College Athletes Should Not Get Paid Essay

College Athletes Should Not Recieve Payment College student-athletes should be paid, right? Maybe not. As an athlete, I put in 3 or more hours of work daily for my sport, from practice, training, and watching film. I do all this for the love of the game, not so that one day I can go to college and compete to get paid the highest and have that be my main focus rather than my development as a player. Being paid would bring conflict to sports people once loved. Even though getting paid seems nice, it would cause many problems. College student-athletes should not get paid because they already receive benefits, the student-athlete's mindset would shift, and schools would be affected. In the first place, college student-athletes should not receive

"College athletes make their schools millions of dollars, so they should naturally receive a cut…everyone around them makes money. But the students (athletes)… receive nothing" (Drowzdowski). College athletes like Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd, and Aaliyah Edwards bring attention to Uconn. No one receives a single penny for all the gear and tickets sold with their names on them. The schools get money by selling these, so the school makes money off its athletes. That is a big reason they should get paid; paying them turns them into "employees." Eventually, turning everything into a money battle, causing the student-athletes to lose their love for the game. "Paying student-athletes would turn them into professionals… student-athletes are students first…attending college to receive an education and secondary to compete in their sport" (Drozdowski). Turning them into "employees" would shift their focus from their education which is the most important thing. According to the NCAA, fewer than 2 percent of student-athletes go pro, which results in about 98 percent of student-athletes leaving college and going into the world getting a 9-5 job. A final reason they should not get paid is that it will cause division amongst the team. "When one athlete is making a considerable amount of money, while the other is not, there will be conflict" (Price). Let us say one athlete is the quarterback while the other is an offensive lineman. The quarterback is a much more popular position. More people will notice and pay for gear with the quarterback's name than the offensive lineman. Therefore, the quarterback will likely make much more money than the lineman that protects him. That could create animosity that could divide the team. A quarterback cannot meet their full potential without a good lineman. A disgruntled lineman may not be as motivated to protect the quarterback, putting the quarterback at