College Athlete's Deserve Monetary Compensation?

Do College Athlete’s Deserve Monetary Compensation?

The importance of college athletics has vastly increased over the last century to the extraordinary level that exists today. More than 420,000 college students participate in twenty-three different collegiate sports annually, a number that is continually increasing (NCAA.org). The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is “a membership-driven organization dedicated to the safeguarding of the well-being of student-athletes and equipping them with the skills to succeed on the playing field, in the classroom and throughout life” that institutes the rules regarding collegiate athletics in the United States (NCAA.org). The NCAA is an enormous organization that is a collection of over

Prior to attending a university, a student-athlete must sign their NLI to commit to a school and their athletic program. When signing the NCI, athletes must be aware that they are committing to a school and athletic organization that will utilize their talents for revenue generating proposes. The main goal behind top tier athletic programs is to create a program that fosters a winning culture. If the athletic program is successful, this will draw more supporters to the program and in turn, help the school sell more merchandise and increase revenues. In the athletic department, everyone benefits from the success of the athletic program with the exception of the athletes, who see none of the money being made from their athletic excellence. The success of an athletic program comes from both the effectiveness of the coach and the talent and hard work the players put in. With an incredibly successful athletic program come immense revenues that will not be directly handed down to the athletes. Although this may seem unfair in a capitalistic society, the athletes are made aware of this prior to signing the

The primary reason colleges and universities exist is to promote higher education to students and help prepare them for success in the real world. In order to keep this as the focal point of colleges and universities existence, it is important that monetary compensation for revenue generating athletes remain illegal. Although these students often have the end goal of playing at the professional level, education must be kept as the primary goal in colleges and universities. Without this focus, many athletes are simply using collegiate sports and programs as a stepping-stone to professional athletics with little regard for furthering their education. If these top tier athlete’s were given the opportunity to be paid thousands of dollars for their athletic additions to a program, there would be very little incentive for them to focus on their education. Athletes are given extraordinary compensation through full scholarships and the addition of a paycheck for playing would almost nullify the need for an education as their athletics got them into the school for free, make them money, and given them a chance to play professionally for a living. Although that may turnout to be a viable option for some players, it defeats the purpose of getting a college education and is a risky path for most. Paying a student for their extracurricular would provide