College Athletes Shouldn’t Get Paid to Play

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Morabito 1

College Athletes Shouldn’t Get Paid to Play

Olivia Morabito

ENG 112-10

Sarah Jane Stafford Sims

25 April 2017

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College Athletes Shouldn’t Get Paid to Play

Being able to play athletics at a collegiate level is every athlete’s dream, but not all

get to live out their dream. According to D. Thomas, “Of the nearly 8 million students

currently participating in high school athletics in the United States, only 480,000 of them will

compete at NCAA schools,” (para. 1). This means that less than one percent of high school

students will have the privilege to participate in intercollegiate athletics. That less than one

percent of people are fortunate to play and have the choice to play or not. Whether or not

college athletes should receive additional compensation outside of their scholarships has

been an ongoing debate amongst college institutions, athletic administrators, coaches and

athletes for a very long time. Advocates for paying college athletes argue that athletes should

get paid to play primarily due to the money the athletes generate for their respective

institutions, all of time they dedicate to their sport, and the injuries athletes may experience.

In addition, proponents of paying athletes argue these athletes put their bodies out there to

play a sport, and in some cases realize negative life-changing injuries. While these arguments

are not baseless, allowing college athletes to be compensated above their scholarships and

additional benefits undermines the sanctity of college sports entirely. While it is true that

college athletes dedicate a great deal of time to their sport, as well as sustain injuries and

generate revenues for their school, it is also critical to remember that participating in

intercollegiate athletics is not only a choice, but a privilege. College athletes should not be

paid in any extra way. The main point to believing they shouldn’t get paid extra is they

already receive enough money that covers tuition, room and board, meals and other common

college and university expenses. Compensating these college athletes in any additional

manner would also take away from their education, and they would focus more on the

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money. Other reasons being: it would be unfair to non-student athletes, create additional

Title IX issues, take money away from general funds, take away from competition and

growth found in college sports (recruiting process), and would take away from the idea of the

professional leagues. Therefore, these are the reasons why college athletes should not be

compensated to play.

The first argument that the side of paying college athletes take is that college athletes

should get paid because of how much money these student athletes bring to the universities.

For example, Tiffany Patterson: an educator; podcaster; and writer states, “The amount of

money the NCAA is bringing in over the course of one month alone. March Madness is one

of the most watched sporting events in the country. Yet the money being made off this event

is not trickling down to the players, who are the stars of the tournament.” (para. 3). This

statement alone helps people to believe college athletes do bring a lot of money to the

universities so they should get a profit from that. Proponents of paying college athletes argue

being a college athlete take up all their time at their universities. Having to go to practices,

workouts, games, and travel for away games takes time away from education so they should

get paid to play their sport. According to Dave Anderson, “College athletes spend an average

of 43.3 hours per week dedicated to their sport,” (para. 6). This is one of the reasons he

believes college athletes should get paid. This statement only includes the hours a student

athlete dedicates to their sports, not counting the hours for going to classes and studying.

Which he later states in his article, “If a student has 10 hours of class each week and puts in

the recommended four hours of study for each hour of class, then athletes spend 50 hours

each week studying and attending mandatory classes and study halls. This means that college

athletes have to work 90 hours per week just to remain in school on their scholarship,” (para.

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9). These hours would be equivalent to having two full time paying jobs and maybe a side

job as well. Because these college athletes spend as much time as they do with their sport

they aren’t allowed to go get jobs for the extra money in their pocket. Since they spend so

much time with their sport teams they miss classes. In Dominic Alessi’s article he states,

“Whether you attended a division one school or a division two school, the average sports fan

is aware of the privileges these athletes receive and how much class time they miss. A

tournament here, a travel day here, the time out of the classroom adds up quickly,” (para. 8).

Since they spend time out of the classroom for things such as away games and tournaments

they should get paid extra. They are losing time in the classroom to be with their athletic

teams. People believe that college athletes should get paid to have extra money because they

can’t get a side job to bring that spending money in. According to Tyson Hartnett, “A