Should College Athletes Be Paid Essay

The problem I would like to address is should college athletes be paid? Many argue that scholarships covering the cost of these athlete’s tuition is enough to compensate these athletes. On the other hand many believe that the ‘student’ in student athlete is taking a backseat to athletics. There is so much time focused on their sports it’s hard for college athletes to be strong students as well. I would like to explore both sides of this argument, those who believe college athletes should be paid, as well as those who believe these athletes shouldn’t be paid. At the moment I am unsure of what side I will take, but I believe this is a highly debated topic with strong opinions for both sides. This question is problematic because it would change college athletics completely. Paying athletes would affect all those involved in the NCAA, the athletes, and the schools these athletes play for. This is also problematic because as a college athlete one is considered an ‘amateur’ since they are not paid. What would happen if schools were forced to give players a percentage of sales for their own jerseys?

One case was a result of the EA sports video game using college football player’s likeliness in their games. This resulted in many of these players being compensated for being in the game. I personally question how this is any different than major networks using college football players to promote bowl games or using their picture in adds for ticket sales. On the other hand, many of division one athletes are having their entire education paid for. For a student at UConn out of state tuition is about $50,000. The expensive price tag the comes with education leads many to believe that paying for these athletes education is basically paying athletes and does give these schools rights to use their athletes in promotional