Analysis: Why Division 1 Athletes Should Be Paid

Division 1 athletes are the top college athletes. Specifically Division 1 football and basketball games are broadcasted on TV and many people love watching the college players play. They make the colleges a lot of money and they spend a lot of time practicing to be as good as they are. This gives rise to the question of whether or not the athletes should be paid. I think Division 1 athletes should be paid because they spend as much time playing their sport as they do at work and they do not get to devote time to studying because they are constantly practicing their sport. D1 athletes spend so much time practicing their sport that they cannot generate a steady income. Most of the student athletes’ week is spent playing the sport. It is practically

As a result, the student athletes do not have enough time to get jobs and don’t generate enough money. The student athletes make just enough money to get by. According to an article by CBS News, Division 1 basketball players spend about 39.2 hours a week playing their sport, and Division 1 football players spend about 41.6 hours a week. On top of a job, that would leave the athlete little time to go to classes and little time to rest. The athletes are constantly playing and owe their bodies some rest. At the same time, they need to go to their classes, after all, they are student athletes. Taking into account all the time that the sport takes up and all the time needed for rest and for classes, the student athlete has very little time to get a job. If the athlete does get a job, it will probably only be for a small amount of hours and subsequently, he/she will only make a small amount of money. On the other hand, some people may argue that the athletes sign up for the above stated conditions when they decide to play a Division 1 sport. However, the conditions that previously stated should be forced upon a college student. If a

Division 1 athletes spend a majority of their time playing sports. As a result, they do not get the proper amount of time needed to successfully take higher, more challenging classes. This means that when the student athletes graduate, they do so with low degrees. Because the athletes did not graduate with good degrees, they cannot get good paying jobs after college. In a CNN article about life after basketball for college athletes, the academic struggles for the athletes is touched upon. “Men's NCAA Division 1 basketball players have one of the worst graduation rates in college sports, according to a study by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport. More than a dozen schools didn't graduate at least half their players in recent seasons, according to the study, which looked at how many players completed their degrees in six years.” The data speaks for itself. What then do the athletes do after college. A majority of college athletes are limited to mediocre jobs because they did not focus on their education when they were in college. No matter how good they were at their sport, none of that matters to the employer. They are looking at the grades and the degree. They are looking to see the level of academic success, not athletic success. Even being a coach