Analysis: Why The NCAA Student Athletes Should Be Paid

More than four hundred and sixty thousand students are working for free. According to the NCAA the number of student-athletes is steadily growing. These students represent their school when they compete in their respective sport. Although all NCAA student-athletes should be paid, the football and basketball programs bring in the most revenue therefore these two sports will be the main focus of this argument. In addition, not only do these particular student athletes bring in revenue for their school, but they also bring in revenue for shoe companies, shoe companies and the conference in which their team is in (Meshefejian).

In 2008, the top 10 Division One football teams brought in a combined revenue for their schools of $1,045,275,024.

This is another reason why college athletes should be paid. As reported by Shelly Anderson, Jeremy Bloom was a talented football player for the University of Colorado and also a talented skier who competed in the World Cup Championships and the Olympics. “The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) ruled Bloom had violated its rules on college athletes having their own endorsement deals because Bloom accepted endorsement deals as a skier. Bloom could no longer play college football.” Due to Bloom’s tremendous skill in skiing he was offered sponsorships and endorsements. As any other person would ideally do in that situation he accepted them. The NCAA prohibits endorsements on the basis that the student-athletes are only amateurs. However, if they are only amateurs then why do schools offer them an almost-free education, worth up to two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in some cases? This ruling was also hypocritical of the NCAA, as pointed out to by Anderson, the NCAA allows student-athletes to play college football while also playing professional baseball. Bloom did not even accept an endorsement for the sport he was playing in college, in response, Bloom did challenge the NCAA but failed and the final ruling came in 2004.

In conclusion, college athletes should be paid because they bring in a ton of revenue for their schools while risking injury and yet are unable to afford the cost of living. The time that is put into the sport is the equivalent, if not more, than the time that is put into a full time job. Only thirty-three percent of students receive scholarships, most of them partial. Also, only one percent of all college athletes will play professional sports after their college tenure is served. The NCAA and Division One Colleges generate profits that do not trickle down to the athletes. Without athletes there would be no games, and hence no money and why they should be financially