Analysis: Why College Athletes Should Be Paid

There has been a recent argument going on in the sports world that has split sports analysts all around America into two sides; those for paying college athletes and those against paying NCAA athletes. The argument has recently gained more interest after several players have tried taking a stand for the reform of college athletics. The arguments for college athletes to be paid mainly consists of what they all do for their respective universities and how much revenue they bring in. This makes athletes and certain analysts believe that theses athletes should get a cut of that big revenue they bring in with their talents. Many sports analysts would disagree however. These analysts believe that college athletes already get treated way above the

The biggest argument that those supporting this idea is that the NCAA makes billions of dollars off of their athletes and the athletes’ universities make millions of dollars off of their performances (Rose). The student athletes simply want to come right out of high school and start being treated like professional athletes. The NCAA signs many endorsement, advertising, and broadcasting contracts that provides huge amounts of revenue. This revenue comes directly from the athletes who are playing the sports because without college athletes the NCAA would not exist. One example of this is when Georgetown University made about twelve million dollars in one basketball season. That season the team was carried primarily by Patrick Ewing. Patrick Ewing really only collected just less than fifty thousand dollars while at Georgetown. This meant that the university made roughly $11,950,000 off of a student athlete (Egendorf 57). Now when athletes and other analysts see these numbers they think that they are outrageous and something should happen to fix that giant gap. This is where those who support the idea of paying college athletes get their logic and motivation for their opinions. Although it is a valid point and idea, these analysts and athletes must look deeper into all the benefits they already

These student athletes, reminder that they are in fact still student athletes, have to realize that they are still technically supposed to be pursuing an education first before their sport. Most of these athletes will not be going pro and they can not play their respective sports for more than four years. At some point life will change and they will need an education. Their universities are giving them a free, yes free, education that they can use later in on in life. However, many of the student athletes do not take advantage of this opportunity and regularly skip class and have their tutors basically do their coursework. Not to mention most athletes that participate in the very popular and highly profitable sports of basketball and football do not graduate (Egendorf 65). College athletes and sports analysts around the United States need to realize that these young adults are still students and are still considered amateurs in their sports. Also, those who want to pursue professional careers in their sports most likely have to go to college or be removed from high school for at least a year if not two. These student athletes are given a chance to improve as a player and as a person during this time. They are allowed to showcase themselves for all the way up to four years. If these student athletes digged a little deeper they would find that their universities do actually provide a lot for them. Universities all