Should College Athletes Be Paid Essay

1926 Words8 Pages

A multitude of people falsely believe that the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) and its members earn millions of dollars in profit yearly. In fact, “the NCAA distributes 90 percent of its revenue back to different college campuses and conferences. That money funds programs supporting the academic needs and well-being of student-athletes” (Nocera). Over the last few years, controversy has risen inside the realm of college sports. Athletes, coaches, fans, scholars, and students have voiced their opinion. Some believe that collegiate athletes deserve to be paid similarly to that of professionals. They argue that athletes are responsible for their universities revenue generated and therefore deserve a cut of the pay. Others argue …show more content…

On top of that, athletes are granted access to training facilities, weight rooms, and medical staff. In addition, they are constantly being granted an opportunity to perform on stage for a job at the professional level. Current Events is a branch of journalism published through the New York times. In an article published titled “Pay to Play: Should College Athletes be Paid”, they verbalized that: “College athletes already receive numerous benefits. Many get scholarships, which help pay for their tuition, supplies, housing, and sporting equipment. According to the NCAA, college athletes often receive grants worth more than $100,000”, (Birkenes and Bagaria). Scholarships alone are a form of payment itself, an athlete does not need to be compensated on top of that. Paying tuition is no joke, students spend years in college debt. Athletes don’t have to stress about student loans. Furthermore, athletes should not be compensated when they are being granted thousands of dollars to cover their education, tuition, and housing. Joe Nocera, an American business and sports journalist, has written for the New York Times since 2005. Nocera has written many …show more content…

If universities turn their financial attention towards paying the best athletes at their schools, then the money that went into smaller programs such as baseball, softball, and track would be displaced. The truth is universities don’t produce a sufficient amount of money to pay the best athletes, on top of sponsoring the smaller sports programs. This leads to sports programs being cut from the school, along with all the athletes participating in them. Cody J. Mcdavis is a journalist and former D1 athlete. McDavis played on the Northern Colorado Men's basketball team from 2012-2015, and then earned his law degree at U.C.L.A. Mcdvais wrote how, “In August 2015 North Dakota State University announced that it would offer stipends (direct payment to the student, rather than paying the school for tuition and fees on their behalf) in 16 sports, resulting in a new $600,000 annual expense to be paid by the athletic department. The University of North Dakota followed suit six days later. The University of North Dakota cut five teams over the next two years to help pay for the added expense,” (McDavis). This effectively demonstrates what would transpire if college athletes were paid. College universities can’t even afford to give out stipends without having to cut sports. If athletes are paid salaries there will be consequences. In Joe