Most people watch sports and they like to play when there is spare time. Playing sport is a good way to relieve stress, being in a good shape, and having fun. However, when somebody plays as a professional player in the college, they always face some problems. Many people think that college athletes have a better opportunity while they are studying. In fact, it is different. Moreover, the biggest problem is being paid during in a college. College athletes should be paid because of the serve injuries they receive, the endless hour of training, and the NCAA makes commission off of them.Most people watch sports and they like to play when there is spare time. Playing sport is a good way to relieve stress, being in a good shape, and having fun. However, when somebody plays as a professional player in the college, they always face some problems. Many people think that college athletes have a better opportunity while they are studying. In fact, it is different. Moreover, the biggest problem is being paid during in a college. People have argued lot about college student should be paid or they should not be paid.
I think they should be paid because of the serve injuries they receive, the endless hour of training, and the NCAA makes commission off of them. First, Injuries are very serious problem for athletes, especially in contact sports such as football, hockey, and basketball. Each year hundreds of college athletes are injured, including concussions and broken bone. Concussions can cause permanent brain damage, depression, balance problems. They are a serious threat to athletes, and sports like football have brought the condition into the public spotlight in a unique way. Players that suffer from a concussion exhibiting signs of dizziness, headaches, or vision problems will likely get the diagnosis and treatment they need.
Concussions can cause permanent brain damage, depression, balance problems. In addition, sometimes the broken bones are broken so badly they can never play sports again or walk. Bones are very strong but during a big game or practicing it can be broken accidentally. Which causes player to quit their sport or even cant walk again.
For the few athletes that make it big in professional sports, playing sports in college was worth the risk, but for many, it doesn’t pay off so well. One of the explanations for salary is the time that the athletes spend for their sport. On average, they work 40-60 hours a week. This means that it would be really difficult to have another job. In fact, the NCAA prohibits students on an athletic scholarship to have a job. But that only applies to students who are on an athletic scholarship, which is only about 33% of the athletes.
The other 67% has it even harder. They spend the same 40-60 hours a week that the athletes on scholarship do, but they also have to pay for everything else. Another fact is the athletes’ Fair Market Value. According to Businessinsider.com, the players on the Louisville men’s basketball team were worth $1.5 million. This study used the NBA’s collective negotiating agreement in which players received at least 49% of the revenue; the 13 scholarship players on the Louisville basketball team then split it up evenly.
The NCAA has annual revenue of nearly $1 billion. 81% of this revenue comes from media rights. Just think, if there weren’t any student-athletes to compete, none of this money would be made. But the athletes don’t make any money for their appearance and play. Most of the money is spent in ways that help the NCAA make even more money. Michael Wilbon said, “The BCS’ new deal with ESPN was based, in part, on paying more money to schools/conferences with regard to what has been called “population centers.” Of the $174 million distributed from five bowl games, 83.4% went to six conferences in 2011.” These population centers are places where there will be the most people, which in turn make the most possible money for the NCAA.
Why does the National College Athletic Association do this? Because the NCAA is a greedy corporation that is not for the students, but for the money. The issue of paying players in every sport, including the ones that lose money, is used as an argument for those against paying the players in college sports. It is true that every sport doesn’t make money. In fact, most sports actually lose money for their schools. If every athlete in the NCAA were paid minimum wage it would be about $5.6 billion dollars per year. There are only $2.7 billion in scholarships every year, so that plan would not work.
Another plan is only paying the athletes who make money for the school. It is best put in an ESPN article by Michael Wilbon, “I’m interested in seeing the people who produce the revenue share a teeny, tiny slice of it.” If all the players on the football and men’s basketball team were paid minimum wage, the school would spend no more than $120,000, which is barely anything compared to the school’s athletic budgets. Some people argue that if college athletes were paid, that they would no longer be considered amateur. But why would that be a problem? Wouldn’t it be a good thing to be considered a professional? In 1986, the International Federation changed their stance on amateurism and allowed professional athletes to compete in the Olympic games. The Olympics are still going strong after the change, so why doesn’t the NCAA change too.
If the athletes in the NCAA were no longer considered amateurs, they would lose their tax-exempt status. Most professional sports associations are for profit, but there are some exceptions, such as the NFL, which is tax-exempt. The NCAA could probably regain its lost tax-exempt status if it followed the NFL’s model of being a trade organization. So why don’t they? Because they don’t want to work for anything when they’re already handed everything on a silver platter. College athletes should be paid disregard what others say. They should be paid because of their endless hours of training, the injuries they receive, and the NCAA making money off of them. Those who make money get money, and those who don’t, well they don’t. It’s a fairly easy concept, but the NCAA is very powerful and very stubborn. It will probably not happen any time in the near future, but maybe someday the athletes that deserve the money will get it.
