Imagine trying to negotiate a contract with an 18-year-old about the next four years of his or her life. That is what would happen if it was decided that college athletes should, in fact, be paid for participating in a sport while attending college. This is a debate that has been going on for decades now and will most likely never have the resolution that will satisfy everyone. Some people believe that college athletes, without a doubt, should be paid. On the other hand, others believe there is no reason for college athletes to get paid and that it would an extremely difficult change to adjust to, and one that would likely be even more difficult to regulate and manage. Although there are pros and cons on both side of this argument, I believe there are better reasons for college athletes not to get paid.
Those who support the idea of paying college athletes usually site the fact that colleges make a lot of money from the sports these athletes play. They say that the athletes should financially benefit because of this fact. They also argue that the athletes are asked to devote an incredible amount of their time to their sport, should be compensated. On the surface, these are logical statements, but the issue goes much deeper and is much more complicated than just paying some money to athletes.
If college athletes were to be paid, what athletes from which sports would be paid? For most schools, men’s basketball and football bring in the most revenue for their schools. Since that is the case, it would make the most sense to pay the players on those two teams. But, what about the women’s crew team, the men’s baseball team, or the bowling team? The athletes on those teams put in just as many hours practicing, lifting, training and going to meets and games as the football and basketball teams, so should they not also get paid? Determining something like this would be extremely complicated.
Adding to that, many people question if women and men in collegiate sports should get paid the same amount. In many jobs today, a man is still paid more for doing the same job as a woman. This has improved significantly over the years, but it is still the case in many industries. Title IX states that “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” In addition, according to the NCAA Gender Equity Task Force, “An athletics program can be considered gender equitable when the participants in both the men’s and women’s sports programs would accept as fair and equitable the overall program of the other gender. No individual should be discriminated against on the basis of gender, institutionally or nationally, in intercollegiate athletics.” That being the case, it can be determined that male and female athletes have to be treated exactly the same. Would this apply to all athletic programs or just the most popular and profitable programs?
Another problem with college athletes being paid is figuring out how much the athletes should be paid. The top football schools in the nation are the Ohio State University, University of Georgia and University of Alabama. At OSU’s home stadium, there are 104,944 seats and every home game of the season sells out according to America’s Best Football Colleges of 2018 article. Also, in 2017, the team ranked as the priciest in NCAA, being valued at $1.5 million. For Georgia, during the 2017 season, there was a total of 556,476 fans at their six home games which totaled more than 1.2 million fans at both home and away games that season. Lastly, the University of Alabama has made 65 bowl appearances, has 30 conference titles, 17 nation titles, and 69- All-American award recipients. Clearly, all three schools have the best players in the nation. So, does that mean they should get paid more than athletes on a team like Duquesne, which is also a D1 football program, but at a much smaller level?
Further, even if it was decided that only the athletes on the football and men’s basketball teams would be paid, would all team members be paid the same? It doesn’t make logical sense to pay the twelfth player on the basketball team the same as the star player. Or, would this be part of the negotiating process during the recruitment process?
Let’s not forget that there are also Division II and Division III schools as well. Even though Division I sports are the most popular in the United States, Division II and III athletes work just as hard Division I athletes. Again, it would be very complicated to determine where to draw the line.
There are just too many questions with too many very difficult answers. The NCAA already has its hands full trying to oversee the athletic programs as they are currently set up. Adding a serious financial component to their duties will result in endless problems for the NCAA and the colleges. While there are most certainly some programs who bend, and possibly, break, the current rules, the probability of abuse will be much worse if the athletes were allowed, to be paid.
Also, it is clear that scholarship athletes already receive a form of payment for attending school and playing a sport. At most schools, student athletes have access to the best gyms on campus, more meal swipes than the average students, and free transportation. Most importantly, athletes receive an education that can be valued up to $200,000 or more depending on which school they attend.
When speaking to others about this topic, they had very strong opinions. A senior at La Salle University, Maeve Hughes works within La Salle’s athletic department as a videographer for the men’s basketball team and agrees that college athletes should not be paid. “College athletes should not get paid because they receive scholarships which can amount to over $200,000. Along with tuition, athletes receive benefits like free textbooks along with food allowances. Most programs already struggle to stay afloat financially and having to pay the athletes would not benefit the program, and in return overall, not benefit the athletes,” says Hughes.
College students are usually not financially responsible. Whether an athlete or not, few college students know what they’re doing with their money. There are several cases involving young players in professional sports that have serious money issues once they make it to the professional level. This happens because they are receiving large amounts of money at ages as young as 19 and think they can spend it all with no consequences. There are too many examples of this happening to discuss, but it can be inferred that paying them at an even younger age would make the problem worse.
It has been proposed that a flat fee, or allowance, could be paid to all athletes. But again, what does that mean? Do all athletes receive this allowance? Men and women? Is the allowance the same across all programs at all schools in all divisions? Even if those questions could be adequately answered, the probability of abuse would still exist, particularly in the money-making programs at the biggest schools. In that is the case, what would have been accomplished?
Finally, what about the exceptional students who are not athletes? Many students who may or may not be on academic scholarships are working just as hard as the athletes. Perhaps they are making great contributions to their institution and their chosen field. Should they not be rewarded as well?
In a perfect world, college athletes should be attending college in order to get an education, playing a sport they love, and, in some cases, trying their best to make to the professional level. However, the majority of these student athletes will not move up to the professional level in their chosen sport. Their focus should be on taking advantage of the free education they are receiving. At the end of the day, figuring out recruitment contracts, money, and additional logistics would only add complications to what the NCAA and colleges are already having trouble managing.
Work cited:
https://www.bestcolleges.com/features/best-football-colleges/
https://www.tickpick.com/ohio-stadium-seating-chart/
https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/tix_dis.html
Click to access Athletes_Reasons-NOT-to-pay.pdf
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