The debate over whether or not college athletes should be paid has really heated up over the past couple of years. Imagine you are a college athlete; your typical daily routine would consist of an early wake up, an early morning practice, classes and tutoring sessions, and another practice or workout. Oh yeah, you have to fit in time for 4-5 meals to maintain energy throughout such an exhausting day. Athletes have to follow this routine all year long making it impossible to obtain a job to earn money. All of this hard work and time leads to success on and off the field but it also leads to enormous profit for the NCAA. If the NCAA can earn millions of dollars from student athletes, shouldn’t athletes retain their fair share? NCAA Student Athletes deserve to be paid because their hard work and time is the driving force behind the profit and popularity of the NCAA. All of the ticket and merchandise sales, television revenue, promotions, and other sources of income go to the NCAA, the schools, the coaches, the event staff, and others involved – except for the athletes creating the value of the NCAA. The NCAA finished the 2014 campaign with just under $1 Billion in revenue, which is more than the NHL and NBA. The entertainment value of the …show more content…
Advocates for the NCAA claim that student athletes should not get paid because academics come first and sports are extra-curricular activities. However, the statistics do not back up the NCAA’s core values. For example, the NCAA Basketball Tournament requires up to 6 missed classes, many nationally televised games are played on weeknights, and this year the Florida State football team missed the first day of spring classes due to the national championship. Obviously, the NCAA is very concerned with the education of student athletes but it also seems as if the NCAA puts increasing revenue and publicity ahead of the importance of