Issue Analysis: If College Athletes Should Be Paid - Essay Example

Issue Analysis-If college athletes should be paid The issue of paying college athletes is one of the most debated topics in college athletics. The Current National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules prohibit student athletes from bargaining for their services. Recently the NCAA board of directors with the backing of Mark Emmert, the president of NCAA agreed to pay Division one athlete a stipend of $2000 (Nocera 1). However, Emmert insisted that they will not move to a pay for play model as this would convert student athletes to university employees. His comments elicited mixed reactions with some arguing that college athletes receive more than their fair share through athletics scholarship while others believe schools are exploiting the student athletes and they should be paid. This provokes a controversial question should college athletes be paid like professionals? Understanding the history of college athletics, the benefits these students generate to their universities and how they possibly being exploited may help in deciding whether they should be compensated above their athletic scholarships. Many scholarships are given out to college athletes every year .Over the last two centuries, the face of college athletics has drastically changed. It started as a student organization competition, but it has turned into a sports entertainment enterprise. Nowadays some students go to college mainly for the purpose of participating in sports unlike earlier when students went to school for the purpose of education and could only participate in such sports during their free time. Student athletes are devoting most of their time in sport related activities than studies. As a result, they generate a lot of revenue for both their colleges and the NCCA. Whether it is basketball, hockey or football intercollegiate sports have brought in revenue to their respective institutions and have increased the popularity of the College’s reputation.   Miller explains that the biggest issue in the subject of paying. Generally two arguments are used to demonstrate the exploitation of college athletes. First is that the college athletes do not receive quality education yet they are making large amounts of money for their schools. Secondly, the compensation college athletes receive in the form of scholarships cannot be compared to the marginal revenue gain they generate to their colleges. (1) In my opinion college athletes should not be paid. Yes, it is true that the NCAA and colleges gain huge money from them but we must consider the effect money industry has done to professional athletes. With money and fame college athletes are likely to engage in other activities such as drug taking and gambling. It is also unfair to other programs that don’t generate much revenue as college football and basketball. College sports should be a gateway for students to be educated and choose if they want to go for a pro sports career or job career. Various arguments have been raised by those in support of paying college athletes, as well as those against this idea. Arguments for payment One argument in support of paying college athletes is that, by attending college, it does not require students to make a vow of poverty. It is not wrong for students to pursue a bachelor's degree that does not restrict their ability to make money. For example, a student can act in an orchestra and earn a salary. Similarly, student athletes should be paid when they participate in sports. Another reason is that some student athletes leave school early for a professional career in sport because they do not have enough money to pay their bills. If these students are paid, they will remain in school and will complete their education. The truth is that athletics scholarships not always cover the whole cost of tuition and living expenses.   Others argue that the college athletes not only generate revenue for their schools, but also to the television networks, shoe companies, and conferences that these colleges belong. Therefore, college athletes should receive a fair salary for their participation in sports. Another most argued reason to pay college athletes is that it will be an incentive to college athletes in order to complete their college degrees. Paying student-athletes would motivate the athletes to stay in school and complete their degree programs rather than leaving school early for the professional athlete. Paying them will not only cover their college expenses that scholarship does not cover, but also it will also boost their morale to finish their college education. In addition, students will not look for work-study jobs during off seasons instead; they will concentrate on their academics. Arguments against payment First, the main problem with paying college athletes is that it is against the primary function of the college. College is an academic institution with the primary function of education and not hiring student athletes. In addition, students already receive invaluable benefits from college in a form of degree, which gives them opportunities in the job market. Athletic programs such as football and basketball programs also provide college athletes to get excellent education opportunities which normally. Second, the increased profit potential of fielding successful intercollegiate athletics has created a competitive environment for colleges and universities. Schools now compete to develop a winning team, and this is effectively achieved by finding the best talent. Therefore, colleges and universities compete in for the recruitment of athletes. Herein lays the root for unethical behavior by colleges and universities. The win at all cost is emphasized by some colleges resulting in extreme compromise of ethics. By emphasizing on winning colleges compromise their academic mission of producing true college athletes. The graduation statistics for NCAA member colleges confirm that college athletes are not leaving college with the degree that was promised to them (Krikor 16). Third, some student athletes chose college because of the amount of scholarship money they receive. However, there are other considerations such as school reputation, teaching skills and school's academic standing that should not be ignored when issuing scholarship. Paying college athletes beyond their scholarship puts these considerations in jeopardy. This will result to students making decisions about joining a college based on the amount of money they are offered as opposed to making decisions based on their educational experience. Fourth, paying college athletes sends a bad message high school and middle school students. Every kid will want to grow up wanting to join the basketball or football team as they see them to be very successful careers. Lastly, most pay college athletics favors division one athletes. Division two and three and also women athletes don’t get paid as much. It is unfair to pay some students as this would bring inequalities in school. It also creates a jealousy factor among nonathletic’ students. Conclusion The ideal for modern intercollegiate athletics can be achieved. Academic integrity and enthusiasms’ for sports can co-exist. However the burden of achieving this must be placed on the universities as a whole, beginning with the NCAA, the college presidents and ending with the students themselves. Presidents should remain focused on performing their mission of educating all students. Students, on the other hand should ensure they balance education and sports. The main purpose of academic institutions is to educate, the coach's job should be to teach, and not just in terms of the sport a student athlete plays. Schools should offer student-athletes scholarship grants to facilitate their education and not implement pay to play model as this will ultimately influence a student athlete when picking a school or detracts them from attending a school for the right reasons (Krikor 19). One novel way to pay college athletes while promoting good behavior is for Schools to create a trust fund for athletes drawn from television rights payments. That way, they will stay in school, don’t break any NCAA rules, and when they graduate they will receive their share from the trust fund. The NCAA maintains that one of its main goals is to encourage student-athlete participation through educational and societal benefits. Because of the NCAA bylaws, some college athletes continue to dedicate their lives to college basketball without receiving a quality education or any kind of financial compensation while the NCAA and participating university athletic programs profit from the $60 billion their hard work has generated. It is ironic that one of the NCAA’s purported purposes is to protect these college players from exploitation by professional and commercial enterprises, when it is the NCAA’s bylaws that are allowing players to be financially taken advantage of and exploited. The current system of the NCAA must be reformed to prevent the continued exploitation of college athletes. College athletics must be restructured in a way to create a more balanced financial medium between the NCAA and its players, while still maintaining a competitive and ethical amateur league of college athletes. The best solution to accomplish this goal is to institute a revenue sharing plan. Under revenue sharing, college athletes would receive a share of all merchandise, advertisement, and endorsement revenue they generate for their universities. This reform would still maintain elements of amateurism in college athletics because players would not receive a salary for playing the game. They would merely receive their fair share of the commercial revenue they help generate (Vitale 86). Work cited Cohen, Ben. The Case for Paying College Athletes. The wall street Journal.2011.1-3.web.22 Nov.2013 Gilleran, Mike. Katz, Ron, and Vaughn, Isaac. Should College Athletes Be Paid? Institute of Sports Law and Ethics, Santa Clara University.2013.web.21 Nov.2013 Staurowsky, Ellen.'Should College Athletes Get Paid?' Is the Wrong Question. The Atlantic. 2011. web.24 Nov.2013 Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. “A Premier on Money, Athletics and Higher Education in the 21st Century. Miami,” FL: John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.2013 Meshefejian, Krikor. "Pay to Play: Should College Athletes Be Paid?" The Journal of the Business Law Society (2008).16-19.Web. 23 Nov. 2013. Miller, Anthony. “NCAA Division I Athletics: Amateurism and Exploitation”. monthly-refereed sports journal, published by the united states sports academy. 1543-9518,16.2013.print Nocera, Joe.” Let’s Start Paying College Athletes.” The new York times. (2011).1-18.Web.22 Nov.2013 Vitale, Mary.” Financial Exploitation of Student Atheletes.” St. John’s University School of Law Arts and Sports Journal. (2012).81-86.Web.25 Nov.2013 Read More