Austin Murray
College Comp & Research
Argumentative Essay
12/5/16
Pay College Athletes
Imagine being at a college football game and the most valuable player just scored the game winning touchdown. The stadium is going wild. The whole place is shouting his name. That player is living in the moment; he feels like a star, but after the game reality sets in. He may be a celebrity on campus, but the reality is, unless his family has money, he is broke. He sits in the locker room with the adrenaline still pumping through his veins, but he knows he doesn't even have enough money for his next meal. That is the life that many college athletes live and the The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) need to fix that problem. College athletes should be granted living expenses because they do not have the time for a job, student athletes are not always students first, and the NCAA is a multi-million dollar association.
When the idea of paying college athletes is brought up, most citizens blow off the issue by saying “they get paid in a free education.” While that is true, their claim is also very misleading. Only a small percentage of college athletes receive a full-ride scholarship from the school of their preference. Also, the actual cost of attending college is more than a “full ride” scholarship offers: “The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) acknowledges that the amount provided in an athletic scholarship is not enough to provide for many things a typical college student needs” (Griffon par. 2). When student athletes go to college, only about two percent earn sports scholarships every year. Although an athlete not having his whole education paid for isn’t a bad thing, those athletes still put in the same amount of work for the school: “They [supporter of paying college athletes] note that student athletes spend up to 60 hours a week practicing, leaving little room for study” (“Compensation for College Athletes” par. 3). Student athletes at a higher level of competition do not have the time to study. Furthermore, they have no time to get a job to be able to provide for themselves.
Another argument debated amongst proponents and opponents of paying college athletes is that student athletes are students first and don’t need to get paid for playing a sport for their school because they are just like every other student. However, there is skepticism as to whether or not the NCAA’s “student first, athlete second” policy stands true. The NCAA has policies in place to make sure all student athletes are prioritized as student first, but when the NCAA voted to add one more game to the college football schedule, Bob Knight, legendary basketball coach, spoke out, by saying, “You have a day off mandatory during the basketball season; all sports have that. When the NCAA Tournament starts, there are no day off, you can practice every day. Is that somewhat contradictory to what they’re trying to do? Obviously” (qtd. in “Knight Speaks out Against the NCAA” par. 12). There are cases where students are told to skip classes if they interfere with their schedule. Kain Colter, former Northwestern quarterback, said, "Everything we do is scheduled around football." We're brought to the university to play football" (qtd. in Guarino par. 9). His claims suggest that advisers diverted him away from classes that might interfere with the football workload (Guarino par. 9). All in all, even if a student athlete is granted a full scholarship, he or she does not have time to get the full use of it.
Above all else, the NCAA and colleges argue that students should not be paid because they are amateurs and that the NCAA is a non-profit organisation. However, those “amateurs” have created an industry that is worth more than the professionals. The NCAA and colleges should grant living expenses to student-athletes because they (the NCAA and colleges) profit off the abilities of their student athletes. Even though the NCAA is technically classified as a “non profit” organization, it makes billions off of the college sports industry. In 2008, Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) paid the NCAA $529 million to gain the broadcasting rights to the March Madness basketball tournament. During the tournament, CBS earned $549 from selling advertising time (“Paying College Athletes” par. 28). The colleges also make a killing off of the backs of their athletes: “According to Forbes, No. 1 on the college football revenue list is the University of Texas at Austin, earning $139 million in the 2012-13 season. The University of Louisville was tops in men's basketball, generating $40 million during the same season” (Guarino par. 21). During the 2006 college basketball season, colleges made about $4.2 billion (“Paying College Athletes par. 5). That is about $1 billion more than that of the NBA made during the 2004-2005 season . With colleges earning this amount of money during a single year, some of those funds should be redirected to help out their athletes with living expenses.
Student athletes do not have time for a job, are not always students first, and the NCAA and colleges are making millions off the back of their athletes-- these are all reasons to why colleges and or the NCAA need to, at least, grant living expenses to their athletes. Now is the time for athletes to stand up and demand an equal amount of money be granted to each athlete, no more, no less, for the hard work they put in each and every day.
Works Cited
“Compensation for College Athletes.” Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, Detroit, 2016, Opposing Viewpoints in Context, ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?disableHighlighting=true&displayGroupName=Reference&currPage=&scanId=&query=&search_within_results=&p=OVIC&mode=view&catId=GALE|MZEFGG057295630&limiter=&display-query=&displayGroups=&contentModules=&action=e&sortBy=&documentId=GALE|XOHCYL235319839&windowstate=normal&activityType=&failOverType=&commentary=&source=Bookmark&u=chil38234&jsid=5870bf6c558fd938390040f78a2b9936.
Guarino, Mark. “NCAA and College Sports: It Is Time to Pay Athletes to Play?” The Christian Science Monitor, 2014, Opposing Viewpoints in Context, ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/NewsDetailsPage/NewsDetailsWindow?disableHighlighting=false&displayGroupName=News&currPage=&scanId=&query=&prodId=OVIC&search_within_results=&p=OVIC&mode=view&catId=&limiter=&display-query=&displayGroups=&contentModules=&action=e&sortBy=&documentId=GALE|A368534569&windowstate=normal&activityType=&failOverType=&commentary=&source=Bookmark&u=ncmoc11357&jsid=0823ca18506879954ebc7d0451f7c25a.
“Knight Speaks out Against the NCAA.” New York Post [New York, NY], Mar. 2005, p. 72. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/NewsDetailsPage/NewsDetailsWindow?disableHighlighting=false&displayGroupName=News&currPage=&scanId=&query=&prodId=OVIC&search_within_results=&p=OVIC&mode=view&catId=&limiter=&display-query=&displayGroups=&contentModules=&action=e&sortBy=&documentId=GALE|A132088325&windowstate=normal&activityType=&failOverType=&commentary=&source=Bookmark&u=ncmoc11357&jsid=4a3fdcc27040667b80cc801d1e7b7419.
“Paying College Athletes.” Issues & Controversies. Infobase Learning, 21 June 2010. Web. 28 Nov. 2016. <http://icof.infobaselearning.com/recordurl.apsx?ID=1775>.