Why College Athletes should be paid

College sports such as Football and Basketball are known to generate billions of dollars. Football and Basketball are the most popular and lucrative sports that attract millions of fans and generate a lot of revenue for the institutions. The college athletics attract both African American and White Americans. Over the decades there have been strong opinions from the public about not allowing college athletes to be paid beyond the usual scholarships that athletes gain from participating in sports. Surveys have showed how most of the public opinions over the last 20 years have leaned towards not paying college athletes. In an attempt to challenge the status quo I strongly believe that college athletes should be paid because of the revenues they bring to the institutions, increased commercialization of the sports, and the health risks that are associated with sports sense (Sanderson & Siegfried, 2015).

College athletes generate significant revenues for colleges and universities that are involved in college sports. Universities and colleges that field athletes in men and women sports do so knowing that sports are lucrative and generate revenue from the sale of tickets and other associated sources like the television rights. Division 1 college basketball and football generate substantial revenues because they are very popular in the United States. Americans love sports because of the entertainment they provide. This is the reason why may people are willing to attend sports events and support their favorite college teams. For instance, in some states people make their way to sports arenas because it is the only available physical form of entertainment. The sports contests also attract companies that want to advertise their brands and this has made them to invest in teams and this also generate more revenue. Based on the millions of dollars that are involved in the college sports, it is logical to pay the athletes who are directly involved in creation of this revenue. Still, students pay huge tuition fees to finance their education, and part of these funds are directed to supporting sports activities. The institutions subsidize their sports budgets knowing that investing in the activities brings back the institution profits. . With all the resources at their disposal it is still sad that colleges and universities don’t find it necessary to pay the athletes who bring them profits through the sports (Hess, 2019).

In addition to profits, participation in sports tournaments helps to market and popularize some of the colleges and universities in the United States. When athletes compete with other colleges and universities they do it under the names of their teams and institutions. Teams that win end up popularizing their colleges and institutions. The fans who attend the sports events are exposed to the names of teams and institutions and are attracted to the institutions. In the media when reports and stories are written about the participants and winners the name of teams and institutions are published. The athletes therefore help in marketing their college or university and this is not only positive in terms of bringing honor to the institutions, but also helping to attract more business sense (Sanderson & Siegfried, 2015).

The hard work and the strong young men put into sports may also attract more funding for universities and colleges. For instance, the huge crowds that the college teams attract in Football and Basketball can be used to influence legislators to allocate more funds for the institutions so that they support more sports activities (Blinder, 2021).

When viewed from the business angle, college athletes form important assets that contribute towards the revenue, profits, and honor of their college. It is therefore only fair if they are paid for the great work that they do to ensure that the business of sports is profitable.

So much about revenue and the business part of sport, let me now dive into the second reason for supporting college athletes to be paid. It is notable that sports are treated as important as any other major subjects like English, Math’s and Sciences. This makes colleges and Universities to hire professionals who are well trained to help athletes to excel in the games. When they hire the highly skilled professionals as coaches and trainers, the colleges pay them huge salaries that are in line with the role they play in the development of sports in their institutions. For John Calipari of the Kentucky earns around $8 million and if his school fires him without a cause, they will pay him $60. 2. This is an example of a celebrity compensation that someone involved in college sports is able to earn. It illustrates how rich some of the schools are and how much they are willing to invest in coaching in order to win sports tournaments. Now, if a school can afford to pay a coach this huge amounts, why then do people find it bad to pay the student athletes who also make a contribution to the sports. It simply doesn’t make sense (Sanderson & Siegfried, 2015).

College athletes should also be paid because most of them come from poor backgrounds. It is notable that most of the athletes who excel in football and basketball are of African American race. Most of the players who belong to the performing teams come from poor backgrounds and it is difficult for them to survive with the little allowance they get from their schools for participation in sports. They should therefore be paid in order for them to cater for all their needs. If the athletes are paid properly they can be able to take care of their needs and also help to raise their family members from poverty. In addition, paying college athletes is a good thing that can ensure that the young men get money for their subsistence and upkeep. Even though most of the student athletes get scholarships, the awarded funds do not the issue of upkeep or pocket money. The students who are enrolled in their schools as athletes have to look for part time jobs in order to continue surviving in college as they pursue their ambitions and goals (Sanderson & Siegfried, 2015).

Playing in college sports is just like a full time job. There are responsibilities that athletes have to fulfill when they are enlisted in the college teams. For instance, the young men and women spend a lot of time attending training sessions for them to be fit enough and competitive. They are also tasked with the responsibility of representing their schools in major tournaments in the United States. This shows that they give their schools a lot of time and this brings back good returns in terms of revenues and profits. Based on the number of hours that college athletes put in sports they deserve to be paid just like other employees who are working in different departments of the institution. As the athletes spend their time in sports it is also notable that they miss out on other important aspects of their lives. This amount to the opportunity cost. Athletes are required to sacrifice most of their time in order to achieve the goals of the institutions. Athletes can miss out important things like classes, discussions and other activities that may negatively affect their academic performance. When they make such sacrifices just for their schools to be successful, then it is wise for them to be compensated for their service. Student athletes have to tradeoff their study time in order to find time for playing games. The loss of this study time is never compensated and some of them end up with poor grades because they never have adequate study time like other students. It is therefore only fair to compensate them for the time they spend in the fields playing for their institutions (Rauenzahn, 2021).

Health risks can arise in the course of playing college sports. When student athletes go out training and competing with other colleges, there is a risk of sustaining injuries that may end up turning the life of an individual completely. The implication of this is that young people take a huge risk to play in sports that can predispose them to injury. In the past, there are cases where some student athletes have sustained serious injuries because of participating in sports and they have ended up with huge medical bills. Worse enough some of the student athletes may never get the chance to graduate because of the injuries that they sustained during sports.

Those who strongly oppose paying student athletes have held onto the opinion that there are deeper legal implications for paying athletes who play football and basketball for their schools. It has been argued that recommending athletes to be paid is a simple but complex decision that can put schools into more problems. For instance, it is feared that paying only Football and Basketball players can bring more problem because there are other sports and the participants will also demand to be paid. For example, athletes involved in swimming and other less popular sports will demand to be paid, and this may be constraining to the schools. Once, students participating in other sports hear that footballers and basketball players are being paid, they may end up petitioning courts to compel their schools to pay them. This many end up complicating the issue as most schools will not be able to pay all the athletes (Sanderson & Siegfried, 2015).

Another source of opposition to paying student athletes has been informed by the fact that the focus of athletes should be on academic and not making money from their talents. Some people hold the view that student athletes should just be contended with the scholarships they receive from participating in sports and not focus on earning competitive paycheques. It has been stated that throwing more dollars to the young people may end up destroying their future as they will lose focus on their studies and fail to graduate from their schools. Denying them the dollars is therefore viewed to be a way of protecting the young people so that they can finish their studies and get other well-paying jobs in the economy (Blinder, 2021).

Some people have also argued that not paying the student athletes is the right thing because institutions should not just focus on creating more athletes but professionals. If some athletes are paid, it will encourage more students to enroll in colleges and universities just to earn from athletics, which is not the core function of the institutions. As for the issue of poverty among the student’s athletes, it has been argued that it is not the responsibility of an institution to uplift the lives of the families of athletes. They believe that individual athletes should work hard and graduate with their degrees so that they can get jobs and uplift their families.

To wrap it up, I will emphasize that the debate about paying or not paying student athletes has been witnessed for decades. There are strong public opinions that have been voiced in order to maintain the status quo of not paying the student athletes. The fact of the matter is that Football and Basketball are college games that are attractive to students and schools. These two sports generate billions in revenue to the major stakeholders, which are institutions, sponsors and other associates. It is evident that everyone who is involved in the college sports gets paid, but the athletes are left out. Student’s athletes are given full time scholarships to finance their higher education. To some people, this is sufficient to help the students pursue their educational goals. However, student athletes are not given pocket money, and this is why some of them need to be paid. Institutions are also paying coaches huge salaries and this shows that they are capable of paying athletes. In the course of playing sports, some athletes can sustain serious injuries that may prevent them from pursuing their dreams. These are compelling reasons that should not be overlooked in the discussion about paying student athletes.

References

Blinder, A. (2021, June 21). N.C.A.A. Athletes Could Be Paid Under New California Law. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/30/sports/college-athletes-paid-california.html

Hess, A. J. (2019, September 11). Majority of college students say student-athletes should be paid, survey finds. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/11/student-athletes-should-get-paid-college-students-say.html

Rauenzahn, B. (2021, August 6). Paying College Athletes. The Regulatory Review. https://www.theregreview.org/2021/02/06/saturday-seminar-paying-college-athletes/

Sanderson, A. R., and John J. Siegfried. (2015). The Case for Paying College Athletes. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 29 (1): 115-38.