College Athletes Should Be Paid

For many generations, NCAA college athletes have entertained millions of people across the world with their talents. As time progresses and the need for money becomes a must; the bothersome question of whether or not college athletes should be paid is taking the world by storm. Some people seem to believe that athletes should be paid due to the amount of hours they put in. However, many people fail to realize the negative outcomes that come with paying the athletes. Because paying NCAA athletes will cause a pay for play battlefield, the athletes are being paid by their education, and paying these athletes will cause confusion, they shouldn’t be recognized as employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Many people all over the world suggest

In professional sports, athletes sign sport contracts as their way of paying the athletes. Sports contracts clearly define the contract length of service to the organization as well as whether renewal options exist at the end of the period. Sports contracts also describe the precise duties of the athlete, and the athlete’s salary (Understanding Basic of Professional Sports Contracts) . If the NCAA where to use the same system as the professionals then it will only create a taxing issue and jealousy around the NCCA. In the NCAA there are at least 1,117 college and universities divided amongst the three divisions (NCAA). Assuming that the average student athlete contract is 100,000 dollars for four years the student athlete would have multiple expenses to pay because the money is not a deductible. Student athletes must pay 23,800 dollars in federal income tax alone, and depending on state taxes student athletes could be looking at another 6,700 dollars out of their pocket (Thelin). The estimate total would be around 30,500 dollars, and that’s not considering any of the college expenses. The idea of paying the players minimum wage is better, but still is still confusing. How will the NCAA calculate the student athletes hours? Will all student athletes get paid the same? These are all questions that some people seem to skim over while questioning their options. However, paying student athletes does have its

College athletes should be paid because the NCAA is making money off of the players. The 2013 March of Madness generated $1.15 billion dollars by ticket sales, television ads, jersey sales, and many more (Johnson and Nation). The players did not receive any of the money. This may be true, but look at all the flaws that this point has. Not each division has the powerhouse schools like Division I. In the 2015-16 Texas A&M brought in the most money for Division I finances with $194,388,450 (NCAA Finance Sheet). Division II and III schools don’t even come close in making that money. Keep in mind that not all sports are successful when it comes into bringing in money. In a recent study that the Department of Education on the University of Texas A&M showed that the only six of the the twenty six different sports bring in over a million dollars in revenue (Gaines). The top sports athletes would only request even more money because they feel as if they deserve more than the lower sports athletes do. This is only in Division I athletics. Division II and Division III don’t make nearly as much as Division I. Paying all the athletes under the NCAA would be outrageous. Not all athletes are on the same skill level as one another. Not all programs bring in the same amount of money. If the NCAA does decide to pay these athletes it would only have a negative impact on