Analysis: Why College Athletes Should Be Paid

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With the numerous ongoing investigations and scandals within college sports, the NCAA has been dealing with much turmoil. The money generated from college sports has greatly increased throughout years. With football and basketball usually generating the most revenue for the universities, various people start to believe that these athletes should receive some of the profit. The commonly asked question about these athletes is should these students should be paid to pay for college sports? The pro side of the argument includes: Ends under radar recruiting by coaches, the fact that these athletes are profit in uniforms, and that the scholarships that these athletes are receiving are not as satisfying as most people might think. The opposing con …show more content…

The opposite side would argue that any payment could ruin the principles of college sports. Moreover, coaches believe that they must offer more reasons for highly recruited athletes to give a verbal commitment to their school. The NCAA holds rules that restricts coaches from allowing any other form of payment to their players except scholarships. The National Collegiate Athletic Association states, “Players may not accept special benefits or money from schools for anything other than scholarships or books” (Bagaria ). In recent years, coaches have been able to spot openings and ways around these rules to give their top prospects what they want. As a result of the very high demand for players and the strict principles of the NCAA, a black market for athletes has been indirectly created. Akash Bagaria, the author of the article “Pay to play: should college athletes be paid?”, believes in the pro side that student athletes should be getting paid because they are causing these universities to inflict scandals against the NCAA. Bagaria does an exceptional job of appealing to the opposing sides argument, which inevitably gains strength to his claim. The author also provides great examples in his article in order to prove that these players should be getting paid to play. Moreover, Bagaria conveyed the fact that ex-Florida Gator quarterback, Tim Tebow, was …show more content…

Horace Mitchell, the author of Students Are Not Professional Athletes in the US News, believes that “Students are not professional athletes who are paid salaries and incentives for a career in sports (Mitchell). Mitchell believes in the idea that these students are given enough benefits by having access to prestigious universities through their participation in sports (Mitchell). Despite the fact that the author is making uncomplicated statements, he is able to back up every statement by providing examples of his comments. For example, he stated that these students chose to participate in collegiate sports as a part of their educational experience, and then he backs up the statement by explaining how they maintain a distinction between student-athletes who participate in the college model and professionals who are also students. Likewise, Mitchell noted that their may be a way to solve the issue for student athletes not having to participate in a part-time job; “It is reasonable that student-athletes should have additional resources typical for full-time students work during the academic year…” (Mitchell). Even though Mitchell is against the idea that students athletes should receive a salary, he offers endless information on how athletes could earn their own money while still being