Summary: College Athletes Should Be Paid

On April 3rd, J.J. Redick tweeted a congratulations message to the University of North Carolina basketball team for winning the NCAA Division I championship. Also in his tweet, J.J. Redick stated that everyone on the court should have been paid and that scholarships do not count. The argument on Division I athletics and if those athletes should be paid or not is always revamped after every ‘staple sport’ championship in the United States. A staple sport is a sport that is most popular in a country. For the United States the staple sports are football, basketball and baseball. Most collegiate sports are not popular enough to pay student-athletes during their tenure at the college or university so they are given scholarship money for their athletic

A common argument for why these athletes should be paid is that they are generating revenue for the school. Even though the athletes generate money for their school most of it is used to support the programs generating the revenue by providing the scholarships that are bringing in the top recruits to the school in the first place. That doesn’t even factor in the medical and travel expenses, free gear, top-notch coaching, unlimited use of elite athletic facilities and a national stage to audition for a job in the professional ranks (Dirlam). Many college athletes are being reimbursed with nearly as much money as the average American makes per year through their scholarships and extra amenities (Dirlam). Another argument that was seen in an online article was that it would not change the quality of top schools through the payment of players (Peebles). A top school would not be better to attend due to the fact the athletes are being paid, the coaching staff quality and benefits received by these players would remain static and players would just be reimbursed for their efforts on the field. The NCAA would have to put a maximum cap on how much each athlete would receive. If the NCAA does not put regulations in place on the paying of athletes the top universities could invest more money into a single sport, paying each athlete more to entice that athlete to attend the school. This would cause other sports to suffer creating a divide within the school. The last big problem that would happen is that if every player is paid the same amount then there would be no effort to change from a third string player. When looking at the NFL, the Patriots starting quarterback Tom Brady’s base salary is $1,000,000 while the second and third string quarterbacks are being paid between $820,077 and