of work.
Student athletes are employees without a doubt. For example, the average Division 1 college football player puts in at least 43.3 hours …show more content…

Including all sports, the NCAA currently produces nearly $11 Billion in yearly revenue. (Edelman, “Why the NCAA'S 'No Pay' Rules Violate Section One of the Sherman Act”). Just to provide a great example, this year, the University of Alabama reported around $143.3 Million in athletic revenues — more than all 30 NHL teams and 25 of the 30 NBA teams. (Edelman, “21 reasons why student-athletes are employees). Now one is not saying “pay them what NBA all-star Kobe Bryant is making per year, 24 million”, but one is saying pay them enough to be satisfied. Some still think paying them is unacceptable due to what they already …show more content…

The athletes are STUDENT athletes. Student comes first. At some schools, the road to the NCAA men’s basketball championship can often have student-athletes miss up to a quarter of all class days during their Spring semester (Edelman, “21 reasons why student-athletes are employees”). Currently, the NCAA Division 1 championship for football is played on a Monday night. This year, the national football championship game required Florida State football players to miss the first days of their spring classes. As you can see, college athletes really deserve a fair