By: Kyle Clarkson
With the huge money making business that collegiate athletics are, are the players themselves really getting anything back? This is the million dollar question that remains unanswered for many fans of college sports. Many would argue that with all the money being made off of these sports, the players deserve something back. However, college kids are supposed to be there to learn, and playing a sport is the second priority. Unfortunately, this is not the case for many college athletes.
One of the main reasons why college athletes are not paid is because of the uncertainty that comes with paying athletes that play different sports. Should all athletes be paid the same amount? With divisions 1, 2, and 3, that would require a lot of money be dished out to players. Also, many division 2 and 3 schools with sports teams are not bringing in a lot of money to the school to begin with. Having the university pay back the student athletes would be ridiculous. One argument to this would be that big division 1 schools with major football and basketball programs for instance are getting a lot of revenue from ticket sales, memorabilia, etc. If you were to pay these athletes, then other sports teams would want to be paid as well. For example; a school like Alabama has a phenomenal football program, and it seems to be their top money maker for the school. Paying the football players at Alabama doesn’t seem like that bad of an idea, given that their football program is making so much money. However, if you paid the football players, then you would also have to pay the basketball players, and volleyball players, and baseball players, etc. This would cause a discrimination towards other sports at that school, which is a prime example of why the student athletes should not be paid. Another example is the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. The NCAA reported that 28.3 million people watched the National Championship game. It was also reported that the woman’s National Championship had only 3.1 million viewers. Does this suggest that Men’s basketball players should be paid more than women’s? The statistics say so, but women can’t control that the men’s games have higher viewers. The fact of the matter is that there is too much of an in between/gray area
Another prime example of why college athletes should not be paid is because of the scholarships most of the athletes are receiving. Student athletes are basically receiving free tuition, room and board, books, and meal plans in return to represent their school in various sports. No the players are not earning paychecks for their athletic attributions, however they are getting their college expenses paid for instead. No, not all college athletes are getting full athletic scholarships to play, but they are still getting some money to play at whatever school they choose. In addition to this, almost all of the athletes have access to state of the art facilities and equipment in order for them to perform at the highest level.
It seems to be that with paying collegiate athletes, there is too much controversy and gray areas. With the athletic scholarships that many athletes are already getting, to the popularity of the sport, I believe that it would be far too difficult to pay college athletes and I don’t think it’s right.
