Should College Athletes Be Paid Essay

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Leo Kaplan Ms. Skemp-Cook Academic Writing 8 May 2023 The Case For Paying College Athletes College athletes are not receiving the respect they deserve. They work day after day putting in the effort to contend for division championships and earn their team money but in the process, they are not being compensated in return. With schools collecting tons of revenue every year, college programs should have no problem paying athletes. For example, the Department of Education has stated that in 2019, college athletic programs earned $14 billion, which was a major increase from $4 billion in 2003 (Drozdowski). To add onto this, this data of income doesn't include all their money earned from broadcasting or sponsorships (Drozdowski). With all …show more content…

In 2019, across all athletic programs in the United States, the NCAA collected $15.8 billion in revenue from their student athletes' performances (Zimbalist). This shows that overall, athletes have done a lot for their programs, just by doing what they love. Other jobs, like working in an office or working at a fast food restaurant during college, are just temporary jobs and only serve the purpose of earning extra money. It does not make sense to reimburse someone working a job only for the sake of money and not compensate those who are trying to do what they love for the rest of their lives. Colleges also do not compensate enough towards athletic scholarships, so earning money is very necessary for students. The University of Louisville athletics collects $45 million a year, while they only give out 13 scholarships, which means they are only spending $400,000 a year ("Should College Athletes Be Paid? Top 3 Pros and Cons”). Out of that $45 million, the rest is being paid to the coaches at a whopping $8 million a year and the assistant coaches at $500,000 a year ("Should College Athletes Be Paid? Top 3 Pros and Cons”). Six-figure salaries are rewarded to every single part of the athletic department, except the players, who go unpaid ("Should College Athletes Be Paid? Top 3 Pros and Cons”). This is a clear red flag on how …show more content…

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