Should College Athletes Be Paid?
In a large part of the United States, especially in college towns across the country, college
sports are more than just a fun weekend activity. They are more of a passion. Along with such a
passion come many great controversies. One such controversy surrounding college sports is
whether the players of these sports should be paid to play or not. Many college sports fans and
experts on the topic believe that college sports players shouldn’t be paid because it would
transition them from being amateur players to being professional players. They feel as though
this transition “would violate the essence of being a student athlete” (“Paying College
Athletes.”). The opponents of paying college athletes also believe that the scholarships they
receive are more than enough compensation. For example, in his article, “College Athletes
Should Not Be Paid,” Jason Whitlock says, “The notion that a full scholarship isn’t a fair
exchange for athletic services provided to a university – regardless of how much money the
athletic department generates from those services – is ridiculous” (Whitlock). However, many
people who have done research on the topic have differing viewpoints about paying college
athletes. College athletes should be paid because they are providing a service to an industry that
makes billions of dollars and deserve their fair share, the National Collegiate Athletic
Association makes a large amount of money by using the names and likenesses of these athletes,
and the athletes are exploited by the schools to advertise the athletic department, resulting in
more revenue for the school.
There are very few Americans who would be willing to go to work for 1,000 or more
hours per year, earn their boss billions of dollars, and not receive a paycheck. This is exactly
what many student athletes are doing for the National Collegiate Athletic Association, better
known as the NCAA. In fact, according to Issues & Controversies, “in 2006, colleges that were
members of the NCAA earned $4.2 billion from their basketball programs – about $1 billion
more than the revenue generated by all NBA teams combined in the 2004-05 season” (“Paying
College Athletes,” Issues & Controversies). The article continues by stating “The NCAA earns about
$4 billion dollars in licensing fees each year.” Even though they are earning such large amounts
of money, which is only made possible by the athletes who are participating in the sports, the
athletes do not receive any monetary compensation. According to Stanley D. Eitzen’s article,
“College Athletes Should Be Paid,” “To keep big-time college sports ‘amateur’, the NCAA has
devised a number of roles that eliminate all economic benefits to the athletes” (Eitzen). The
athletes are only rewarded financially in the form of educational benefits, but they are not
allowed to receive anything additionally in the form of payment for the services they provide
which generates billions in revenue for the NCAA annually.
A second issue that arises when defending the premise that college athletes should be
paid is the fact that the coaches, administrators in the athletic department, and the schools
themselves reap in a great deal of benefits and money even though they are not the ones who are
