This debate on whether or not to pay college athletes began when the NCAA was originally created under the name “Intercollegiate Athletic Association” in 1906, but has grown in recent years as universities and the NCAA continue to make more money than ever. In the early days players were often recruited and paid to play, and there are several cases where players weren’t even enrolled at the university (according to The Sport Journal9).
However, as college sports gained popularity the rules changed, and instead of directly paying athletes schools began offering athletic scholarships.
It was decided that there were would be very strict rules about compensating athletes and there were some absurd violations in the past. In 2009, 14 NCAA sanctions were brought down on the University of South Carolina because the school bought bagels for basketball players outside of approved meal times and because they paid for players to go bowling (according to AOL News15 ).
These days many players do not want to have to play college sports and would much rather go straight to the pros.
One reason that the discussion on whether or not college athletes should be paid has heated up is the money made off of the annual NCAA Basketball Tournament. Millions of people tune in to watch these players put their bodies on the line for the national championship, and the NCAA just sits back and rakes in the money. Since it was first founded in 1939 this tournament has become the most important tournament in all college sports. The tournament earns $771. 4 million dollars a year, which is 90% of the
The Essay on Paying College Athletes Student Athlete 2
College Student-Athletes Can be Compensated for Their Services to Universities. Every year nearly 330, 000 college students don uniforms and become student-athletes for their respective schools (NCAA). These students participate in a wide variety of interests, from football to crew, cross country to golf. The sports surely vary in public interest and the amount of revenue that each attains each ...
NCAA’s annual operating revenue, (according to ESPN6) and the players don’t see a dime of this money. Since the only reason people are tuning in is to watch the players, doesn’t it make sense that they should receive some of the money? Many athletes know that they are being exploited but they never dare to challenge the NCAA. Jalen Rose, a former University of Michigan basketball player, spoke out against the NCAA in a 2011 article in the Huffington Post saying, “Universities view athletics as a business and an opportunity to grow their brand and make money. The idea of college athletics being a business is a concept shared by many college athletes and these days being an athletic director is very much like being a CEO. Except with college athletics all of the labor is free. Of the 100’s of millions of dollars that schools make off of athletics every year the employees don’t see a cent, and the idea of this upsets some athletes. One player who was very against the idea of college athletes being used as moneymakers was Chris Webber.
Webber, a University of Michigan basketball player, was involved in a scandal in the early 1990s that lead to several sanctions against the university. When Webber was on campus he often was upset about seeing jerseys with his name on it being sold for $75 in university stores while he was living off microwave hotdogs (according to ESPN Films15) . Webber left the school after his sophomore year but in 2002 a scandal was uncovered. Webber was convicted of receiving over $200,000 during his time as a student from a booster named Ed Martin; this made it clear that the university was guilty of major violations.
The Final Four banners were removed and one of Chris Webber’s teammates, Jimmy King, said this on the subject, “The day they took the banners down was the worst day of my life, It tore a hole in my heart. ” If Webber had been paid for his jersey sales or for his appearances on television maybe this whole situation could have been avoided. These days many football and basketball players enter the professional draft early and don’t get their degrees. Most players who dropout to go pro do it because they need the money.
The Essay on Basketball In Colleges University Game One
Munir SlaimanProfessor Hinkle July 19, 2000 U. S. school and college basketball (Summary of the Jackie Miranda Article) Basketball at the school and college level developed from a structured, rigid game in the early days to one that is often fast-paced and high-scoring. Individual skills improved markedly, and although basketball continued to be regarded as the ultimate team game, individualistic, ...
For some players, athletics are their only way to afford college and they need the money to help their families at home, but regardless of the reason why they need the money it would be much simpler if the players were able to earn some money in school. During 2012 University of Connecticut’s basketball graduation rate was as low as 25% (according to Tidesport. com14).
Most of these dropouts occurred because players were leaving early to go to the professional draft. Also many players who fail to go pro often struggle in life due to the fact that they never got their degree.
Jason White was a football player for Oklahoma and he even won the Heisman award in 2003. Despite the fact that he was able to earn a degree in sociology when White failed to get drafted into the NFL there wasn’t much that he could do. Today he owns a footwear store in Oklahoma City. Out of 420,000 NCAA student athletes only about 1,000 will go pro (according to Statisticbrain. com11), which means that the ones who fail to pay attention to their education are likely to struggle in life.
This isn’t to say that there aren’t ex-college athletes who are very successful in life but the ones who neglect their educations and degrees often do end up struggling. Another issue that plagues college athletes is career-ending injuries. Greg Oden was an Ohio State basketball player who dropped out of college to go pro after his freshman year. Oden was the first overall draft pick in 2007 but he had a history of knee injuries in college and was forced to undergo surgery and made him miss his entire rookie season.
Oden was never able to recover from this injury entirely and hasn’t played an entire season in his career. Oden admits to suffering from depression and alcohol addiction during the last few years that he was unable to play. He is going to attempt another comeback next season, but it leads one to ask, could he have recovered and still have a successful NBA career had he stayed in school? He had three more years of eligibility remaining so he would have had the opportunity to rehab from his injury and still enter the NBA, or he could have stayed to get his degree, which would given him many more opportunities today.
The Essay on Alcohol And Athletes College Athlete
... the athletes that drink, football players account for 40% of that total (McGrew 93). Football is considered one of the most popular college sports. ... most people. The students that are getting their college paid for by the University's money are also the ones spending a lot ... are still drinking more than non-athletes who do not have these privileges." This really doesn't make any sense. If they have ...
The NCAA has never viewed the payment of college athletes as an option but in today’s day and age it is getting harder and harder to ignore. Jalen Rose proposed giving all athletes $2,000, but the best solution is definitely through marketing and television rights. Since several schools make over five million dollars (according to ESPN4) off of branding alone and many others make millions off media rights it is obvious that players should receive a small fraction of this money. Marketing rights would involve players receiving a fraction of the money from clothing and merchandise sales.
Star players would earn more money because fans are more likely to buy jerseys from popular players but since star players are often the ones who enter the professional draft early this could be an incentive for them to stay. It is likely that basketball and football players would make more money because these are the most popular sports, but when somebody bought a shirt with “University Swimming” or some other less popular sport branded on it even the less popular athletes could earn money.
This would also let consumers know that by purchasing a team shirt they are directly supporting the athletes. Another freedom that should be granted to athletes is media rights, meaning that players would get paid for playing on television. The top 30 teams in Division I make at least 1 million dollars off media rights so this is another great source of revenue. During basketball season games are aired almost every night and during the March Madness Tournament games are streamed live on every platform imaginable.
The idea consists of the players receiving a small fraction of the money from televised games, once again basketball and football players would make the most but it is only fair because these are the sports that bring in the most revenue. However, sports like gymnastics and swimming would not be excluded because competitions are still aired on smaller channels such as ESPNU and Big Ten Network, both of which only air college sports. This way even the athletes in the more obscure sports would be paid when they are featured on television.
The Essay on Fair Play Means Using Sport to Make a Better World
To be successful in sport, you need to have the right attitude. Honesty, dignity, fair play, respect, teamwork, commitment and courage are essential to lead a memorable sporting performance. All of these indispensible values can be summed up in the term ‘fair play’. Through various sporting events, the values of fair play can be put into practice in order to help make the world a better place. ...
There are several networks entirely dedicated to airing college sports so this solution would be perfect. This idea also makes sure that players don’t make too much but they make enough so that it is fair. If these solutions were implemented then more students would assuredly remain at college for a full four years, injuries could be cut down because players aren’t working so hard to get into professional shape, all players could get their degrees, and nobody would have to worry about being exploited.
If college athletes continue to be exploited then the NCAA could fall apart completely, which would be devastating to everyone involved in college sports. Also players will continue to dropout, get injured, and struggle later in life. To make sure this doesn’t happen the NCAA must grant college athletes marketing and television rights immediately. Works Cited Johnson, Dennis A. “Point/Counterpoint: Paying College Athletes. ” The Sport Journal. United States Sports Academy, 2012. Web. 4 Mar. 2013. <http://www. thesportjournal. org/article/pointcounterpoint-paying-college-athletes>.
