Student Athletes Deserve More than Scholarships Student Athletes Deserve More than Scholarships. A Look into the Finances of MajorCollege Sports Programs Student-athletes at major colleges and universities do more than attendclasses, practices, and compete against other teams. They generate money. Supporters of theplay-for-pay concept believe that since major college athletic programs produce large sums ofmoney through television rights fees, bowl games, ticket sales and other means, student-athletesdeserve more than just a grant-in-aid for their efforts.
As a result, intercollegiate sports havedeveloped into a highly specialized, multi-million dollar entertainment industry that rides on theThis industry has in turn resulted in substantial rewards for big time athletic programs andthe NCAA. While universities are eager to compensate coaches for the exploits of their playersthey are steadfast in their abidance of the NCAA Manual. This idea would have us believe thefinancial system between universities and student-athletes is unfairly balanced in favor of theinstitution. A university realizes millions in revenue and all the athlete gets is a measly scholarship.
Article 12 of the NCAA bylaws provides that a student-athlete loses amateur status along withthe right to participate in intercollegiate athletics when he is found to have received funds, awards,or other impermissible benefits established under NCAA legislation. Schools should either stickto this in every case, or just not at all. These prohibitions on payment include direct compensationfor athletic participation and receipt of financial aid above the cost of tuition, fees, room, board,and books. While student-athletes directly contribute millions of dollars in revenue to institutionsthey receive nothing but the minimum cost to keep them in school.
Most of these young men andwomen come from lower-middle class and lower-class families that are unable to send thestudents spending money during the year or pay for a plane ticket home for the holidays. All over the nation, we hear of athletes leaving school early to play professional sports. And it is simply because that these athletes can not survive only on their scholarship money. Where do they get the money without a job? The cost of living or just making ends meat, forcesthe athlete to leave school and find work. That is what happens when you play professionally, itbecomes your work, your job.
That is what puts food on the table and money in the bank. Mostcollege athletes are on scholarships and receive money for their education, room and board. However, my point is that these athletes dont have an opportunity to make money for theirThe NCAA forbids student-athletes from working for wages during the school year. Ifparents are unable to send their son or daughter money for anything not covered by theirscholarship they are penniless.
Most people think that an athlete should just be thankful for theeducation he receives in exchange for a few hours of practice. But an enormous amount of cash isbeing circulated within that school, at the athletes expense, which that athlete will never lay eyeson. The solution to the money problem is simple, pay them. I am not talking about millions oreven thousands of dollars. Give each student-athlete the same amount of pay they could receivein a normal job.
The wage would be the same for every athlete based on division within the samesport. Every player would receive the same amount regardless of on field contribution. Havingevery school abide by equal pay would eliminate larger, more profitable schools from offeringbigger paydays to recruits as incentive to attend their institution over another. This would keeprecruiting fair across the country for every school. Student-athletes endure countless hours of practice and athletic competition to earn pride,respect, and most importantly, money for their respective schools. Unfortunately, these athletesare taken out of the equation when it comes time to distribute the money generated by theirathletic programs.
Paying players would do more than allow the underprivileged students toparticipate in basic college activities like dating or ordering a pizza with friends. A true athleteplays the game simply because he loves it. When you are in sports, it is more or less a businessand it is their job to make money for the school. For a given number of hours per week, they givetheir blood, sweat, and tears just to play a sixty-minute game or run two times around a track. Take these factors and combine it with the athletes academic responsibilities, and its a lot toaccount for. When all is said and done, the athlete sees no money aside from scholarships.
Itwould alleviate many other problems as well. Gambling and corruption on campuses is threateningthe honor of college athletics. Illegal dealings with agents, has increased as well. Paying anincome to athletes will lessen the control agents can place on players by reducing their need formoney.
When university athletic departments are benefiting from these players, to the tune ofmillions of dollars, and the student-athletes are receiving only an education that they may or mayA scholarship is nice, but it does not pay the bills for many of these players. If collegesand universities made money solely from ticket sales as a means of perpetuating sports programs,there would be no argument over whether college athletes should be paid. The cheating occurswhen colleges negotiate billion dollar television and multi-million dollar endorsement contracts. Those contracts and endorsements are the acts of businesses looking to make money, notnon-profit institutions. Colleges and universities are in the business of making money whetherthey admit to it or not, and they use student-athletes to do it. I believe the athletes should bepaid.
How else do they make money? The athletes main accomplishments go unnoticed and thededication to the school is unappreciated. The paying of athletes would not be a paycheck butrather a support for the entertainment and flash money that they bring along with them to theUniversity. Paying them would not only be fair, but beneficial to both the student-athletes and theBibliography:
