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Colton Mann
Professor White
Class: English Comp 1
December 9th, 2015
The Payment Of College Athletes, Whats Next?
Collage Athletes are the cream of the crop when it comes to students
on campus. Most athletes are treated relatively well throughout their college
career. Everything that is consisting from a sports gear, bags, gifts, partial
scholarships, and in some cases a free education at the university of their
choosing. Athletes at the collage level have every advantage over a regular
student. However some still feel that they are being shortchanged by the
organizations of universities and the NCAA. That the idea of receiving
monetary funds off of autographs, video games, or from the university itself
is something of a debatable issue. With one side explaining its stance against
collage payment because of its negative affect on students and the special
treatment that athletes on the college level already receive. To the other
side proclaiming that the capitalistic nature of sports today has propelled it
into a money making machine, leaving many to ask, where is my cut? This
is a topic that is in high debate, especially in the constant monetary society
that we as Americans live in today.
Arguments continue today for a call that collage athletes should be
paid. A debate could be made with top collage athletes such as football
stars that pull in millions of dollars for their university. Tim Tebow, Cam

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Newton, and Johnny Manziel are all collage football stars who were able to
transformed the person who new nothing about collage football, into a fan of
curiosity while watching these top athletes. Most of the time in order to keep
up with the conversation happening in their daily life about a play, or game
that any of the football players performed. The university does in some cases
make a lot of money off its star players, and in the opinion of some its only a
matter of time. In terms of football alone These conferences drive the most
interest in college sports: Between 2003 and 2012, for example, annual
football revenues for teams now in SEC jumped 91%, to $759.9 million. The
college football playoff, which starts this season, and the continuing
expansion of lucrative conference television networksthe SEC Network
debuts on August 14will continue to pump more riches into college sports
(Time). Revenue for big time division 1 collages have exploded, which begs
the question from experts about why the players wont get any of it. Though
it is still early in the process, this burst in funds for these powerhouse collage
football conferences could and possibly will make it a dead end conversation.
Collage athletes should be paid.
Not only do universities tend to reap the benefits from their athletes.
Marketing, advertisement firms, and video game companies also have a
financial benefit to an athletes great play on the field or basketball court.
Sponsorships for those schools on game days benefit. Watching ESPN on
Saturday mornings, with the heavily advertised and sponsored Collage Game
Day crew tell us about sponsors all while on a collage campus hyping up that

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evenings game between two top football programs. With the huge increase
in ratings each year The networks massively successful pregame show
experienced a 10 percent ratings increase last season over 2012 and an
expanded hour (Saturday Down South).

Though studies show that usually

football, and basketball are the sports that make the most money for
universities, it doesnt matter because each person who goes to sports game
while in collage will hear about events that benefit that university, or a
restaurant, or service that you can have at or after the game. Video game
companies who make millions off collage football players and basketball
players, in a recent ruling however A $40 million settlement has been
completed that will pay college football and basketball players dating to
2003 for the use of their likenesses in NCAA-branded videogames
(Associated Press). An astounding figure to collage world, and an example
of a company that has gotten away with making a huge amount of profits
Though it keeps coming back to the same scenario that these players
are playing at an amateur level. The NCAA is a non-profit organization,
though it benefits from the sports programs. It still has its staff to pay off
among other bills, but the idea that the organization is profiting is laughable.
The point of playing in collage is not to make money, its to get an education,
play a sport they love, and maybe get paid to play it in the future. Its laid
out in here grave mistakenot because it misdiagnoses the disease but
because it suggests that the only cure is to put the patient out of his misery.
It fails, first of all, to recognize the value of sports as a part of education

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(New Yorker). As well as for the university itself with Oregon may clear
one hundred and ninety plus million in revenue, but pays a lot of it in
expenses (USA Today) . College athletes today have never had it better,
with major universities like Ohio State, Auburn, Georgia, Michigan, Texas and
Notre Dame investing tens of millions of dollars into new student-athlete
centers and facilities to pamper these 18-to-22-year-olds with a lifestyle once
reserved only for royalty (WND). A simple example of the treatment that a
simple football player will receive from the program they play for. Its true
that not every program across the country as millions of dollars to spend on
their facilities, however a lot of division 1 programs do. Every day calls for
payment continue, however I dont understand the reason because like this
example above collage athletes already do receive some form of payment.
The idea of somehow collage athletes are being screwed over by
system for not receiving payment for their play couldnt be further from the
truth. An argument against collage athlete payment clearly lays out the
advantages that are obtained, At the bigger, more successful universities,
athletes also receive academic counseling, tutoring, life skill training, and
even nutritional advice. Certainly, not all student athletes are on scholarship
and not all are on full scholarships but the student athletes in the revenue
sports are receiving compensation in the form of educational benefits and
living expenses (Forbes). A clear statement that while not all athletes may
receive a free education, each athlete gets thousands of dollars worth of
training and educational recourses to help them further their careers in

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learning. A greater amount of acknowledgment about the major advantages
that help collage athletes such as A Support System, Easier Socialization,
better fitness, academic and professional opportunities (Higher Education
News). This is a continuing advancement of the collage athletic agenda
and all the benefits that one may expect from it. All of the statements point
out an easier lifestyle in the long run with a collage athlete. It goes onto
contemplate all the incentives that come with being a college athlete. Such
as thousands of dollars worth of training, health tips and benefits, as well as
not having to pay for a dorm room, and getting a free meal plan. The idea of
having to pay for all of it by oneself can be costly to think about, let alone do.
The average price is school has risen drastically since the start of
collage education, though most athletes dont have to worry about it.
Students in general have to take out massive loans, and get into tremendous
debt if they arent playing a sport such as According to Institute For College
Access & Success, in the state of Pennsylvania 71 percent of students leave
a public four-year institution or private non-profit four-year institution in debt.
The average debt is $32,528. That is an enormous burden for kids who may,
or may not have a job awaiting them upon graduation (Daily Local News).
Though every athlete may not get a full ride, in some form they get
discounts through their career. Another bold statement about how athletes
even if they dont get a full ride have it easy compared to the average
collage student who needs to get into heavy debt in order complete a fouryear degree at a university. All in all its a difficult set of rules that athletes

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in collage have to go through, but in the end of the day its worth in order to
not have to pay for everything at the college level.
Both sides have credible arguments, each side wants what they think
is best for collage athletes. Some feel that direct pay will appropriate, while
others feel that it will ruin the industry of collage athletics forever. The
debate within itself is one that will probably continue for many more years,
however after reading this paper and looking over the opinion that I have laid
out. I hope it gives the reader an insight to both sides, but eventually comes
to the understanding that collage athletes are treated ten times better than
the average student on a collage campus. The gifts, advantages,
scholarships, and unbeknown payments that they receive are more than a
fair trade for playing a sport in collage.

Citations

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Berkowitz, Steve. NCAA Finances. USA Today. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.
<http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/finances/>.
Cox, Jordon. "Multiple Changes Coming to ESPNs College Gameday."
Saturday Down South.com. SEC, 4 Aug. 2014. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.
<http://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/sec-football/espn-college-gamedaychanges/>.
Dahlberg, Tim. "NCAA Video Game Settlement: $40 Million to College
Athletes." Christian Science Monitor. Associated Press, 31 May 2014. Web. 7
Dec. 2015. <http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/2014/0531/NCAA-videogame-settlement-40-million-to-college-athletes>.
Dorfman,Jeffrey."PayCollegeAthletes?They'reAlreadyPaidUpTo$125,000Per
Year."Forbes/Opinion.Forbes,29Aug.2013.Web.7Dec.2015.
<http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffreydorfman/2013/08/29/paycollegeathletestheyrealready
paidupto125000year/>.
Dorish, Joe. "Should College Basketball Players Be Paid for Playing in
2015 NCAA Tournament?" Examiner. New Jersey Sports Examiner, 26 Mar.
2015. Web. 7 Dec. 2015. <http://www.examiner.com/article/should-collegebasketball-players-be-paid-for-playing-2015-ncaa-tournament>.
Durham, Christie. "5 Benefits to Playing a College Sport." Sports.
Higher Education News. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.
<http://sites.mediaplanet.com/higher-education-news/5-benefits-to-playinga-college-sport>.
Gregory, Sean. "Some Collage Athletes Will Get Paid---A Little." Collage
Sports. Time, 7 Aug. 2014. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.
<http://time.com/3089288/ncaa-college-athletes-pay/>.
McCauley,Kieran."CollegeAthletesShouldn'tBePaid."Sports.DailyLocalNews,28
Apr.2015.Web.7Dec.2015.<http://www.dailylocal.com/sports/20150428/collegeathletes
shouldntbepaid>.
Rocker, John. "Why Collage Athletes Should Not Be Paid." Pitching
Polotics. WND, 23 Sept. 2013. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.
<http://www.wnd.com/2013/09/why-college-athletes-should-not-be-paid/>.
Yankah, Ekow. "Why N.C.A.A. Athletes Shouldnt Be Paid." The New
Yorker. The New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2014. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.
<http://www.newyorker.com/news/sporting-scene/why-ncaa-athletesshouldnt-be-paid>.